An injured Washington worker has to pay back more than $41,000 to the state for theft of workers’ compensation benefits. Gary Miller pleaded guilty to third-degree theft for stealing cash benefits from the state’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). Investigators found Miller held five jobs while signing official forms declaring he wasn’t working because […]
An ultrasound technician will receive $2.2 million thanks to an Oct. 19 jury verdict that found her former employer fired her because she filed a workers’ compensation claim. The technician, Susan Boutwell, was informed a week before getting surgery for a work-related injury that she was going to be permanently replaced and wouldn’t be able […]
When you think about people faking injuries in workers’ compensation cases, typically it’s a worker trying to take advantage of the system, right? However, as recent fraud charges demonstrate, sometimes business owners are accused of faking injuries, too. Byung Sung Kang, the owner of Century Cleaners, an Olympia, Washington-based dry cleaning business, is facing one count […]
Is medical marijuana reimbursable through workers’ compensation benefits? Courts in some states say yes while others says no. Meanwhile, a few states have legislation in the works to answer that question. Here’s what we know so far about the issue: Courts ruling for reimbursement This year, two state supreme courts and an appeals court ruled […]
An Illinois Supreme Court decision from September 2020 that shifted the burden of proof from the employee to the employer in workers’ compensation cases involving “everyday actions” is now affecting current case law in the state. The court decided in McAllister v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission that injuries from everyday actions, also known as “neutral risks,” could […]
A Georgia appeals court has thrown out an $8.6 million jury verdict to the family of the Walking Dead stuntman who fell to his death on the set of the show in July 2017. A jury found TWD 9, an AMC Networks entity, and its production company, Stalwart Films, were negligent in the death of […]
The owner of a California agriculture company and his daughter were each sentenced to 10 years and ordered to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution after pleading no contest to six felony counts of workers’ comp insurance each. Felipe Saurez Barocio, owner of Agriculture Services Inc., and his daughter Angelita Barocio-Negrete were sentenced to […]
An employee was injured at work and received medical treatment and temporary total disability (TTD) benefits. Did a video disqualify her from future benefits? Lisa Forren was a registered nurse for Greenbriar Valley Med Center in West Virginia. Forren injured her right shoulder while positioning a patient. Months after the injury, her doctor evaluated her. […]
An employee was injured when her chair slid out from under her while trying to sit down. Was she eligible for permanent disability benefits? Frances Jones was a respiratory therapist employed by the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She suffered injuries to her back, neck and wrist in July 2016 when a chair slid out […]
