A homeowner claims she fractured her leg after Terminix employees moved a set of concrete steps while treating the home for termites, causing her to fall. Carolyn and Joseph Dreste filed the complaint July 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Terminix International Inc. and The Terminix International Company Limited Partnership. According to the…
Workers compensation is likely to experience a rough patch financially, but experts are optimistic that the line will rebound to its 2019 strength in a few years. However, the lack of data on COVID-19 and low interest rates are creating much uncertainty in the workers comp line, panelists from the National Council on Compensation Insurance and the Insurance Information Institute…
The COVID-19 aid package Congress is working on could cost taxpayers between $1 trillion and $3 trillion, but a central Illinois congressman warns if liability protection for schools isn’t addressed, it could cost taxpayers even more. Illinois Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Maisch said there are some real concerns from an employer getting hit with a claim an employee contracted…
Lauded for their service and hailed as everyday heroes, essential workers who get the coronavirus on the job have no guarantee in most states they’ll qualify for workers’ compensation to cover lost wages and medical care. Fewer than one-third of the states have enacted policies that shift the burden of proof for coverage of job-related COVID-19 so workers like first…
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration must make public workplace injuries and illnesses records, according to an announcement Wednesday by the Public Citizen Foundation, which sued the federal agency in 2018 over access. The Washington-based organization said the federal agency has until Aug. 18 to provide the data of 237,000 employers, under a federal court ruling that ends a…
Presumption laws for essential workers who acquire COVID-19 may have less of an impact than anticipated on the workers compensation system, but whether it will lead to an increase in claims workers compensation payouts is up for debate, said a group of panelists Thursday at Business Insurance’s webinar, Workers Compensation: Presumption & COVID-19. Workers compensation presumption laws, which presume that…
A Chicago-area candy company has been fined nearly $500,000 for workplace injuries, including a fingertip amputation, federal regulators said. The incidents occurred at Ferrara Candy in Bellwood, Ill. An employee lost a fingertip in January. Another worker was caught in a machine in March. “Proper safety procedures, including machine guarding and the effective lockout of all sources of energy, could…
The family of a construction worker in Chicago has filed a negligence lawsuit against a contractor after the worker fell two stories to his death last fall. The company, Destiny Builders, did not carry workers’ compensation insurance on its employees and did not provide safety harnesses and railings at a church construction project, according to the lawsuit by the family…
The workers compensation system could see a 20% decrease in new injury claims this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey released Monday by Skaneateles, New York-based Health Strategy Associates LLC. In late May, the consultancy asked 35 workers compensation professionals representing large state funds and insurers, third-party administrators, and large self-insured and self-administered employers about their…
In a ruling that follows more than 10 years of litigation between a wood recycling plant and its neighbors, a federal appeals court affirmed a lower court and held an insurer is not obligated to provide coverage to the plant’s owner because of policy exclusions. Neighbors in Elkhart, Indiana, had charged that VIM Recycling Inc.’s waste disposal practices exposed them…
