An appeals court dismissed a railroad conductor’s claims that he was fired for reporting a workplace injury. In Holloway v. Soo Line Railroad Co., d/b/a Canadian Pacific, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on Wednesday unanimously affirmed a decision by the U.S. District Court in Chicago that a railroad company provided sufficient evidence…
An appellate court in Illinois on Monday denied additional workers compensation-related disability benefits to an injured beverage distributor whom it claims did not seek job rehabilitation services in light of his diminished abilities stemming from a back injury that aggravated a degenerative condition. John Bohentin had been working in the beverage distribution business for over 30 years and for North…
Worker misclassification in the construction business, done to avoid workers’ compensation and payroll taxes, is a growing problem nationwide, and Indiana is no exception, according to a local news report. Legitimate commercial contractors told an Indiana TV station this week that fraudulent misclassification appears to be spreading in the industry. Some contractors can shave 30% off their bids by classifying…
Are employees injured at work more likely to file under workers’ compensation instead of group health insurance when their group health plan has a higher deductible? The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found evidence they do in a new study it says has great relevance since the number of workers in health insurance plans with high deductibles is growing. “In…
Injured miners and construction workers are in the occupations most likely to receive an opioid prescription, the study shows. Injured workers living in “rural” or “very rural” areas were up to 25% more likely than urban injured workers to receive opioid painkillers. Injured workers in rural areas are more likely to receive prescriptions for opioids, a new study shows. The…
The National Council of Insurance Legislators is in the early planning stages of possibly creating a model law on workers compensation drug formularies, the organization’s spokesman confirmed on Friday. Details on the proposed NCOIL Workers’ Compensation Drug Formulary Model Act are included in NCOIL’s spring meeting agenda, provided to Business Insurance. The meeting is set for March 14-17 in Nashville…
A large number of employers not regulated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s electronic record-keeping rule are voluntarily submitting data to the agency, but they should refrain from doing so in the future because that information could be used against them in OSHA enforcement actions, according to attorneys representing employers. The electronic record-keeping regulation, formally known as the…
A bill introduced Thursday in the Illinois Senate would amend the state’s current Workers Compensation Act to begin compensation almost immediately for seriously injured volunteer, paid-on-call or part-time firefighters, emergency medical technicians or paramedics. S.B. 1219, introduced by Illinois state Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Moline, would amend the current law to allow for coverage of total temporary incapacity to commence the…
An insurer is suing a man who allegedly resisted arrest in Northlake, as the insurer seeks to collect reimbursement of workers’ compensation benefits paid to an officer who was injured in the incident. The Illinois Public Risk Fund, through the Northlake Police Department, filed a complaint on Feb. 1 in Cook County Circuit Court against John A. Cottone, alleging the…
The Chicago City Council voted Wednesday to give up control of the city's troubled, $100 million-a-year workers' compensation program. The Council's Finance Committee, which for years had controlled the compensation program under the watch of Chairman Ed Burke, voted Tuesday to restructure the program under the Finance Department in the executive branch, and bring more accountability and transparency to it. On…
