The American Bar Association Mid Winter Conference on Workers' Compensation is rapidly approaching, and this year's session, scheduled for March 19 thru 21, 2015 in Naples, Florida, will take an in depth look at the future of workers' comp. I have the distinct pleasure of moderating an opening panel on that topic, and am looking…
Intent Wasn't Only Unconscionable Element for New Jersey Teacher Fraud Case
A former Piscataway, NJ teacher pleaded guilty earlier this month to “theft by deception” for collecting $249,000 in disability retirement benefits from New Jersey while working as a teacher in Virginia. He had claimed in 2003 that he could no longer work because of stress and back pain. His application for disability was approved in…
Full Speed Ahead: Woman Sues Herself for Negligence After Causing Death of Husband
Seems incomprehensible, but it is apparently true. The Utah Court of Appeals has granted a woman the ability to sue herself for negligence in the case of a deadly accident that killed her husband in 2011. She will be allowed to “proceed with a wrongful-death lawsuit against herself for alleged negligence” after a car accident…
Workers' Comp 101: Chimneysweep Scrotum – The First Occupational Disease Ever Documented
Welcome to the Cluttered Desk College (CDC), previously known as Farcical University (FU) (Let's face it, the initials just didn't go the distance, and were apparently misconstrued). The Cluttered Desk College (CDC) is an institute of higher learning where we endeavor to enlighten and amaze. There just are no credits, and no degree, as the…
Will Workers' Compensation Kill Uber?
Two separate lawsuits seeking to define drivers as employees rather than independent contractors could end up forcing ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft to start providing workers' compensation and other employment benefits to their drivers around the country. In separate lawsuits filed (by the same attorneys) in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, attorneys…
For John Kitzhaber, Karma Art a Heartless Bitch
Oh to be in Oregon, where the subpoenas are flying and the state’s normally absentee Governor tuned in just long enough to check out on Friday. John Kitzhaber, just weeks into a record setting fourth term, resigned amidst a growing scandal related to his fiancé, influence peddling, dirty politics and clean energy. The point of…
Workers' Compensation Needs Another Grand Bargain
I thought of this yesterday morning in the shower, and admittedly have not had the opportunity to fully flesh the idea out. Fortunately, failing to think something completely through has never prevented me from writing about it, so what the hell. I might as well let this one rip. I participated Tuesday in a Twitterchat…
Growing Weary of Entitlement Weenies
I have to warn you. I feel a rant coming on. My conservative, politically INcorrect side just can’t bear it anymore. I have to say something, and I sense my wording will be offensive to some; especially if you are an entitlement weenie. You can’t say you were not warned. Sorry about your right to…
Can North Carolina Find Better Defenders Against Claims of Workers' Comp Fraud?
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory caused quite the stir last Wednesday in his annual “State of the State” address. During that speech he claimed that that more 40 percent of the approximately $150 million per year the state incurs in workers compensation costs for its injured employees was related to “fraud and abuse”. Saying, “Our…
All Atwitter Over Tomorrow's Great Workers’ Comp Twitterchat
It will be a first for me. In fact, it will probably be a first for all of the participants, as well as the workers' compensation industry. The first workers' comp “Twitterchat” will happen tomorrow at 2:00PM eastern. This event consists of several industry leaders (I am reticent to use that term to describe myself,…