Year: 2015

I could just as well have titled this article, “WSI, Just Give Dennis Whedbee His Goddamned Hand”. Investigative Journalism website ProPublica, in partnership with NPR, issued a scathing analysis of the workers’ compensation industry this morning, looking at what they term a continued degradation of protections and benefits for injured workers. The North Dakota monopolistic…

Personal interactions can be a complicated thing, and when the parties conducting the interaction are devoid of any acceptable level of perspicaciousness, the challenge of maintaining clear communication rises exponentially. Said more simply, when two people both suffering from Cranial Rectal Insertion cross paths, the sparks can really fly. After all, that's what happens when…

Perhaps I’ve been in Florida, a state where freeze warnings are issued if the temperature approaches 45 degrees, too long. Like many here in the Sunshine State, harsh winters, collapsing roofs and ice encrusted roads are but a distant memory. That makes the thought of leaving it in March a bit daunting when the rest…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…