This morning finds me headed to Chicago, for yet another seminar produced by the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network (NWCDN). This year the group reports an expected record attendance, with almost 300 people registered for the event. I’ve written about the NWCDN seminars on numerous occasions. They are taking on a fraternal feel for me,…
My First Ever Breast Retraction
Yesterday I published an article about a young woman who created all manner of sensation by revealing she had undergone a procedure giving her a “third breast”. The announcement was accompanied by pictures and videos, and became viral, being published in many publications, including this blog. My point was that this was an issue of…
Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Court Decision Seemingly Condones Fraud
It simply boggles my teeny weenie mind. An Oklahoma man who apparently never worked as a firefighter signed up for fire fighting training and died during the course. The insurer of a volunteer fire fighting company whose Chief says no one in the company ever met the man has had to pay more than $200,000…
SAIF Has a New Board. Let's Hope They Have a Rita Phillips.
As of Friday, Oregon workers’ compensation insurer SAIF has a brand spanking new Board – well, at least 3/5th’s of them are brand spanking new. Maurice Rahming, Jeff Stone and Jennifer Ulum were all nominated by Governor Kitzhaber and officially installed effective September 19, 2014. Let us hope at least one of them is a…
NFL Culpepper Suit Highlights Our Warped Interpretation of Disability
A hat tip to Judge David Langham, whose blog on the topic (republished on our site here) tipped me off to this story this morning. An insurance company covering the NFL has filed a lawsuit against former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Brad Culpepper alleging fraud from a California injury suit settled in 2011. Culpepper took advantage…
Small Pepperoni, Hold the Nuts
As a warning you should know that this is another risqué, adult oriented article, and you should not proceed if you are easily offended by the unvarnished truth. Plus, I’m about to ruin take out pizza for you. Sorry. The world of employment risk would certainly be easier to navigate if we didn’t have to…
With 2.1 Million Article Views, It Is My Turn to Thank SAIF
My blog recently surpassed another milestone, but this time it was more an indication of interest in a single story than a testament to my feeble vocabulary and lackluster wordsmith capabilities. Last year, on September 10, 2013, my blog proudly passed the 1,000,000 article view mark, having taken just over two years to reach that…
Saskatchewan's Mission Zero: Because One Death is Too Many
I spent much of last week in the mountains of Montana, attending and speaking at the Montana Governors' Conference on Workers' Compensation. It was a great event held at Big Sky Resort; probably one of the most beautiful conference locations I've ever attended. It also provided one of the best safety messages I've ever heard.…
Remembering 9/11, 13 Years Later – An Annual Visual Tribute
Editors Note: We originally posted this tribute in the days following the 9/11 attack in 2001, and it was viewed here by tens of thousands of people. We have re-posted it for every 9/11 anniversary to honor those who perished, and to reaffirm our commitment to “never forget”. Bob’s story below was originally published two…
Shocking SAIF Board Comment and Rocklin Defense Refusal Only Generate More Questions
The SAIF Board of Directors met yesterday in Salem, and to say they rolled out the welcome mat for unhappy employees would be a complete misrepresentation of what I am told occurred. The meeting was held in a room that would only accommodate 60 people, and only around 20 of them were made available for…