An extremely well written article from David Langham graces our Blogwire pages today. In it he recounts for us the looming financial collapse of the Social Security Disability Income program, or SSDI. Langham is the Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims for the Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims and Division of Administrative Hearings.…
Eating Seafood Can Be Hazardous to Someone's Health
I have never been a huge seafood enthusiast. I like shrimp and lobster tail, and will eat tuna fish and mild whitefish, but I rarely pine for seafood. I'm more of a red meat kind of guy. Maybe that is a good thing, because it sounds like harvesting and preparing traditional seafood is just downright…
More Documents, Phone Calls and Practicing SAIF Sex
Not to mislead, but the only sex in this story is metaphorical, yet apropos given the circumstances. It turns out there is a difference between “practicing safe sex” and “practicing SAIF sex”. Those “practicing safe sex” have taken precautions to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies resulting from intimate sexual contact. Those…
Tennessee Kicks Off Major Workers' Comp Changes with Sell Out Conference Crowd
I had the distinct pleasure of speaking Thursday morning as the Keynote presenter at the 17th Annual Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference in Nashville. Tennessee is on the precipice of launching the most dramatic reforms to its workers compensation system seen in many years, and this sold out conference was largely focused on educating the…
A Plotkin Petition Request
A short update and request: As you likely know, I have had an opinion or two on the firing of CEO John Plotkin by the board of Oregon State workers’ comp fund SAIF. I have never focused on a single topic as much as this one, having written 10 articles in the course of a…
SAIF Records Are Missing Number Two…..
Documents that tell a tale of termination are slowly, glacially, dripping out of SAIF in response to various Public Records Requests, and they shed an interesting light on the back story involving the entire sordid tale recounted here over the last month. First and foremost, it appears many of the employees at SAIF were on…
Meet the People Who Canned John Plotkin. Have They Made SAIF Unmanageable?
Editors Note: After the completion of this article, but before its scheduled release, Bob received documents dated May 2, 2014, confirming pre-termination communications and planning between VP of Operations and Human Resources Ryan Fleming and VP of Corporate Policy and External Affairs Chris Davie, in which they discussed the impending removal of John Plotkin. These…
Rachel Mast's Second Coolest Program of the Day
I received the video embedded below a few weeks ago, just before I was leaving on vacation. I have not had the opportunity to post it until now. It is the uplifting story of the Sporting KC Victory Project. Sporting KC is the Kansas City Professional Soccer team, and the Victory Project is an outreach…
For SAIF Plotkin Saga, the Proof May Be All Thumbs
A comment on my most recent article got me to thinking about how the employees of SAIF, the Oregon State Fund for workers’ compensation, really feel about the termination of their CEO, John Plotkin. It was related to the many responses the articles about his termination have generated on this site. That comment said, and…
Rub a Dub-Dub, State Workers in a (Hot) Tub
I’m pretty certain of one thing. Next time the Ohio Industrial Commission holds a meeting, I want to be invited. At least to the after party. The Ohio Inspector General’s Office says no laws were violated, but four hearing officers created “an appearance of impropriety” by attending a party hosted by two lawyers who represent…