2020 was, by all standards, a tumultuous year. Riots and looting, along with a massive increase in shootings and violent crime, gripped many major cities across the nation. This happened, perhaps not coincidentally, in tandem with a major push in some of those cities to “defund the police,” a movement purportedly designed to rethink how…
Mission Impossible: Webcam Model Shoots Self in Private Parts
With the dramatic shift in workplace strategies since the pandemic, we have been warning workers’ compensation professionals that employment-related injuries in the home will start presenting unique challenges to the industry. A dramatic on-the-job accident earlier this month in Georgia really drives that point home. It seems a home-based “webcam model” accidentally shot herself in…
At WCI This Year, the Word is Safety
The 75th Annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference is fast approaching, scheduled in Orlando, FL from December 12 – 15, 2021. It is a production of the Workers’ Compensation Institute (WCI) and is unquestionably the largest and most comprehensive event in the nation for the workers’ compensation industry. This year is different in a variety of ways, but…
The Long Predicted Gray Tsunami Has Arrived – As Regulators Suffer Most
For years experts have been talking about the “gray tsunami” that threatened the workers’ compensation industry. The crushing wave said to be coming was not one of earth temblors and overwhelming waves, but rather a current of retirement from an aging and long-entrenched workforce. And in the aftermath of Covid and the “great resignation” now…
Montana, Kentucky and the Future of Vaccine Mandates
Kentucky attorneys H. Douglas Jones and Margo J. Menefee reported on this site Wednesday that their state has introduced legislation that would prevent discrimination based on immunization status. Specifically, they conveyed that: Bill Request 358 would ban employers from altering any conditions of a worker’s employment due to that worker declining immunization or refusing to…
A Stripper and Her Emotional Support Monkey
It has been quite some time since we took on the topic of strippers in the workplace. It has been even longer since we discussed a stripper with an emotional support monkey. Come to think of it, we’ve never discussed a stripper with an emotional support monkey, but since one has wound her way into…
A New Knee Gives Me Plethy to Write About
My second knee replacement of the year isn’t just an opportunity to improve my physical health. It turns out it has been an occasion to try a new product that has the potential to vastly improve outcomes for those who are undergoing physical therapy. And my early impressions are positive. I was approached by an…
The Upcoming NWCDN Annual (Virtual) Conference
The annual conference put on by the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network (NWCDN) is scheduled for November 10, 2021. It is a virtual event, running from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Central. As with prior NWCDN events, both in-person and virtual, it is free of charge. And as I’ve written previously, it is an excellent…
The Elephant in the Room: Does Domestic Abuse Affect Workers' Comp?
Editor’s Note: A Hot Seat Webinar on this topic, Spotting The Abusive Elephant in the Room: The Impact of Domestic Violence on Workers’ Comp Cases, will be on Thursday, October 28, 2021, at 1 PM eastern. Registration is free and may be accessed here. The tragic case of Gabby Petito that gripped the nation last month brought…
Workers' Comp and the Supply Chain Crisis
There has been a tremendous focus in recent weeks on the fragilities of our nation’s supply chain. Some everyday products are in frighteningly short supply, hundreds of container ships are waiting weeks to be unloaded, and ominous warnings are being issued that Christmas may not be coming this year. It should be noted that those…