From Bob's Cluttered Desk

From time to time over the years, I have pulled out my prognosticative pen and scribed what I believed were 10 events most likely to occur in the year laid out before us. History has not been kind to these efforts. The reality is, I suck at prognostication. I have been wrong far more than…

We recently went through a complete kitchen remodel. It was a comprehensive project that stripped the kitchen to the studs in places and included tearing out and replacing 600 square feet of tile: both in the kitchen and adjacent areas. It was a delightful affair that left my wife and I, along with our two…

  This week, with Congress certifying Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States and the special election in Georgia shifting power in the Senate, the long and harried election of 2020 has come to a close. As the dust settles, we view the shifting power base in Washington and the new initiatives and…

Last week, in his blog The WorkComp Writer, Thomas Robinson addressed yet another aspect of the ongoing COVID episode as it relates to workers’ compensation. In his post “Do Employers Face Additional Liability for COVID-19 Vaccination Side Effects?,” Robinson discusses a question that was put before him by a member of the legal community. The questioner…

This week I saw the movie “The Santa Clause,” starring Tim Allen, for the first time. Some may find it hard to believe that, although the movie came out almost 27 years ago in 1994, I had never seen it. I’m not sure why. I suppose I’ve been waiting for the book to come out.…

My father was born on December 20, 1919. This Sunday he would have been 101 years old. I had made travel arrangements and intended to be with him for his birthday over the weekend. Unfortunately, we will not be celebrating that day, and he will not get to see that milestone.  My father passed away two days…

In this day of political angst and division, there is one thing we should all be able to agree on. Language matters. The words we choose can influence people’s perception, attitude and actions. That is the concept behind “Workers’ Recovery;” the idea of rebranding the workers’ compensation industry. The change of one simple word could…

If ever there was a good example of the phrase “everything in moderation,” Giving Tuesday would be it. For those of you unaware, “Giving Tuesday” is, according to Wikipedia, the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving here in the United States. It follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It is touted as a “global generosity movement unleashing…

A lawsuit has been filed by the family of a Publix deli worker alleging he died of COVID because the Florida based company prohibited employees from wearing masks during the early days of the pandemic. The suit claims the deceased employee was not allowed to wear a mask because “Publix feared that mask-wearing employees would frighten customers.”…

The virtual All Committee Conference of the Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA) concluded yesterday after two full days of discussions over all things workers’ comp. One of the things discussed in two of the sessions was the concept of “grading” the industry on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the speakers gave the…