From Bob's Cluttered Desk

We’ve been preparing this week to launch the 2nd Annual Best Blogs Contest, designed to find the most informative and entertaining blogs in the workers’ compensation industry. The judges have (almost all) been confirmed, the Best Blogs logo has been given an updated look, and we are preparing our systems to receive nominations. You will…

Peter Rousmaniere wrote an excellent piece that appeared yesterday on this site, addressing the challenge of digitizing our industry. Specifically, he informed us that, while the “American economy is 27 percent digitized”, only 10 percent of the property casualty insurance industry has reached that point. With estimates, according to Rousmaniere, that up to 43 percent…

I must be honest with you. I did not write most of this “feces as medicine” post. Instead, it was penned by a friend and fellow blogger, who ultimately came to realize that he, due to his high station, relative sobriety and stellar reputation in life, could not give justice to the topic at hand.…

Everyone, it seems, is talking about automation and artificial intelligence these days. The relentless cry is that “it is going to change our world”. I agree that this is going to occur. But what we don’t want to forget is that, over the last decade or more it has already happened, and we’ve barely seemed…

When I moved from my hometown of Durango, CO almost 33 years ago, I had no idea that I would be “out of the state” for such a tremendous length of time. A freshly minted college graduate, I headed for the Sunshine State, hoping for a few snowless winters before I would likely wind my…

This post will mark a brief departure for me. I normally do not write specifically about the website or company I run, but I am pretty enthused about some changes we are making at WorkersCompensation.com; so, what the hell. It’s my blog. I can do with it what I please. And today’s topic pleases me.…

In what is apparently the largest settlement ever for the Oregon Department of Justice and SAIF Corporation, the SAIF Board of Directors today decided in a 4-0 vote to settle the wrongful termination lawsuit of John Plotkin. The settlement amount of $1.7 million will cover Plotkin’s lost wages and attorney’s fees. The decision was made…

In a little under 5 hours from this writing, at 12:30PM Pacific time, the SAIF Corporation Board of Directors will meet to determine their course of action regarding last week’s bombshell court decision that reinstated John Plotkin as CEO of that company. Last Tuesday Marion County Circuit Court Judge Claudia Burton ruled that the board…

I ended last week with a rant against political correctness run amok, in a story about idiots offended by a restaurant named Moby Dick’s Fish and Chips. They thought the word “Dick” was offensive. While I don’t often follow one anti-PC rant directly with another, it appears this week that is what I am about…

A story in Courthouse News caught my eye recently, as it highlighted the inane levels of political correctness we now see on a daily basis. It tells of a lawsuit filed against a Vancouver, BC Building Council because they blocked a restaurant chain from leasing a space in their building. A “Moby Dick’s Fish and…