At least two separate, yet similar editorials ran in Tennessee publications this week lambasting the effort to implement Opt Out in the state. Both articles essentially contend that the Opt Out scheme being proposed holds “threatening consequences for the state, its business environment, businesses and workers.” Can't say I disagree with them. One editorial appeared…
Employer Chooses Flatulation Termination Over Toxic Inhalation
In the interest of fairness and full disclosure, I have been a bit under the weather since returning from a business trip to California last week. Traveling extensively can expose people to increased risks of illness, and I have been very fortunate the last couple years that I have not suffered any ill effects from…
Workers' Comp Safety Training Lesson Number 2: How Not to Feed a Python
It can be said at times that the most effective training lesson can be accomplished by showing people what not to do. And when that demonstration results in a bone crushing near death experience, you can be certain that the trainees in your charge will be taking voluminous mental notes in order to protect themselves…
The Workers' Comp Payola Pandemic: Rampant Graft and Corruption Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be
I have been wanting to write this article for a few days, and in fact intended to do so next week. However, a session yesterday at the California Workers’ Compensation and Risk Conference in Dana Point, CA, has compelled me to do so now. The panel, assembled to discuss the current status of workers’ compensation…
Texas DWC Steps In; Amputee Gets Benefits Reprieve (For Now)
The Texas Division of Workers' Compensation stepped into the case of Jane Hays last Friday, issuing an Interlocutory Order requiring Texas Political Subdivisions (TPS) to start paying her benefits, including indemnity payments and “reasonable and necessary medical care”. The extremely rare order was given after the TPS denial of her claim received national media attention.…
A Note From Dana Point
Technically, as I write this I am not in Dana Point. Rather, I am on a plane bound for Dana Point and the annual California Workers’ Compensation and Risk Conference that is running from today through October 2nd. I am scheduled to appear on a bloggers panel this Thursday. I’ve done numerous “National Bloggers” panels…
For Texas Carrier and Workers' Comp, the Cost of Outrageous Denial is High
A former workers' comp regulator texted me a story out of Texas this morning. It describes the case of 73-year-old Jane Hays, who in the twilight of a long insurance career suffered major injury in a car crash while driving home from a meeting called by the same insurance company that is now denying her…
Fun with Dick Inane
I was on vacation last week in Vermont, counting Subarus, eating maple flavored everything and generally minding my own business, when I got an email from a friend in the industry. His email contained a link to an article's comments where he and I had been publicly besmirched by a disgruntled compster who has never…
On Friendly Vermont and 100 Years of Workers' Comp
All was quiet on the Cluttered Desk last week, as I took a few days off to enjoy the beautiful mountain air of the State of Vermont. I traveled there with my wife, honored to be the Luncheon Keynote speaker for the 100th Anniversary Workers’ Compensation Conference, produced by the Vermont Department of Labor and…
Communication Lessons From a Workplace Injury at Bob Evans Farms
Last week I wrote about a personal experience I had with a server who had recently had an on the job injury at a restaurant I frequent. She had injured her knee, and was off the job for a number of weeks. The story centered on her description of “the workers' comp people” as being…