CA - Crackdown on Tech in Workplace Could Hit Comp
06/12/2025 | 0
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Bills aiming to regulate how employers use technology to monitor employees and requiring disclosure of automated decision-making systems could have unintended consequences for California’s workers’ compensation system.
A bill that would establish when and where workplace surveillance is appropriate included a provision that could have hampered fraud investigations by prohibiting employers from monitoring their workers at home, according to Jason Schmelzer, a lobbyist for the California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation.
What’s more, Schmel...
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The Kentucky Court of Appeals reinstated a worker’s claim against his employer’s automobile insurance provider for benefits to supplement the recovery he received through workers’ compensation.
Case: Preston v. Nationwide General Insurance Co., No. 2024-CA-0152-MR, 05/23/2025, published.
Facts: Scott Preston worked as a paramedic for Carter County EMS. He suffered injuries in a work-related motor vehicle accident.
Preston received workers’ compensation benefits for his injuries.
Procedural history: Preston filed a civil suit against Randy Parks, the other motorist i...
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld the denial of a widow’s claim for benefits, finding her husband's occupational pneumoconiosis was not a contributing factor to his death.
Case: Bailey v. Pine Ridge Coal Co. LLC, No. 24-645, 05/28/2025, published.
Facts: Sherman Bailey worked for Pine Ridge Coal Co. LLC before he died on April 26, 2019. His death certificate listed his cause of death as influenza A with pneumonia and dysphagia, and it stated that conditions leading to the cause of death were pneumonia, dysphagia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Bailey had ...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for an escalator accident.
Case: Skydaniuk v. ESRT Empire State Building LLC, No. 27777/19, 05/22/2025, published.
Facts: Vasyl Skydaniuk allegedly suffered injuries while working on a renovation project when he tripped and fell down a stationary escalator, which served as the sole means of access between two levels of the construction site.
A carpenter with DGC Capital Contracting Corp. testified at his deposition that, to protect the escalator, he covered the steps with plastic ...
Intuition is the brain function that lets you jump from one piece of information to another. It’s why you may get your best case management ideas in the shower or even in a dream. It’s why you have that gnawing feeling that something is not quite fitting together the way it should to make sense.
A decade ago, I wrote a book, "Personal Injury Case Management: What’s My Case Worth?" In Chapter 3, "Gut Instinct," I wrote:
Experienced lawyers and insurance claim personnel use their accumulated knowledge, their gut instinct, every day in evaluating perso...
A New York appellate court ruled that an individual Labor Law defendant was entitled to summary judgment dismissing a claim against him, but the worker’s claim against his company should have been allowed to proceed.
Case: Cadena v. Kupferstein, No. 2023-06162, 05/21/2025, published.
Facts: Wilson Cadena worked as a carpenter for Molding Décor Inc. Molding Décor was hired for a renovation project at a property owned by Moses Kupferstein.
Kupferstein was the sole owner of BBM Construction Corp., which was the general contractor on the project.
Cadena was&n...
MO - Commission Vacates Safety Citations
The Occupational Health and Safety Commission on Monday vacated four citations totaling $78,791 in fines against a family-owned construction company after several inspections of worksites in 2023, finding that roofing workers in Missouri who were not using safety equipment were independent contractors.
As documented in Secretary of Labor v. Pettengill Family Restoration LLC, the main point of contention was whether the workers were employees of the company. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration had cited Pettengill for several violations for failure to use fall prot...
Pennsylvania's Senate Labor and Industry Committee on Tuesday unanimously passed legislation that aims to beef up protection for construction workers who are misclassified as independent contractors, a common practice in the industry.
Senate Bill 72, by Democratic Sen. John Kane, is intended to strengthen the 2010 Construction Workplace Misclassification Act. SB 72 would bar offending companies from receiving state contracts for up to three years for first offenses and five years for additional violations, strengthen whistleblower protections and restitution,...
The Hawaii Supreme Court revived a government worker’s claims for disability discrimination and retaliation.
Ann Gima worked for the City of Honolulu’s Department of Budget and Fiscal Services for more than 20 years. Gima alleged that in 2012, her direct supervisor, Robert Magota, began to verbally harass and abuse her, which resulted in her being diagnosed with major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder.
The city placed Gima on workers’ compensation leave intermittently from 2014 to 2018 after she was medically restricted from working with Magota.
In Novembe...
A California appellate court on Tuesday ordered publication of a decision from last month that found tribal sovereign immunity shielded a nonprofit health care organization from a workers’ compensation claim.
Last month, the 1st District Court of Appeal said that even though there was no evidence that the tribes working with United Indian Health Services Inc. intended to share their immunity with the nonprofit, policy considerations required it.
The decision in United Indian Health Services Inc. v. WCAB (Hemsted), A170950, was originally released as an unpublished opinio...
An Ohio appellate court upheld an administrative determination that two businesses providing driving education were “essentially the same employer” for workers’ compensation purposes.
Case: State ex rel. Suburban Driving School LLC v. Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, No. 23AP-241, 05/22/2025, published.
Facts: In May 2009, initial articles of incorporation were filed with the Ohio Secretary of State for Revolution Sales & Marketing Inc. Thomas E. Deighan authenticated and signed the articles.
In July 2009, an application for coverage was filed with the Bureau of ...
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his injuries from jumping into a trench.
Case: McCormick v. DiPersia, No. 156367/18, 05/20/2025, published.
Facts: Kenneth McCormick suffered injuries when he jumped into a trench to work for a project involving the rehabilitation of homes.
McCormick testified that the trench was 5- to 7-feet deep and that he asked for a ladder but was told to jump down.
Procedural history: McCormick filed suit against Navesink Prestige LLC and Sullivan Land Services Ltd., asserting claims fo...
A New York appellate court reinstated a worker’s Labor Law claim for his alleged injuries from falling while making a delivery to a construction site.
Case: Baxter v. Jada Construction & Development Inc., No. 2021-07326, 05/21/2025, published.
Facts: Shawn Baxter allegedly suffered injuries when he fell while delivering a prefabricated fireplace to a semi-attached condominium unit under construction. Baxter claimed he fell due to a slope between two driveways that created a height differential of 6 to 7 inches.
Cambridge Heights Holdings LLC owned the prop...
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a company that makes precast concrete panels was ordered to pay $500,000 after pleading guilty to violating a workplace safety standard resulting in the death of a worker.
Zachary Ledbetter, 20, died June 11, 2020, five days after he was crushed in a pneumatic door while working for Fabcon Precast in Grove City.
Ledbetter was a batch operator responsible for operating and cleaning a mixer that poured concrete through a pneumatic door. The mixer had an exhaust valve that, by design, released the pneumatic energy that powered the discharge door to ...
The California Workers’ Compensation Institute reports that total direct written premium dropped to $11.7 billion in 2024 from $11.8 billion in 2023.
CWCI said the first decline in total direct written premium in four years comes as the state’s economic growth has slowed, and that work comp charged rates were near historical lows.
The average cost of comp coverage in 2024 was $1.61 per $100 of payroll, nearly matching the average charged rate of $1.60 in 2023.
“With premium rates flat and the state suffering ongoing job losses — most notably in the high-paying tech s...
Short-tenure workers with fewer than two years of experience continue to account for the largest share of workers’ compensation claims in New Jersey, according to the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
“New hires, and shorter-tenure workers more broadly, have grown as a share of the workforce, and of claims, particularly since 2021,” Sebastian Negrusa, vice president of research for WCRI, said in a statement. “Their wages, too, have been growing faster than most other tenure groups, particularly new hires with less than a year on the job, and are a major con...