Top Story: Friday, May 16, 2025

Calif. - Committee Passes State Hospital Heart Trouble Presumption Bill, Sends Others to Suspense File

The Assembly Appropriations Committee passed a bill that would presume heart trouble is compensable for workers at California state hospitals and is projected to have minor and absorbable costs. At the same time, the committee sent to its suspense file bills addressing medical-legal reports, the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund and overlapping statutes criminalizing insurance fraud, along with a measure that would create a… Read more »

Ariz. - Worker Fails to Prove Reproductive Toxicity Claim From Solvent Exposure

The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld an award of benefits to a worker for her neurological and pulmonary injuries from solvent exposure, and it upheld the denial of benefits for the worker’s reproductive toxicity claim. Case: Tacker v. Industrial Commission, No. 1 CA-IC 24-0048, 05/06/2025, unpublished. Facts: Kylie Tacker worked for INanoBio Inc. One day at work in February 2023, Tacker removed aluminum deposits from silicon wafers using a solvent, N-Methylpyrrolidone. The process involved… Read more »

N.Y. - Worker Gets Partial Summary Judgment

A New York appellate court upheld a partial grant of summary judgment on a worker’s Labor Law claim but said other portions of the… Read more »

W.Va. - Firefighter Proves Compensability of Knee Injury

West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a finding of compensability for a firefighter’s knee… Read more »

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N.C. - Injured Attorney Gets Attendant Care Services, Penalty, Benefits Without Offset

The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that an injured attorney was entitled to an award of attendant care and a penalty, and that his former employer was not entitled to an offset of the benefits owed. Case: Thompson v. Cranfill, Sumner & Hartzog LLP, No. COA 24-596, 05/07/2025, published. Facts: Emerson Thompson is a former civil trial… Read more »

N.Y. - Bill Would Create Fraud Assessment Commission

A New York lawmaker introduced a bill that would create a workers’ compensation fraud assessment commission to provide funding for investigations and prosecutions. Senate Bill 7950, by Sen. Jamaal T. Bailey, D-Bronx, would create a nine-member Fraud Assessment Commission to advise the State Workers’ Compensation Board and the Workers’ Compensation Inspector… Read more »

Ore. - Sean O'Day Named Acting Director of DCBS; TK Keen Named Acting Insurance Commissioner

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on Thursday named Sean O’Day the acting director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. O’Day will succeed Andrew R. Stolfi, who was recently confirmed by the Oregon Senate to be the director of the Oregon Employment Department. Stolfi is currently… Read more »

Ore. - Governor Signs PEO Bill

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill replacing the term “worker leasing company” with “professional employer organization." The governor on Wednesday signed House Bill 2800, which defines a PEO as a person entering an agreement to cover certain employer responsibilities for some or all of a client employer’s workers. “A PEO that enters into a PEO relationship is… Read more »

Mass. - Insurance Commissioner Rejects Recommended Rate Increase

Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Michael Caljouw rejected a recommendation to increase rates by an average of 7.1%, effective July 1. The governor’s office issued a statement Thursday, saying rejecting the recommendation that the Workers’ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts… Read more »

Ntl. - Paduda: The State of Work Comp

by Joe Paduda

The National Council on Compensation Insurance's 2025 "State of the Line" report says: Workers' compensation premium dropped 3.2% while all property and casualty insurance lines saw an increase of almost 9%. WC bureau-approved rates are projected to drop another 6.1% this year. WC remains hugely profitable, with a combined ratio of 86%. Lower… Read more »

Ntl. - AEU Appoints Steven Ritchie as Managing Director

American Equity Underwriters, a provider of workers’ compensation coverage for waterfront employers, announced that Steven Ritchie joined the company as managing director, effective May 1. Ritchie brings nearly three decades of experience in marine insurance, with a strong focus on workers’ compensation for marine construction-related industries, the company said. Most recently, he served as director of U.S. Longshore and Harbor Workers’… Read more »