Tag: Workers Comp

Two California mushroom farms – one of which was the site of a workplace shooting by a disgruntled employee that resulted in the deaths of seven migrant workers – will pay nearly $530,000 in back wages and damages following an investigation for unsafe housing conditions.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday announced the financial recovery against Half Moon Bay, California-based California Terra Gardens and Union City-based Concord Farms Inc.

The settlements were reached with the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division and followed an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in which investigators discovered 39 migrant workers housed in cramped cargo containers, garages and dilapidated trailers at California Terra Gardens, the site of the January 2023 shooting.

The workers were discovered sleeping on dirty mattresses and were exposed to trash and insects, the DOL said.  

Investigators also discovered workers at Concord Farms housed in “moldy, makeshift rooms in a greenhouse infested with insects,” the DOL stated.

During the investigations, the Wage and Hour Division discovered that Concord Farms’ owner, Grace Tung, violated federal regulations by failing to pay workers for all hours worked, including overtime and off-the-clock work, the DOL said.

Concord Farms will pay more than $403,000 in damages and California Terra Gardens will pay more than $126,000.

  

 

 

 

An Illinois roofing contractor has agreed to pay $365,576 in penalties stemming from a workplace safety citation after the U.S. Department of Labor moved to seize his company’s assets.

The DOL said Tuesday that Waukegan-based roofer Joshua Herion and his company, ECS Roofing Professionals Inc. — which had been cited nine times dating back to 2014 for exposing employees to falls from roofs — paid the penalties after the department prepared to seize assets as part of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s debt collection program.

A federal court in January ordered Mr. Herion and ECS to pay the penalties, along with attorneys fees and interest.

The citation and penalties stemmed from workplace safety inspections in 2022. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission affirmed the citation in March 2023.

A trial judge correctly determined that ride-share company Lyft Inc. has no legal duty to conduct criminal background checks on passengers, the decision stemming from an incident in which a driver was stabbed by a rider with a criminal record, the California Court of Appeal ruled Friday.

Lyft driver Abdu Lkader Al Shikha, who was injured after being stabbed in the hand and legs during an unprovoked attack by a passenger in February 2020, sued the ride-share company for negligence for failing to conduct criminal checks on passengers.

In addition to negligence, Mr. Al Shikha also alleged that Lyft failed to provide workers compensation benefits for his injuries and failed to provide a safe place of employment. He also sued the attacker for battery.

A trial judge dismissed the lawsuit against Lyft in May 2022.

The appeals court, in affirming that decision, said requiring Lyft to conduct criminal background checks on all rideshare passengers would be overly burdensome and a “socially questionable obligation.”

“A duty to conduct criminal background checks on all rideshare passengers would raise similar concerns about overbreadth, the disproportionate exclusion of certain racial groups, and the masking of discriminatory intent,” the court wrote.  

The appeals court also upheld the trial judge’s decision dismissing the claim over failure to pay workers comp benefits, saying the trial court correctly found that Lyft had successfully rebutted the presumption of compensability.

 

 

Business Insurance is accepting nominations for the 2024 Alonzo Herndon Award, which recognizes an individual dedicated to supporting diversity and inclusion efforts in the insurance industry.

The award program, launched in 2021, is named in honor of a visionary businessman who, more than 100 years ago, founded Atlanta Life Insurance Co., one of the United States’ largest and most successful Black-owned businesses.

Mr. Herndon was born into slavery in 1858 and worked as a laborer from a young age. With almost no schooling and no money, his perseverance and entrepreneurial spirit drove him to great success, opening service businesses in Atlanta that were joined to form a landmark company. Today, the Alonzo Herndon Foundation honors his legacy and supports programs and policies in keeping with his vision.

Nominations are open until July 15. The winner will be recognized at the annual DEI Conference Oct. 17-18, 2024, in New York. 

To learn more about the award program and to submit a nomination, click here.

 

 

 

 

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Monday reversed a workers compensation judge’s decision denying a penalty petition filed by an injured worker who says her employer wrongly denied reimbursement for medical marijuana out-of-pocket costs.

The Commonwealth Court ruled that Maxim Healthcare Services violated the state’s workers compensation law when it refused to reimburse the employee for medical marijuana, which she said she used to treat a work-related back injury sustained in 2015.

The employee filed a penalty petition in August 2019, and a workers comp judge denied the request in April 2020. The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board upheld the reimbursement denial.

Maxim Healthcare argued that if it were forced to reimburse the injured worker for medical marijuana costs, it would be exposed to potential criminal liability since marijuana is still federally illegal.

The Commonwealth Court ruled that the state’s Medical Marijuana Act does not prohibit reimbursement of the drug and does not expose the employer to criminal prosecution.

The ruling notes that Maxim Healthcare never challenged whether the use of medical marijuana was reasonable and necessary to treat the work injury, but rather, the employer argued reimbursement would be “tantamount to compelling the commission of a crime that could subject the employer or insurer to criminal charges.”

The appellate court remanded the case to the workers comp judge to determine what, if any, penalty should be imposed on the employer.  

 

 

 

A worker who died in a vehicle accident whose estate was barred from suing because of workers compensation exclusive remedy still should have been considered an insured in his company’s uninsured motorist policy, allowing the estate to pursue a claim in federal court, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The state high court was asked to certify questions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in a lawsuit by Nancy Anaya-Smith, next of kin to Michael Brian Smith, who died in a March 2020 accident while a passenger in a vehicle owned by his employer, Fixtures & Drywall Co. of Oklahoma.

Ms. Anaya-Smith, contending the co-worker’s negligence caused the accident, filed suit alleging the employer’s insurer, Federated Mutual Insurance Co., denied her uninsured motorist claim in bad faith and that its uninsured motorist coverage scheme violated Oklahoma law because it didn’t consider Mr. Smith an insured since he was not a director, officer, partner, owner or qualifying member of the company.

The employer’s insurance policy provided up to $1 million in liability coverage per accident. The company also had an umbrella policy with Federated Mutual that provided an additional $6 million in coverage.

All parties agreed the vehicle involved was a covered vehicle and the driver was an insured.

Ms. Anaya-Smith, who was barred from suing the employer under its commercial and umbrella policies, instead sought recovery of uninsured motorist benefits.

The high court said even with comp exclusive remedy, Mr. Smith should have been considered an insured under the uninsured motorist policy enabling Ms. Anaya-Smith to pursue her claim. 

 

 

Ohio lawmakers Wednesday introduced a bill that would help first responders suffering from “psych conditions.”

H.B. 559 applies to “peace officers, firefighters, and emergency medical workers diagnosed with psychiatric conditions arising from employment without an accompanying physical injury.”

Under current law such workers are able to claim workers compensation for psychiatric conditions only if a physical injury is present.

 

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries on Wednesday said it fined two central Washington companies over the asphyxiation of an agricultural worker in October 2023.

The agency cited Pace International LLC and Stemilt Growers for “willful” and “serious” violations over the workplace death, which took place as the employee was applying a fungicide to apples to help with preservation.

Pace International was fined $574,000 for eight “willful serious” and two “serious” violations related to confined space hazards and disturbing the scene.

Stemilt Growers was fined $76,300 for one “willful serious” violation and one “serious” violation related to confined space rules designed to protect workers.

On the day of the fatality, the Pace International employee was working inside a controlled atmosphere room when a Stemilt worker’s oxygen monitor alarm sounded to alert oxygen deficiency, the agency stated.

The Stemilt employee never alerted the Pace International worker, and instead allowed him to continue working in the hazardous condition, according to the agency.

Another Pace International employee later found their co-worker unresponsive.

The agency said Pace International, which was placed in the Severe Violator Program, appealed its fines, while Stemilt Growers didn’t file an appeal.  

 

 

Dave North, executive chairman of Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc., will receive the 2024 Business Insurance Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding accomplishments in the claims, insurance and risk management sector.

He will accept the award during the Business Insurance U.S. Insurance Awards on July 18 in New York.

Mr. North began his career in the insurance industry in 1978 as a fire protection engineer at Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co., after serving as a volunteer firefighter in Detroit and in the U.S. Air Force.

After working at various other claims and risk consulting companies, he joined Sedgwick as president and CEO in 1995 and was named executive chairman in 2020. During his time at Sedgwick, where he led it through numerous acquisitions, the company grew from the 8th-largest third-party claims administrator with $70 million in gross revenue and 5,000 staff in 1995 to the world’s largest TPA with more than $4 billion in revenue and more than 30,000 staff.

Last month, Sedgwick announced Mr. North would retire on June 30 but remain on its board of directors.

The Business Insurance Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the risk management sector over the course of their careers. Recipients are selected by the editorial staff.

All the honorees are entered into the Business Insurance Hall of Fame. Past recipients include: 2023, Alan Jay Kaufman, chairman president and CEO of H.W. Kaufman Group; 2022, J. Patrick Gallagher, chairman, president and CEO of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.; 2021, Brian Duperreault, retired CEO of American International Group Inc.; 2020, Kevin H. Kelley, retired vice chairman of Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.’s Global Risk Solutions business; 2019, Martin P. Hughes, executive chairman of Hub International Ltd.; 2018, Maurice R. Greenberg, chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Co. Inc.; and 2017, Patrick G. Ryan, chairman and CEO of Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc.

For more information on the award and the event, click here.