Tag: Workers Comp

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered a global marine cargo services company to rehire a seaman who claimed his firing was in retaliation for reporting workplace safety concerns.

OSHA said Thursday it determined the seaman’s March 2021 firing by Maersk Line Ltd. violated the federal Seaman’s Protection Act, which allows workers to report safety concerns directly to the U.S. Coast Guard as opposed to with a company.

In December 2020, the seaman reported numerous safety concerns about the vessel Safmarine Mafadi – a 50,000-ton container ship. He was subsequently suspended and ultimately terminated for not first making the complaint with the company in accordance with policy.

Reported safety concerns included malfunctions with the gear used to release lifeboats in emergencies.

OSHA ordered the company to reinstate the seaman and pay $457,759 in back wages, interest and compensatory damages as well as $250,000 in punitive damages.

The company was also required to revise its policy and not prohibit seamen from contacting the Coast Guard or other federal, state or local regulatory agencies before notifying the company about safety issues.    

 

 

A Texas appellate court has overturned workers compensation benefits awarded to a former professional football player, the decision coming after the court earlier ruled on a venue dispute issue in the case.

The Court of Appeals of Texas, Fifth District in Dallas on Tuesday determined that a trial court was wrong to award Alcus Reshod Fortenberry temporary income benefits under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act and that a prior determination by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation’s appeals panel correctly found benefits were inappropriate.

Mr. Fortenberry entered into a contract with the National Football League in 2015 to play with the Dallas Cowboys. He was injured while practicing at the team’s Oxnard, California, training camp that August.

Mr. Fortenberry, who was terminated in May 2016, received compensation from the football club for the 2015 season in accordance with his contract. He subsequently filed a claim for workers comp, and while the insurer accepted the claim, it disputed the right to receive indemnity benefits because Mr. Fortenberry received separate benefits, including injury protection benefits, through his players’ contract.

The appeals court noted that players who elect to receive certain benefits through their collective bargaining agreement bars them from receiving comp benefits, including temporary income benefits.

The appeals court reversed the lower court decision and further ordered that Mr. Fortenberry reimburse the comp insurer, Great Divide Insurance Co., for costs spent on the appeal. 

 

 

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday announced a notice of proposed rulemaking concerning nationwide standards for personal protective equipment in the construction industry.

OSHA said its current standard does not clearly state that PPE must fit each construction worker properly, as is the case for the administration’s current general industry and maritime standards.

The failure of standard-sized PPE to protect smaller construction workers as well as women could lead to various health and safety concerns, OSHA stated, adding that the proposed rule is unlikely to increase employer costs or create compliance burdens.

OSHA said that improperly fitted PPE, in addition to creating potential health and safety concerns, could possibly discourage employees from using such equipment in the workplace.

 

 

 

A Pennsylvania contractor was cited by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration after a lineman’s electrocution earlier this year.

OSHA announced Wednesday that it cited Blue Bell-based Concurrent Group LLC for five serious violations and proposed $40,937 in penalties after the utility worker died during a workplace incident in Miami, Florida in January.

During the incident, workers had parked a digger derrick truck underneath energized overhead power lines and the worker was killed by electricity when the truck’s boom came into contact with a 7,620-volt power line.

The company was cited for allowing employees to operate a digger truck too close to energized overhead power lines, failing to designate a supervisor to warn workers about the hazard, not ensuring protective equipment was in place to ground and insulate the area while employees worked near power lines, and failing to inspect the site prior to the start of work.

The company has 15 business days to contest the citation and proposed fines.

 

 

 

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Business Insurance on Wednesday announced the winners of the 2023 U.S. Insurance Awards during a live awards presentation in New York.

Highlighting the event was the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Alan Jay Kaufman, chairman, president and CEO of H.W. Kaufman Group.

In addition, teams of professionals from across the industry were honored for specific projects they collaborated on in the field of commercial insurance.

Finalists in 10 categories were selected by Business Insurance staff from 170 nominations.

The winners were selected by a panel of risk managers who independently assessed each of the finalists.

The 2023 USIA winners are:

Broker Team of the Year

Willis Towers Watson PLC

Community Outreach Project of the Year (Donations)

Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.

Community Outreach Project of the Year (Pro Bono and Volunteer)

Axis Capital Holdings Ltd.

Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year

Alliant Insurance Services Inc.

Insurance Consulting Team of the Year

BDO USA LLP

Insurance Underwriting Team of the Year

Zurich North America

Legal Team of the Year

Covington & Burling LLP

Risk Management Team of the Year

Carhartt Inc./CorVel Corp.

TPA Team of the Year

Gallagher Bassett Services Inc.

Wholesale Brokerage Team of the Year

RT Specialty

The awards program, which began in 2017, also raises funds to support the Business Insurance Scholarship. This endowment, administered by the Spencer Educational Foundation, aims to open new opportunities to provide scholarships to risk management and insurance students, as well as grants to support risk management and insurance programs, and to develop programming at universities without risk management degree programs, including HBCUs.

Profiles of the winners will appear in the September edition of Business Insurance.

 

A federal appeals court has ruled that an attorney was properly suspended by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from the practice of law due to accusations against two judges overseeing a 2010 workers compensation matter.

In a Tuesday decision, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals found that attorney Robert Murphy’s law license was properly suspended in Pennsylvania for five years and that a doctrine known as “reciprocal discipline,” or similar discipline in another jurisdiction, was appropriately applied.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania imposed reciprocal discipline after the state courts suspended Mr. Murphy from practicing law.

The disciplinary action came after Mr. Murphy accused two workers comp judges of improperly communicating with opposing counsel without his involvement, known as “ex parte” communications.

Mr. Murphy sought to have the two comp judges recuse themselves from hearing the comp case, in which he represented the claimant.

Pennsylvania’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel informed Mr. Murphy in 2012 that he was facing a complaint relating to his “purportedly false allegations of ex parte communications” against the comp judges.

The federal appeals court ruled that Mr. Murphy’s due process rights weren’t violated during the disciplinary proceedings and that the imposition of reciprocal discipline was not a “grave injustice.”

The court further reiterated that Mr. Murphy’s accusations of judicial misconduct were baseless.  

 

 

Failing to have a written hazard communication program topped the list of workplace safety violations for employers in 2022 in Oregon, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division revealed in a data report issued Tuesday.

While the total initial penalties – $44,025 for 363 offenses – paled in comparison with the fines issued for the second-most-documented offense, lack of fall protection with a total of $919,930 for 263 offenses, the No. 1 violation was in line with other trends on the list: administrative duties involving safety.

Of the Top 10 violations, six involve such issues as lacking rules about safety committees or safety meetings — No. 3 on the list with 254 citations — and documentation of safety committee meetings — No. 4 on the list with 106 offenses. Other top administrative citations included failure to provide safety data sheets and certificates for fall protection training.