Latest Workers' Compensation Headlines

All the headlines from our Workers' Compensation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

FCBI, a Florida Workers’ Comp Fund, Acquires MidSouth Mutual in Tennessee

Aug 26 2024 // FCBI, a self-insurance fund founded 45 years ago to provide workers’ compensation plans to Florida citrus growers, is expanding well beyond the Sunshine State with the acquisition of MidSouth Mutual Insurance Co. in...

Cyber Risk: West Virginia OIC Plans to Dispose of Older Workers’ Comp Files

Aug 22 2024 // The West Virginia insurance commissioner’s office has adopted a new policy: It will soon begin destroying workers’ compensation claim files that are 10 years old or older.“Given increasing cybersecurity...

Washington State Meter Reader Pleads Guilty in Workers’ Comp Scam

Aug 22 2024 // A 56-year-old former Washington State meter reader who claimed she was so traumatized from a workplace dog attack that she fainted at the sight of dogs has pleaded guilty in a workers’ compensation fraud...

Mississippi Poultry Plant Settles With OSHA After Teen’s 2023 Death

Aug 20 2024 // HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi poultry processing plant has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor that requires it to pay $164,814 in fines and put in place enhanced safety measures following...

West Virginia Governor Touts 20th-Straight Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Decrease

Aug 13 2024 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance is recommending a 9.1% decrease in workers’ compensation loss cost projections for the West Virginia voluntary market. If approved by regulators, it would mark the 20th...

Employer’s Clinic May Not be Protected by Workers’ Comp Remedy, SC Court Says

Aug 13 2024 // The South Carolina Court of Appeals has signaled that employers who offer on-site health clinics may not be immune from tort claims from injured or sickened workers. It’s the latest twist to a question that has...

OSHA Says Alleged Fall Hazards Could Cost Adidas in New York Nearly $400K

Aug 13 2024 // Federal workplace safety officials say that Adidas America Inc. – maker of one of the world’s best-selling sneakers – faces almost $400,000 in penalties for allegedly continuing to ignore federal...

Student-on-Employee Workers’ Compensation Assault Claims Drop: Gallagher Bassett

Aug 9 2024 // The number of workers’ compensation claims for student-on-school-employee assault dropped significantly during the 2023-24 school year, according to data from Gallagher Bassett.This change comes after two years of...

OSHA Cites Construction Company in Deadly Idaho Airport Hangar Collapse

Aug 2 2024 // Federal safety investigators cited a construction company in the deadly collapse of an Idaho airport hangar, saying it exercised a “blatant disregard” for federal safety standards.The Occupational Safety and...

Report: 1Q 2024 California Workers’ Comp Written Premium 3% Lower Than Year Ago

Jul 31 2024 // Written premium for the first quarter of 2024 was 3% lower than the first quarter of 2023, while written premium in 2023 was slightly above 2022, according to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of...

Outlooks Revised to Positive for Louisiana Workers’ Comp Insurer Stonetrust

Jul 31 2024 // AM Best revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a-” (Excellent) of Stonetrust Commercial Insurance...

Court Must Decide If Child Victims Act Revives Old Workers’ Compensation Claims

Jul 31 2024 // Did New York lawmakers intend the Child Victims Act (CVA) that revived old claims of sexual abuse to apply to claims by employees that would previously have been handled by the workers’ compensation system?It’s...

Minnesota Adds Stricter Guidelines for Rehabilitation Services in Work Comp Claims

Jul 30 2024 // Injured Minnesota employees who seek services from the Department of Labor and Industry’s Vocational Rehabilitation unit (VRU) while their disputed workers’ compensation claim goes through the litigation...

California Workers’ Comp Report Shows ‘Relatively Stable’ System Post-Pandemic

Jul 30 2024 // The California workers’ compensation system has been relatively stable in the post-pandemic era, as premium levels rose by 1% in 2023 and are forecast to increase modestly in 2024—while decreases in average insurer...

Painting Contractor Cited by OSHA After Worker Falls 80 Feet from Water Tower

Jul 26 2024 // A New Jersey contractor whose employee fell 80 feet to the bottom of a Bayville water tower has been cited by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for allegedly failing to provide required...

Wife of Ex-Texas Trucking Magnate Sentenced in $9M Work Comp Fraud Scheme

Jul 24 2024 // The wife of a former San Antonio trucking magnate was sentenced this month in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.Frances Hall, former co-owner of Bill Hall Jr. Trucking, was sentenced for her role in a scheme to avoid $9...

Former Postal Worker Sentenced to Probation for Workers’ Compensation Fraud

Jul 22 2024 // A former U.S. Postal Service employee in Delaware who defrauded taxpayers of almost $100,000 in workers’ compensation benefits has been sentenced to probation. Lakisha Hines was sentenced Thursday after pleading...

Minnesota Workers’ Comp System Stable Despite COVID-19 Impact

Jul 17 2024 // Workers’ compensation claim rates and benefits paid in Minnesota continue to be stable or follow their long-term downward trajectories, a new Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) report shows.The 2024 Minnesota...

Washington Adult Home Operator Facing Felony Charge in Alleged Workers’ Comp Scam

Jul 17 2024 // A Spokane, Washington woman who ran an adult family home while claiming she was too injured to work faces a felony charge in a $60,000 workers’ compensation fraud case.Serah Kamau, 52, reportedly operated her...

Amazon Worker Injured Due to Repetitive Tasks Loses Workers’ Compensation Bid

Jul 17 2024 // An Amazon distribution center worker in Virginia whose job entailed repetitive lifting and stowing of items all day and who suffered rotator cuff tears has been denied workers’ compensation benefits because she...