Mining firm sentenced in workers' comp scheme

Today's post is shared from wvgazette.com Leads continue to develop out of an investigation into a multimillion-dollar scheme aimed at lowering workers' compensation premiums for contract firms that provided workers to some of the state's largest coal producers, an assistant U.S. Attorney said Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge John Copenhaver said the "scam here has been extraordinary" before sentencing Aracoma Contracting LLC to three years probation and ordering restitution be paid. The scheme involved former BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. auditor, Arville Sargent, who took bribes to help contract companies save millions in workers' compensation premiums by paying workers in cash and falsifying payroll records. It involved four mining contract firms  -- Aracoma Contracting LLC, Christian Contracting, T&W Services LLC, and Newhall Contracting. The companies were controlled by Jerome Eddie Russell, Frelin Workman and his son, Randy Workman. The four companies were "employee leasing" services that supplied miners for coal companies, including Alpha Natural Resources and Patriot Coal, under arrangements common in the state's mining industry. Acting on behalf of Aracoma, its principals Russell, 50, of Williamson and Frelin R. Workman, 58, of Belfrey, Ky., formed a relationship with the Bank of Mingo, and one of its employees at the bank's Williamson branch. Aracoma, Sargent and Workman must jointly pay back about $4.7 million in restitution. Aracoma must also...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

Found on

Related articles

• The Conflict Between NAFTA and Comp (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Oklahoma Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Worker's Comp Law - Opt-Out is The Law (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Fear of Reporting Safety Claims (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• A California Lesson: How to Kill Workers' Compensation Pill By Pill (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

AIA to Urge Renewal of TRIA to Workers Compensation

The American Insurance Association (AIA) will highlight the importance of renewing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) 2013 Fall National Meeting, underscoring TRIA's role in the workers' compensation marketplace.   The NAIC meeting will take place December 14-18 in Washington, D.C.

"Workers' compensation insurers are particularly affected by a terrorist attack," said J. Stephen ("Stef") Zielezienski, AIA senior vice president and general counsel. "By definition, workers' compensation policies must cover all risks, including terrorism, because workers' compensation covers all injuries and deaths that are deemed under a state's law as work-related without distinguishing the source of the injury."  Coupled with the nature of a terrorist attack, this makes the risk difficult to manage without the partnership provided by TRIA."

Zielezienski will appear before the Workers' Compensation (C) Task Force on Tuesday, December 17.  In his presentation, Zielezienski will focus on the expected impact on employers, insurers and state regulators should TRIA sunset at the end of 2014.    

"Without TRIA, workers' compensation insurers would have to make difficult decisions on how to manage their aggregated exposure, particularly for geographically-concentrated risks like terrorism," said Zielezienski.  "If an insurance company elects to reduce their exposure by not offering as much capacity, then state residual markets and workers' compensation pools would have to absorb the risk.  Ultimately, workers' compensation insurers would be responsible for these losses because they reinsure these residual market risks, but the extreme losses from catastrophic terrorism could stress the private markets and create economic uncertainty."

Zielezienski will also focus on what responsibilities state governments might assume for workers' compensation should TRIA not be reauthorized.   Both AIA and the NAIC are advocating for the long-term reauthorization of TRIA.  The NAIC passed a resolution at its 2013 Summer National Meeting in Indianapolis urging Congress to reauthorize the successful program. 

Related articles

• John Burton Reports on Workers' Compensation Insurance Industry Underwriting Results (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Oklahoma workers' compensation opt-out provisions spark judicial questions (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• The Workers' Compensation Nuclear Option: Detroit officially enters bankruptcy (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Fee Schedules and Value (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• The Next Wave: N.H.L. Players Sue League Over Head Injuries (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Trickle Down Stagnation (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Wah, Wah, Wah (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

In Detroit Ruling, Threats to Promises and Assumptions

Bankruptcy is utilized by employers as shields against liabilities. Self-Insurance in workers' coesation is one of those liabilities Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.nytimes.com

Someday, Detroit’s bankruptcy may well be seen as the start of an era of broken promises. For years, cities have promised rock-solid pensions without setting aside enough money to pay for them, aided by lax accounting practices, easy borrowing and sometimes the explicit encouragement of labor unions. Officials were counting on rich investment gains to fill the holes; unions and their retirees were counting on legal provisions — like Michigan’s Constitution — that said pensions were unassailable and that benefits would always be paid, whether through higher taxes or budget cutbacks elsewhere. But a bankruptcy judge, Steven W. Rhodes, threw a wrench into that thinking on Tuesday, ruling that pension benefits could be reduced in a bankruptcy proceeding. The decision recast the landscape and gave distressed cities leverage to backtrack on their promises. “Last night, as a public employees’ union leader, you went to bed thinking, ‘My workers’ pensions have special protection; I can continue to play hardball,’ ” Karol K. Denniston, a lawyer with the firm Schiff Hardin who has been advising residents of California cities on fiscal issues, said Tuesday after the judge issued his ruling. “This morning you woke up and found yourself in a new world.” Public employees’ unions are already fighting back, though not against the chronic underfunding of their benefits. They are fighting the notion that...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

Found on

Related articles

• The Workers' Compensation Nuclear Option: Detroit officially enters bankruptcy (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Supreme Court 2013: Court Could Cripple Unions In Major Labor Cases (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Leaders make last ditch plea for Boeing deal as Machinists remain defiant (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Beyond Fast Food Strikes | Jacobin (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Chamber takes aim at worker centers (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• NTSB kicks train union out of crash investigation (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• McDonald's tells workers to "sing away stress," "chew away cares" and go to church (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

White House rejects asbestos bill

Today's post was shared by Linda Reinstein and comes from www.politico.com

President Barack Obama’s administration came out against a key piece of asbestos legislation Tuesday just days after headlining a fundraiser at the homes of two of the top asbestos litigators in the country. In a swing through Texas last week, two of the country’s top asbestos attorneys, Russell Budd and Peter Kraus, hosted fundraisers that brought in an expected $1 million-plus for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee over the course of three hours at their Dallas-area homes. Continue Reading On Tuesday evening the White House put out a statement opposing a piece of legislation aimed at regulating asbestos bankruptcy trusts. Budd and Kraus both sit on the boards of several of these trusts. The White House and the Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a request for comment. The trusts allow companies with significant liabilities to secure protection for future claims, but often have advisory committees made up of people from the same law firms that represent the asbestos clients. The Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act — backed by business interests such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — would require the trusts to disclose additional information about the claims the pay to victims, in order prevent false or inflated claims. In a statement Tuesday evening, the White House warned that the legislation would make publicly available the personal information of individuals who had filed asbestos-related injuries. Additionally,...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

Found on

Related articles

• Think asbestos is banned in the US? (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• U.S. House passes FACT Act (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Take Action: Tell Congress to Protect Veterans & Cancer Victims (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Georgia-Pacific Reports Show Corporations Can't Be Trusted (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Three Known Causes of Death: Lead Paint, Asbestos, and PowerPoints! (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization New Infographic: Irrefutable Facts About Asbestos (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

Goleta California: Workers' Comp Office Closing

The workers’ compensation office in Goleta — the only one in the county and open since 1999 — is being closed on November 30 with all of its clients and employees transferred to the Oxnard branch. The state’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) announced the decision last month. Decrying the lack of public outreach, the Goleta City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to send a letter to the department opposing the closure and requesting it be postponed until people can weigh in. “It’s really going to be troublesome,” Mayor Roger Aceves said. “We regret any inconvenience,” said DIR spokesperson Peter Melton. “Because [Oxnard is] less than an hour away, the decision was made to merge the offices.” Melton added that the closure is mainly due to the building’s monthly rent — more than $20,000 — and the increased space at the Oxnard office. He added that the Goleta branch — the only one closing right now — is one of the smallest out of the state’s 24, with only one judge and 1,254 hearing requests so far this year. Aceves said he hopes the letter results in a public hearing or perhaps a compromise in which cases are held in Goleta a couple of days per week. There is no word on whether other cities in the county plan on taking similar action. Employees at the Goleta office said they couldn’t comment on the closure. Megan Compton, an attorney for the Santa...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

Found on

Related articles

• To cut costs, New York will close workers' comp hearing sites (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Bill limiting workers' comp claims by athletes is sent to governor (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Oklahoma: Gov. Fallin's picks for workers comp commission lack experience (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• The uneven playing field of workers' compensation (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Work Comp Steps Up to ACA (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Too Much Temptation To Do the Wrong Thing (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)