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(c) 2010-2026 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Government workers' compensation payments surge in New Orleans

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.nola.com

new-orleans-city-hall.jpg

As New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu continues to weave through another tight budget year, his administration is having to deal with yet another major fiscal blow: a projected $8 million jump in payments this year to city employees hurt on the job.

Landrieu's budget director, Cary Grant, told the City Council's Budget Committee this week that he expects payments for workers' compensation claims -- primarily from firefighters -- will increase from $16 million in 2012 to $24 million by the end of 2013.

Grant offered no theory for the 50 percent jump, but he said the administration has hired a forensic auditing firm from Sacramento, Calif., Bickmore Risk Services, to comb through the city's stacks of claims and payments to find ways to save money. Auditors will also examine the work of the claims management firm Landrieu hired last year: Hammerman & Gainer Inc. of New Orleans.

Bickmore began its audit on Monday, said Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Courtney Bagneris, who has been filling in for the city's departed risk management director, Michael McKenna. She told the committee the administration expects to have a full report by mid-October.

The city has roughly 1,000 outstanding workers' compensation claims, with more than three out of four coming from the Fire Department. To slow that trend, Bagneris said, the administration is developing a "light-duty program" that will let...
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Sunday, September 1, 2013

National Labor Relations Board Launches Mobile App

As Labor Day 2013 approaches, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)  announced the launch of a new mobile app, available free of charge for iPhone and Android users. The app provides employers, employees and unions with information regarding their rights and obligations under the National Labor Relations Act.

“The National Labor Relations Act guarantees the right of workers to join together, with or without a union, to improve their working lives,” notes NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce. “The promise of the law can only be fulfilled when employers and employees understand their rights and obligations. With this app, we are using 21st Century technology to inform and educate the public about the law and their rights.”

Last year, the NLRB received more than 82,000 public inquiries regarding workplace issues. “It is clear that the American people have questions about the law,” Pearce said. “This app can help provide the answers.”

The app provides information for employers, employees and unions, with sections describing the rights enforced by the National Labor Relations Board, along with contact information for NLRB regional offices across the country. The app also details the process the NLRB uses in elections held to determine whether employees wish to be collectively represented.

Each month, an average of 2,000 unfair labor practice charges and 200 representation petitions are filed with the NLRB. In 2012, the NLRB collected more than $44 million in backpay or the reimbursement of fees, dues and fines. More than 1,200 employees were offered reinstatement as a result of NLRB enforcement efforts.

The app is currently available for iPhone users on the Apple App Store and for Android users on Google Play.

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Facing Fire Over Challenge to Louisiana’s Oil Industry

Today's post was shared by The New York Times and comes from www.nytimes.com

State Senator Gerald Long of Louisiana calls it “kind of a gentlemen’s agreement.”

For the generations since Mr. Long’s third cousin Huey P. Long was the governor, this state has relied on the oil and gas industry for a considerable part of its revenues and for tens of thousands of jobs. In return, the industry has largely found the state an obliging partner and staunch political ally as it has fought off curbs on its business.

Now, however, a panel of state appointees, created after Hurricane Katrina to be largely insulated from politics, showed just how insulated it was by upending the agreement.
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Radiation Near Japanese Plant’s Tanks Suggests New Leaks

Today's post was shared by The New York Times and comes from www.nytimes.com


A crisis over contaminated water at Japan’s stricken nuclear plant worsened on Saturday when the plant’s operator said it had detected high radiation levels near storage tanks, a finding that raised the possibility of additional leaks.


The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, said it had found the high levels of radiation at four separate spots on the ground, near some of the hundreds of tanks used to store toxic water produced by makeshift efforts to cool the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s three damaged reactors. The highest reading was 1,800 millisieverts per hour, or enough to give a lethal dose in about four hours, Tepco said.
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14 Worker Struggles To Pay Attention To This Labor Day

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from blog.workingamerica.org

Sure, to some people #LaborDayIs about barbecues and fashion rules. But #LaborDayIs also about, you know, labor. Today, workers across the country are struggling for decent wages, safe workplaces, affordable healthcare, and even basic civil rights.

North Carolina’s Moral Monday

North Carolina's Moral Monday
North Carolina's Moral Monday

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) and the North Carolina legislature have passed huge cuts to state unemployment insurance, an overhaul of the state tax code, big education cuts and the nation’s strictest voting restrictions. Lead by the NC NAACP’s Rev. William Barber, North Carolinans of all stripes have gathered by the thousands to for huge weekly “Moral Monday” protests to stand up to Gov. McCrory’s agenda.

Learn more about Moral Monday and check out some sweet protest photos.
Oh and thanks to @sherierb for the thumbnail photo.

The Wisconsin Solidarity Singers


The Wisconsin Solidarity Singers
The Wisconsin Solidarity Singers

After the huge protests in 2011 against Wisconsin’s new collective bargaining restrictions, Gov. Scott Walker and his allies changed the rules at the state Capitol Building in Madison, requiring protesters to have permits. His reasoning? Um, none.
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A Labor Day Opportunity

Today's post was shared by US Dept. of Labor and comes from www.whitehouse.gov

Health Reform
Health Reform

Ed. note: This is crossposted from Work in Progress, the official blog of the Department of Labor. See the original post here.  Learn more about the history of Labor Day, and the history of the U.S. Department of Labor. 

 Labor Day 2013 is special. This year marks the centennial of the U.S. Department of Labor – 100 years of working for America’s workers. And this past week, our nation reaffirmed the ideals of the 1963 March on Washington. This transformational event,
exactly 50 years ago, was just as much about labor rights as it was about civil rights.
For me, just like so many others then and now, these two movements are inextricably intertwined, their interests converging time and time again, their goals united in creating opportunity for all.
Watch this video on YouTube

For a guy like me who grew up in an immigrant family from Buffalo, the past few days have been pretty heady. At the Lincoln Memorial Wednesday, I couldn’t help but wonder if The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. ever imagined that half a century after he stood on these steps, another African-American man would stand there – as president?
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Study: Air Pollution Causes 200,000 Early Deaths in US

Today's post was shared by FairWarning and comes from www.voanews.com
Air pollution causes about 200,000 early deaths each year in the United States, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Researchers at MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment, say emissions from road transportation are the leading single cause of pollution, contributing 53,000 premature deaths, and that electrical power generation causes another 52,000.

“In the past five to 10 years, the evidence linking air-pollution exposure to risk of early death has really solidified and gained scientific and political traction,” says Steven Barrett, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. “There’s a realization that air pollution is a major problem in any city, and there’s a desire to do something about it.”
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In California, Renewed Debate Over Home Care

Today's post was shared by The New Old Age and comes from newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com


An important struggle over home health care is playing out in California, the nation’s most populous state, including nearly five million residents age 65 and older.

Unions and organizations representing the elderly have joined together to push for legislation that would license agencies, certify workers and create a publicly accessible caregiver registry. Home care agencies are pushing back, saying they favor regulation but oppose the measures under consideration. The legislation, Assembly Bill 1217, has already passed the State Assembly and was passed out of the State Senate’s appropriations committee on Friday. It will be up for a vote on the Senate floor next week.

An estimated 1,400 home care agencies and 120,000 paid caregivers would be affected by the proposed legislation, which is essentially an effort to bring consumer protections to an industry that has been likened to the Wild West. “It’s just not right that I can check the license status of an air-conditioning repairman but I can’t do so for someone coming into my home to care for a loved one,” said Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, a Democrat and the bill’s sponsor.
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American Thoracic Society Welcomes OSHA’s Proposed Lower Silica Exposure Standard

The American Thoracic Society welcomes today’s release by the Occupational Safety 
and Health Administration (OSHA) of a proposed lower standard for crystalline silica exposure. 

 “This needed adjustment is long overdue,” said Tee L. Guidotti, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of 
Environmental and Occupational Health at the School of Public Health and Health Services of the George 
Washington University Medical Center in Washington DC and a member of the American Thoracic 
Society’s Environmental Health Policy Committee involved in the Society’s efforts to establish a lower 
exposure standard. “The current OSHA standard of for respirable crystalline silica of 0.10 mg/m3 8 hour 
time weighted average has remained the same for 40 years and has been shown in numerous studies not to be 
protective.” 

 “We support the proposed lower standard of 0.05 mg/m3 time-weighted average for up to 10 hours during a 
40 hour work week, which will protect hundreds and possibly thousands of workers from silica-related 
health effects at almost no cost, as silica exposure can be easily prevented with simple and inexpensive 
technology.” 

 Crystalline silica has long been recognized as a serious occupational health hazard, affecting workers in 
industries such as granite workers, industrial sand workers and gold miners. Overexposure to respirable 
crystalline silica can cause irreversible, progressive lung disease, known as silicosis, and is also associated 
with lung cancer, chronic renal disease, and autoimmune disorders. It is estimated that 1.7 million U.S. 
workers are regularly exposed to this serious health hazard and that about 200 workers die each year from 
silicosis. As many as 7,300 new cases of silicosis occur annually among U.S. workers. 
Exposure levels and death rates from silica-related diseases in the U.S. far exceed those of comparable 
developed economies around the world. Silicosis has been virtually eliminated in the European Union with 
the use of simple and inexpensive measures such as adequate ventilation, wetting rock before it is cut, and 
banning sandblasting with silica sand in favor of readily available alternatives. 
OSHA first submitted a draft revised standard on respirable crystalline silica to the Office of Management 
and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on February 14, 2011, but a review was not 
completed until recently. 

 “The proposed revised standard should be implemented in conjunction with a mandated periodic surveillance 
program to ensure that the measures taken to control exposure are adequate and to identify and mitigate 
disease in those workers who are exposed,” said Dr. Guidotti. “Silicosis and the other diseases caused by 
crystalline silica exposure are entirely preventable and this new lower standard is an important step toward 
this goal.” 

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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Cost Shifting vs. Cost Fixing

Cost shifting is a major credibility issue in workers' compensation schemes. Insurance carriers, employers and even employees have been implicated in such conduct. Unless it is resolved it will ultimately jeopardize the entire program. Today's post was shared by WorkCompCentral and comes from daviddepaolo.blogspot.com.au

There have always been allegations of cost shifting either to or from workers' compensation and general health. Now Massachusetts is going to study just whether or not this is true, and if so, by how much.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is expected to release a report to the state Workers' Compensation Advisory Council in October or November on practices that regulators warned last May may be shifting costs from workers' compensation carriers primarily to MassHealth and to some private health care providers.The alleged problem seems to be three-fold:


  • Employers pressure workers not to report injuries as job-related.
  • Employees use private insurance because of fears they will lose their jobs or suffer some form of retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim.
  • Some doctors check for secondary insurance and send out bills to all carriers to ensure they get paid.

    • At a meeting of the Advisory Council last May, Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Deputy Director George Noel said the regulatory agency had indications that some workplace injuries are being processed through MassHealth and that community health centers reluctant to accept workers' compensation claims are shifting cases to "other places."Mickey Long, a member of the advisory council and an attorney for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, said "There are an increasing number of anecdotes going back a decade involving contractors, where a worker is told by the owner of a company to handle...
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    Is Big Sugar the Next Liability Target?

    Today's post was shared by The Health Care Blog and comes from thehealthcareblog.com

    By Vik Khanna

     Growing paranoia is the hallmark of the aging process for me.  Although I am a generally affable sort (I know, it doesn’t always seem that way from my writing), I am also a fairly suspicious person.  I am starting to think that all the food industry’s sweet talk about the innocence of sugar is really just icing on a toxic cake and that we’ve all been sold a bill of goods.  In particular, I wonder — and part of me hopes — that Big Sugar might soon replace Big Tobacco as the favorite target of our most underappreciated and misunderstood national resource…the plaintiff’s bar.

     There is no question we eat way too much sugar and that the increase in consumption has coincided nicely with both our rise in obesity and decline in health status even though we are living longer.

    Not that I think the Tobacco Settlement (TS) was great social policy.  You can read my full view here; but, to summarize, as an immigrant and a person of color, a part of me resents the TS because all it did is push the burden of fulfillment of the financial terms into the hearts and lungs of people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  The smug satisfaction of tobacco opponents in the US and their glib dismissal of the impact on predominantly poor people of color around the world is first order racism.
    Any analogous move against Big Sugar (BS) could be quite interesting.  There is, of course, the delectable duality of...
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    Second Circuit to consider petition to reassign federal judge in Chevron RICO case

    Today's post was shared by Legal Newsline and comes from legalnewsline.com

    Kaplan
    Kaplan
    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will consider a petition to reassign a federal judge overseeing a case stemming from a $19 billion judgment against oil giant Chevron Corp.

    In a notice filed Aug. 14, the Second Circuit set Sept. 26 for oral argument on the petition to reassign Judge Lewis Kaplan for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

    Kaplan is currently presiding over a RICO lawsuit that Chevron filed against a group of Ecuadorians and their lawyers. The fraud case was filed by the company in the New York federal court in 2011.

    New York attorney Steven Donziger and Ecuadorian plaintiffs Javier Piaguaje and Hugo Camacho filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the federal appeals court in June. They want the judge to be removed from the case for his alleged bias.

    In a rare move, the court asked Kaplan for a legal brief in his defense. However, the judge “respectfully declined” the court’s invitation, according to a letter last month.

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed an amicus brief in the case.

    “The Chamber is concerned that improper resolution of Petitioners’ tactical use of a request for judicial reassignment could set a dangerous precedent with long-standing effects,” former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey wrote in the brief, filed July 29.

    The Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform owns Legal Newsline.
    This week, Donziger and the Ecuadorian...
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    Defense bar files brief to U.S. SC in support of insurer

    Today's post was shared by Legal Newsline and comes from legalnewsline.com


    drilogo
    DRI: The Voice of the Defense Bar this week filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, saying the terms of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act-covered plan must be upheld.

    Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co. et al. is expected to settle differences among the courts of appeals regarding the extent to which the terms of an ERISA-covered plan can establish the date on which the statute of limitations to file a claims for benefits complaint in federal court will begin to run.

    The Employee Retirement Income Security Act protects the assets of millions of Americans so that funds placed in retirement plans during their working lives will be there when they retire.
    According to the U.S. Department of Labor, ERISA is a federal law that sets minimum standards for pension plans in private industry.

    For example, if an employer maintains a pension plan, ERISA specifies when an employee must be allowed to become a participant, how long they have to work before they have a non-forfeitable interest in their pension, how long a participant can be away from their job before it might affect their benefit, and whether their spouse has a right to part of their pension in the event of their death.
    Most of the provisions of ERISA are effective for plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 1975.
    On Aug. 22, 2005, Julie Heimeshoff, a Walmart employee, submitted a claim for long-term disability benefits under the ERISA-covered...
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    AMA President Optimistic About A Fix For Medicare’s Doctor Payment Formula

    Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org


    Dr. Ardis Dee Hoven
    Debated and despised, the Medicare physician payment formula may finally be on the way out – at least that’s what AMA President Ardis Hoven believes.

    Known as the “sustainable growth rate” or SGR, the formula routinely threatens double-digit payment reduction to doctors until Congress steps in at the last minute to stop the cuts. Currently a 25 percent cut looms Jan. 1 unless Congress takes action again.

    An admitted optimist, Hoven says she sees plenty of evidence to support her view that Congress is prepared to pass a permanent SGR fix this year. The AMA president points to wide bipartisan support in both chambers.

    She notes that the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed SGR legislation before the August break — well before the usual end-of-the-year scramble that has been the usual path to a short-

    term SGR fix. The House Ways and Means and Senate Finance panels are also actively working on a solution. “This is different. This is palpably different,” Hoven says in an interview.

    According to the Congressional Budget Office, replacing the SGR would cost about $140 billion, down from earlier estimates as high as $300 billion.  But in this era of deficit reduction, it’s unclear where Congress can find that much cash for anything, let alone to pay for the doc fix.

    Expect a big battle if lawmakers, as they have in the past, turn to other Medicare providers, such as hospitals, home health...
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    CDC: Public Health Practices to Include Persons with Disabilities

    Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.cdc.gov

    This is another in a series of occasional MMWR reports titled CDC Grand Rounds. These reports are based on grand rounds presentations at CDC on high-profile issues in public health science, practice, and policy. Information about CDC Grand Rounds is available at http://www.cdc.gov/about/grand-rounds.

     "Persons with disabilities" is a vague designation that might not always be understood.

     Persons with disabilities are persons with limitations in hearing, vision, mobility, or cognition, or with emotional or behavioral disorders. What they have in common is that they all experience a significant limitation in function that can make it harder to engage in some activity of daily living without accommodations or supports.

     According to the World Health Organization, disability has three dimensions: 1) impairment in body function or structure, such as loss of a limb or loss of vision; 2) limitation in activity, such as difficulty seeing, hearing, walking, or problem solving; and 3) restriction in participating in normal daily activities, such as preparing a meal or driving a car. Any of these impairments, limitations, or restrictions is a disability if it is a result of a health condition in interaction with one's environment (6).

    These limitations all relate to health conditions experienced within the environment in which persons live, as well as to other personal factors. Environmental barriers can be physical barriers, such as stairs; communication barriers, such...
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    New Jersey court rules texting a driver creates liability

    Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from jurist.org


    The New Jersey Superior Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that knowingly sending a text message to someone who is behind the wheel creates liability for any causes of action that result from a potential collision. Previously, liability was only assigned to the driver that was texting. Defendant Shannon Colonna was sued for texting a driver who collided with a motorcyle less than 10 seconds after responding to her message.

      The trial court dismissed [Bloomberg report] the plaintiff's theory of proximate cause, aiding and abetting illegal activity and joint liability against Colonna in a summary judgment. However, the plaintiffs appealed and the appellate court validated all of the theories of liability against her as trial-worthy arguments. However, the court found that the plaintiffs did not procure enough evidence to indicate that Colonna knew or had special reason to know that the recipient of her message was driving, and thus again dismissed the case for her liability:
    [W]e also reject defendant's argument that a sender of text messages never has a duty to avoid texting to a person driving a vehicle. We conclude that a person sending text messages has a duty not to text someone who is driving if the texter knows, or has special reason to know, the recipient will view the text while driving.
    In response to this crash and several others, the New Jersey legislature enacted the Kulesh, Kubert, and Bolis Law [press release] to increase penalties...
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    Lung screening looks for lasting health effects from Hurricane Sandy

    Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.nj.com

    Denise Hansen says that ever since Hurricane Sandy struck 10 months ago, she’s always tired, has had a lung infection and contracted a cough she never had before.

    Exposed to mold for 7½ months even while she was displaced from her storm-ravaged home in Ortley Beach, Hansen wonders whether she’s developed what some are calling "Sandy Lung," from breathing in all kinds of unknown irritants unleashed by the storm.

    So Hansen, along with more than 100 others, showed up at Toms River High School East yesterday to participate in an extensive screening for potential respiratory problems suspected of being brought on or exacerbated by Sandy.

    "What also makes me nervous is they’re knocking homes down around me. I wonder what’s in the air," said Hansen, who was assured her lungs are clear. "Ten years from now, who knows? That’s what’s scary."

    Because thousands of people like Hansen who are rebuilding post-Sandy may have been exposed to mold, asbestos and other potential toxins, the Deborah Heart and Lung Center — with a $625,000 grant from the Robin Hood Relief Fund — has been conducting free respiratory screenings in Ocean County to try to head off serious illness in the future.

    After filling out a questionnaire, participants were directed to one of two folding tables where staff waited to take their blood pressure and slip a device on their index finger that uses light waves to measure the level of oxygen in their...
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    ….

    Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

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    Workers’ Compensation No Longer The Exclusive Remedy: RICO On The Radar

    Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.insurancethoughtleadership.com


    It appears that the exclusive remedy provision for workers' compensation will no longer serve to prevent costly civil litigation.

    Workers' Compensation origins can be traced to the late Middle Ages and Renaissance times in the Unholy Trinity of Defenses, the doctrine that first outlined that work-related injuries were compensable. 

    This doctrine began in Europe and made its way to America with the Industrial Revolution.  There were so many restrictions with it that changes occurred and led to the doctrine of Contributory Negligence which outlines that employers are not at fault for work-related injuries.

    This principle was established in the United States with the case Martin vs. The U.S. Railroad. In this case, faulty equipment caused the injuries, but the employee did not receive compensation, as it was deemed that inspection of equipment was part of his job duties.

    Additionally, the case Farnwell vs. The Boston Worchester Railroad Company led to the "Fellow Servant Rule" where employees did not receive compensation if their injuries were in any way related to negligence from a co-worker.

    For a while, in the United States, we had the Assumption of Risk Doctrine that held employers were not liable for injuries because employees knew of job hazards when they signed their work contracts. By agreeing to work, they assumed all risks. These...
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    ….

    Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

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    Friday, August 30, 2013

    Texting a Message to A Driver Imposes Liability for an Accident

    In an unanimous decision a NJ Appellate Court held a texter potentially liable for causing a motor vehicle accident:

    "The issue before us is not directly addressed by these
    statutes or any case law that has been brought to our attention.
    "We must determine as a matter of civil common law whether one
    who is texting from a location remote from the driver of a motor
    vehicle can be liable to persons injured because the driver was
    distracted by the text. We hold that the sender of a text
    message can potentially be liable if an accident is caused by
    texting, but only if the sender knew or had special reason to
    know that the recipient would view the text while driving and
    thus be distracted.

    "In this appeal, we must also decide whether plaintiffs have
    shown sufficient evidence to defeat summary judgment in favor of
    the remote texter. We conclude they have not. We affirm the
    trial court's order dismissing plaintiffs' complaint against the
    sender of the text messages, but we do not adopt the trial
    court's reasoning that a remote texter does not have a legal
    duty to avoid sending text messages to one who is driving.

    "We conclude that a person sending text messages has a 
    duty not to text someone who is driving if the texter knows, or 
    has special reason to know, the recipient will view the text 
    while driving. But we also conclude that plaintiffs have not 
    presented sufficient evidence to prove that Colonna had such 
    knowledge when she texted Best immediately before the accident.

     LINDA KUBERT AND DAVID
    KUBERT,
    Plaintiffs-Appellants,
    v.
    KYLE BEST, SUSAN R. BEST,
    EXECUTRIX OF THE ESTATE OF
    NICKOLAS J. BEST, DECEASED,
    Defendants,
    and
    SHANNON COLONNA,

    Defendant-Respondent.
    SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
    APPELLATE DIVISION
    DOCKET NO. A-1128-12T4
    August 27, 2013
    ….

    Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

     Read more about "texting" and workers' compensation:
    Working While Texting: The New Workers Compensation Defense
    Jul 31, 2009
    New technology encroaching upon the workplace has been both a help and a hindrance. Recent studies add to the growing volumes of data reporting that the use of cell phones while driving provides a significant distraction ...
    http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
    Distracted Driving Workers Compensation Claim Draws Major Public
    Feb 11, 2011
    A workers compensation claim filed by a state trooper for injuries he sustained while texting and speeding 126 miles per hour that resulting in a fatal accident with oncoming teenagers, a driver and a passenger, has drawn ...
    http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
    CDC Urges Employers to Prohibit Cell Phone Use While Driving
    Apr 29, 2011
    CDC urged employers to prohibit texting while driving. A safety initiative by employers will go along way to reducing workers' compensation costs. "What is already known on this topic? Highway transportation crashes are the ...
    http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/
    Workers' Compensation: OSHA To Fine Employers for Distracted ...
    Apr 18, 2011
    Following the policy announced by President Obama in his Executive Order banning texting while driving, OSHA is calling upon all employers to ban texting while driving. It is the intention of OSHA to provide education and ...
    http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

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