The federal judge overseeing a fraud lawsuit filed by Chevron Corp. has decided to deny the defendants in the case a jury trial. |
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Judge denies jury trial in Chevron RICO case
Monday, October 7, 2013
Is Workers' Compensation Just a Promise That Can't Be Kept?
Over a century ago, Labor and Industry made a promise to each other called Workers' Compensation. It was summary, remedial, inexpensive administrative process that provided benefits to injured workers through a social insurance program for work-related accidents and diseases. The shifting of wealth in the US has now made the workers' compensation program a target for reform and elmination. Today's post is shared from the opinion pages of the NYTimes.com.
As bad as things in Washington are — the federal government shutdown since Tuesday, the slim but real potential for a debt default, a political system that seems increasingly ungovernable — they are going to get much worse, for the United States and other advanced economies, in the years ahead. From the end of World War II to the brief interlude of prosperity after the cold war, politicians could console themselves with the thought that rapid economic growth would eventually rescue them from short-term fiscal transgressions. The miracle of rising living standards encouraged rich countries increasingly to live beyond their means, happy in the belief that healthy returns on their real estate and investment portfolios would let them pay off debts, educate their children and pay for their medical care and retirement. This was, it seemed, the postwar generations’ collective destiny. But the numbers no longer add up. Even before the Great Recession, rich countries were seeing their tax revenues weaken,... |
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries deny, delay asbestos, hazard claims, suits, insiders allege
Asbestos related disease continues to be epidemic. The victims and their families continue to be meet with delay and denial of benefits. Today's post is shared from turnto23.com
For months, mysterious white flakes and construction dust fell on Nancy Lopez’s desk in the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City, Mo.
No question the debris was worse after renovation crews worked the weekend. But really, the mess was getting out of hand. On that Monday in 1983, Lopez grabbed a rag and started dusting.  The impeccably dressed young administrative assistant finished tidying her office and set to work. Unknowingly, she had brushed off her desk, into the air and into her lungs deadly asbestos fibers.Those tiny fibers stayed with Lopez for decades, and, in 2009, at age 54, she learned she was dying from mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer. She sued the construction company and the county for negligence and punitive damages. Lopez didn’t realize her suit would eventually pit her against the empire built by acclaimed investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of Omaha, Neb., has become one of the most powerful forces in asbestos and pollution litigation in the world. Berkshire’s reach has grown so vast that if you or a loved one files an asbestos- or pollution-related lawsuit in America, like Lopez, you’re likely to encounter a Berkshire subsidiary. Scripps interviewed more than 20 sources -- some confidential -- reviewed dozens of lawsuits and spoke with former insiders, who all allege the Berkshire-owned companies that... |
2012 ADAO AAC: Joel Shufro, "Left in the Dust Ten Years After the Attack...
The need for better safety and health care and planning is the subject of a talk of Joel Shufro. This post is shared from ADAO.
Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Seeks to Intervene in Opt-Out Case
In Oklahoma it is now off to the Courts to determine if the Workers' Compensation legislation is really Constitutional. The radical program eliminates the the century old promise between Labor and Industry by transferring the benefit program out of the administrative/judicial adversary system for an employer based insurance scheme. This post is shared from the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce.
State Chamber President & CEO Fred Morgan comments on the joint chamber Motion to Intervene filed to protect Senate Bill 1062:
“The reforms and restructuring of Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system that were passed this past legislative session need to be defended,” said Fred Morgan, president and CEO of the State Chamber of Oklahoma. “For the past twenty years, workers’ compensation reform has been the number one economic development issue for Oklahoma. The change to an administrative system, and bringing our benefits back into line with surrounding states, has already seen positive results.”
“We are pleased to join with the Attorney General’s office, Oklahoma City and Tulsa chambers in our fervent defense of these long-needed reforms. Oklahoma businesses need the recently passed reforms to be upheld so we can focus on creating strong, well-paying jobs and developing our growing economy.”
Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber also commented on the motion.
“Along with our regional partners, through the OneVoice agenda, we have advocated for appropriate changes to the state's workers' compensation system for many years," said Neal. "We are hopeful the legal challenges can be addressed swiftly so businesses can begin seeing decreased costs and our state will finally realize competitive advantage with a system that works for both employers and employees.”
The Motion to Intervene was filed on behalf of the State Chamber of Oklahoma, Tulsa Regional Chamber, and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
State Chamber President & CEO Fred Morgan comments on the joint chamber Motion to Intervene filed to protect Senate Bill 1062:
“The reforms and restructuring of Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system that were passed this past legislative session need to be defended,” said Fred Morgan, president and CEO of the State Chamber of Oklahoma. “For the past twenty years, workers’ compensation reform has been the number one economic development issue for Oklahoma. The change to an administrative system, and bringing our benefits back into line with surrounding states, has already seen positive results.”
“We are pleased to join with the Attorney General’s office, Oklahoma City and Tulsa chambers in our fervent defense of these long-needed reforms. Oklahoma businesses need the recently passed reforms to be upheld so we can focus on creating strong, well-paying jobs and developing our growing economy.”
Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber also commented on the motion.
“Along with our regional partners, through the OneVoice agenda, we have advocated for appropriate changes to the state's workers' compensation system for many years," said Neal. "We are hopeful the legal challenges can be addressed swiftly so businesses can begin seeing decreased costs and our state will finally realize competitive advantage with a system that works for both employers and employees.”
The Motion to Intervene was filed on behalf of the State Chamber of Oklahoma, Tulsa Regional Chamber, and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
Claims administrator ordered to halt oil spill claims payments
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has ordered claims administrator Patrick Juneau to immediately stop business-related loss payments connected to the 2010 BP oil spill.
BP claims Juneau misinterpreted the settlement agreement and allowed businesses that could show little or no economic damages to receive payments. While business claims will be suspended for the time being, all other claims will be allowed to be processed. “This order is issued only as an immediate and interim measure until the Court is able to confer with and receive input from the parties in order to confect an appropriate ‘narrowly tailored’ preliminary injunction order as instructed by the Fifth Circuit,” Barbier wrote. Both BP and the plaintiffs’ steering committee also have been ordered to submit a proposal on how damages for businesses should be handled to eliminate the potential for false claims. The ruling comes after multiple denials by Barbier to revisit the settlement program at BP’s request. BP, the plaintiffs’ steering committee and Juneau will meet in a status conference on Oct. 11 to go over potential new... |
Company Is Scolded for Mistakes at Fukushima
Companies need to be honest with both their and employees and the public about safety issues. The age of conspiracy one would think is long passed. This post is shared from the NY Times and highlights the failings of corporate transparency.
In an unusually public scolding, Japan’s nuclear watchdog agency criticized the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Friday for making mistakes that allowed radioactive water to leak into the Pacific Ocean, and ordered it to fix the problems quickly.
The agency, the Nuclear Regulation Authority, summoned the president of the operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, to explain the accidents and spills that have plagued the cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi plant since it suffered a triple meltdown two years ago. In the most recent mishap, workers spilled 114 gallons of contaminated water this week while trying to fill an already overflowing tank, said the company, known as Tepco. It said some of the water might have run into the ocean.
In a public hearing, an official at the regulatory agency, Katsuhiko Ikeda, dressed down Tepco’s president, saying the problems raised serious questions about the company’s ability to operate its other nuclear plants, like the huge Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility, which Tepco wants to restart.
“That these leaks occurred due to human error is very regrettable,” Mr. Ikeda told the president, Naomi Hirose. “The failure to make rudimentary checks reflects a clear deterioration in the ability to manage the site.”
Mr. Ikeda said Tepco should consider emergency measures like bringing in workers from its other nuclear plants to help improve the cleanup.
Such blunt and direct...
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