Yesterday former Industrial Appeals Judge Wayne Lieb published an op-ed in the The Olympian titled "Republicans Attacking an Important Safety Net." His article is reprinted in full below. March 07, 2013 Wayne Lieb is a former Industrial Appeals Judge and currently an attorney in Olympia, with more than 25 years of experience specializing in workers’ compensation law. As a former Industrial Appeals judge and as an attorney with more than 25 years of experience specializing in … [Read more...]
In Washington State, workers have the right to choose their own doctor (often the patient’s family doctor) to administer care for a work injury. Within the Department of Labor and Industries, and the workers’ compensation system, that provider becomes your “treating doctor.” Yet there are cases where an employer or insurance provider may choose an alternative doctor to complete an “independent medical examination” (IME). According to the workers’ rights advocacy group known as … [Read more...]
How do I know if I have a third party claim? Individuals have a third party claim if they are injured in the course of their employment by a party who is NOT that person’s employer or coworker. For example, a delivery truck driver could be hit by another vehicle in the course of their daily route. If the driver of the responsible vehicle is not the worker’s employer or coworker, that worker has both a workers compensation and a third party claim. The same might apply to a subcontractor hurt … [Read more...]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently cited Florida-based Bennett Electrical Services Co. for three safety violations, including one judged to be willful, following the serious injury of an employee. In the course of an inspection begun in August based on a referral, OSHA discovered that a worker had been injured and hospitalized due to a faulty truck-mounted crane. While moving concrete-based traffic lights, the boom of the crane broke away … [Read more...]
In recent months the California Department of Insurance has been trying to enlist "suspicious employers," investigators, and "concerned co-workers" in the fight against insurance fraud by asking them to use social networks and "smart interviewing techniques that uncover information [leading] to prosecutions." The CDI is even holding workshops and distributing DVDs to reinforce their campaign. Yet in the process, it's been making some outrageous claims about the rates and cost of workers' … [Read more...]
