Today’s post comes from guest author Paul J. McAndrew, Jr., from Paul McAndrew Law Firm.
In these tough economic times, many companies aren’t paying basic requirements for their employees like Social Security, income taxes, unemployment, or workers’ comp. This has led states all over the country to start doing spot-checks on construction sites. Employers beware – protect your workers with workers’ compensation insurance – it’s the law, and states are cracking down.
With unemployment high and the recession lingering, employers seem to be increasingly taking advantage of the fact that people are willing to work without appropriate coverage. It is a real shame that these days so many people are going to work without the protections that they are due under the law.
Causey Law Firm proudly celebrated two 10-year anniversaries recently. Lauri Watkins joined the firm in November 2003. Francesca Severini joined the firm on April 1, 2004 – we were no fools. Both form the strong center of our team. Lauri is our Litigation Coordinator and is the paralegal assigned to our Social Security cases. Fran handles workers’ compensation cases, and both Lauri and Fran work with our Longshore clients.
Today’s post was shared by The Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group and comes from www.chron.com
Charter fishing businesses and individuals who have suffered property losses and other costs as a result of the March 22 collision near the Texas City Dike have filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against Kirby Inland Marine and Cleopatra Shipping Agency.
The suit was filed March 24 in U.S. District Court in Galveston over the collision of a barge pushed by a tow boat named Miss Susan and a 585-foot bulk carrier, Summer Wind. Kirby Inland Marine owns the vessel Miss Susan, while Cleopatra Shipping Agency owns Summer Wind.
The collision caused the release of oil into Galveston Bay. The barge sank to the bottom of the channel and lies partially submerged, the lawsuit states.
At the time of the filing, it was unknown how much of the 924,000 gallons of oil on the barge were released into Galveston Bay, but the spill has had a "wide and devastating effect on Galveston Bay, the Gulf of Mexico and the people who use and depend on it," according to the class action complaint.
The marine fuel oil that was released is a heavy crude that does not evaporate quickly, making it particularly harmful to the environment and difficult to clean up, the complaint states.
The plaintiffs include 3G Fishing Chaters, 3G Bait and Tackle Shop, Launch Waterfront Eatery, Galveston Fishing Charter Co., Matt Garner doing business as All American Fishing Charters, Sammy Flores, Adam Kleczkowski, Greg Verm doing business as Fishing Galveston Texas, Caroline Cope and Scott Moss doing…
Attorney Jon L. Gelman recently wrote in a blog post that a new study associates lung injuries of soldiers with exposure to dust in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Gelman writes:
Soldiers who have been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are at greater risk to suffer lung disease according to a recently published study. Dr. Anthony Szema, a professor at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, was the lead investigator and reported the association of lung disease with deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A Federal Court of Appeals has ruled that lawsuits filed by soldiers who were exposed in Iraq and Afghanistan may proceed against military contractors, KBR and Halliburton, from claims by military service members suing over health damage from the contractors’ burn pits. The lawsuits allege that the negligent operation of the burn pits resulted in harmful exposures that caused various illnesses to the soldiers including lung disease, cancers and in some cases death.
“War-related lung injuries have emerged as previously unrecognized health problems. Physicians did not recognize the nature of illness in the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the last years of the Iraq War, as well as the ongoing Afghanistan war, new-onset lung problems have been increasingly recognized as being related to deployment in these two countries. Investigators, including our group, have identified asthmatic symptoms or pulmonary function test abnormalities. The Social Security Administration is now compensating for Iraq and Afghanistan war–related lung disease. The Millennium Cohort Study identified 14% of all US soldiers in Iraq with new-onset respiratory symptoms.” – Dr. Anthony Szema
The One Penny Sheet blog shared a November 2009 AFP news post on this topic, describing the lawsuits that may now move forward. The AFP reported, in part:
Dozens of US military personnel have filed 34 lawsuits against US defense contractor KBR for allegedly incinerating toxic waste and releasing it into the atmosphere in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Each of the lawsuits represent several soldiers but were filed on behalf of at least 100,000 others who are alleged to suffer from health problems resulting from exposure to emissions released by the incineration of waste at military bases.
Kellogg Brown and Root and its former parent company Halliburton, which at one time was led by former vice president Dick Cheney, had a government contract to destroy waste at US bases and camps in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One lawsuit filed in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee charged that they “ignored their contractual obligations and burned vast quantities of unsorted waste in enormous open air burn pits with no safety controls.”
“This misconduct began in 2003 and continues unabated to date,” it alleges.
“Every type of waste imaginable was and is burned on these pits, including trucks, tires, lithium battery, Styrofoam, paper, rubber, petroleum-oil-lubricant products, metals, hydraulic fluids, munitions boxes, medical waste, biohazard materials (including human corpses), medical supplies (including those used during smallpox inoculations), paints, solvents, asbestos insulation, items containing pesticides, polyvinyl chloride pipes, animal carcasses, dangerous chemicals and hundreds of thousands of plastic water bottles,” the lawsuit claims.
In a statement posted on its website, KBR said the company posted lists compiled by the US Army of items that could not be disposed of in burn pits. “If KBR observes a waste generator delivering a prohibited item, its practice is to refuse or remove such items,” the company said.
In addition to members of the military, US employees of those companies providing services in Iraq and Afghanistan may have suffered the same exposures and injuries while working overseas. These cases can be covered as workers’ compensation claims under the Defense Base Act. Contact Causey Law Firm to discuss a potential Defense Base Act case in more detail.
Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Rehm, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.
Assuming you do not have an employment contract, you can only claim wrongful termination if the firing was motivated by certain unlawful reasons. Unlawful reasons include discrimination based on sex or gender – this includes sexual harassment and pregnancy – as well as race, religion, nationality and disability. In certain places and in certain situations, sexual orientation discrimination can also be unlawful. Disability in this context will often mean any serious or chronic health condition you have. Disability discrimination can also mean that you are taking care of someone with a disability.
You also cannot be discriminated against by your employer for certain activities on the job. This is commonly referred to as retaliation. One of these activities is taking extended leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for your own or for a loved one’s medical condition. Other common protected activities include opposing unlawful discrimination; filing a safety complaint; filing a workers’ compensation complaint; complaining of pay practices; or complaining about other illegal activities. If you are a government employee, you might also have some claims based on constitutional law.
Essentially, not all terminations are unlawful. But if your situation fits into the categories described above, then be sure to contact an experienced employment attorney. In addition, it is wise to ask for advice about applying for unemployment, even if there’s not a wrongful termination case.
Bayley Construction in Mercer Island has been recognized with a safety and health award from the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) for its exemplary safety and health prevention program at two worksites.
Bayley Construction is the first construction company — and only the sixth company in the state — to achieve recognition through the Safety through Achieving Recognition Together (START) program.
START recognizes workplaces with exemplary safety records that have shown a commitment to health and safety at work. It is modeled on a federal program.
Bayley Construction was awarded with START certification at its corporate office in Mercer Island and at its equipment yard in Bellevue.
“The goal of START is to showcase businesses with excellent safety and health programs as a way of encouraging other companies to improve their safety efforts,” said Lynda Stoneberg, Consultation Program Manager for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). “We hope the companies who earn START certification will share their experiences with other employers who might have safety challenges.”
To participate in the program, employers must have an injury rate below their industry’s average for at least one year and allow safety and health experts to visit the worksite and review workplace hazards, examine safety and health programs, and interview workers and managers.
“We are really proud of this recognition as we always want to be the best that we can be, and safety goes right along with that,” said Ron Bayley, Chairman and CEO.
L&I presented the certificate to the company at a special ceremony last month.
Bayley Construction has 75 employees at its Mercer Island headquarters, where it oversees company operations in three western states. At its equipment yard in Bellevue, employees are responsible for the mobilization and de-mobilization of project sites, inventory, tracking and maintenance of all hand and small tools as well as providing will-call services and pickup and delivery services for Washington project sites.
Today’s post was shared by The Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group and comes from www.khou.com
HOUSTON — Helping a Hero in West Houston is a popular charity: 100 homes built or in the works in 22 different states, but a lawsuit is publicizing an important clause in the housing contracts. And it’s a clause one Houston-area family says it didn’t know was there until their badly wounded veteran died.
We first told Hunter LeVine’s story four years ago. The Woodlands native was blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Also suffering from a traumatic brain injury and PTSD he vowed to continue living as independently as possible.
Then in December of 2011, Helping a Hero awarded him a new home in Tomball. Built through donations all Hunter had to do was take out a $50,000 mortgage and the home was his. It is the standard shared expense agreement the charity uses for all of its projects so the veterans have a financial stake in the property as well. The total value of Hunter’s new home was listed as $168,000.
But last June on a trip to Florida, Hunter died suddenly. He suffered a heart attack in his sleep. He was just 25 years old.
"Hunter was very proud of this house. It made him feel safe,” said his father Beau LeVine.
A short time later Beau LeVine says he received notice that the charity had plans for the house. They were moving to exercise a clause in the contract that the LeVines said they didn’t even know was in the paperwork.
"It was almost like the decision was made moments after his death that she just wanted to get her house…
Today’s post comes from guest author Rod Rehm, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.
Workers’ compensation has provided benefits or coverage for occupational diseases for generations. Occupational disease is defined by Nebraska law as: “a disease which is due to causes and conditions which are characteristic of and peculiar to a particular trade, occupation, process, or employment and excludes all ordinary diseases of life to which the general public is exposed.” This is a typical definition of an occupational disease. Some examples of recognized occupational diseases are black lung disease for miners, mesothelioma for asbestos workers, lung disease for rubber workers, and leukemia for workers exposed to benzene.
More studies are done to determine the cause of diseases as medical science advances. A recent study concludes that smoke and chemical exposure by firefighters may cause higher rates of cancer among firefighters. Firefighters, while usually healthier than the general population, have a higher incidence of cancer. More studies need to be done to determine if the peculiar exposure to smoke causes or aggravates cancer.
As medicine and science evolve, there may be more recognized “occupational diseases” and more workers and their families compensated for harm caused by the workplace.
Today’s post comes from guest author Brody Ockander, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.
Getting reimbursed for mileage and travel expenses is often part of the medical process in a workers’ compensation claim. However, it’s essential to keep detailed receipts and have a plan for submitting those expenses in a timely manner.
The federal government has set the 2014 mileage reimbursement rate to 56 cents per mile. This rate was effective Jan. 1, 2014. This is a decrease from 56.5 cents per mile last year, but the price of gasoline is also slightly cheaper.
Generally speaking, the federal rate changes annually. However, when gas prices went soaring in 2008, a mid-year increase went into effect.
As a reminder from a blog post that firm partner Todd Bennett wrote in 2011, injured workers can be reimbursed for activities such as “travel to seek medical treatment, pick up medications, or while participating in a vocational rehabilitation plan.”
The best way to do this is to work with your attorney and legal assistant to keep track of all mileage. This can include appointments for Independent Medical Exams (IME), too. Then your attorney can help you get reimbursed.
It is often essential to save receipts and keep a record for yourself of your doctor’s visits and other reimbursable trips, including physical therapy and trips to pick up medication. Providing that log to your attorney and saving receipts incurred from specific doctor visits and other reimbursable trips creates a “narrative” that makes it easier to justify those expenses.
Because money is always tight for injured workers, contact an experienced workers’ compensation attorney if you have questions about a specific situation.
Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Rehm, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.
OSHA’s recent decision to allow employees to file whistleblower cases online has led to a large increase in filings. According to OSHA investigators, this increase in filings hasn’t been met with a proportionate increase in staff. There is now a large backlog in OSHA claims. One investigator estimated it takes over 400 days for OSHA to conclude investigating claims.
The delay created by the backlog hurts investigations for many reasons. Witnesses become unavailable, and recollections of events change. Unscrupulous employers also can use the delay to hide or destroy documents and intimidate witnesses.
Of course, employees who feel they have been retaliated against oftentimes have the option of filing a state or local fair employment agency claim on the basis of retaliation. Employees might also have the option of filing for retaliatory discharge without filing a fair-employment case, as is oftentimes the case if they are fired for filing workers’ compensation. However, this summer the U.S. Supreme Court likely made many types of retaliation cases more difficult to win with their decision in the Nasser case. The court ruled in Nasser that employees claiming retaliation cases under federal Title VII must prove that exercising their rights under Title VII was a “but for” cause of their termination.
But under whistleblower lawsunder OSHA – such as the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA), which protects interstate truckers, and Dodd-Frank, which protects workers in the financial services industry – an employee must only show that their report of illegal conduct was a contributing factor to their termination.
Employees with a retaliation case should consult with an experienced employment attorney to determine the best forum for any wrongful-termination case.
