Category Archives: Workers’ Compensation

Workers' Compensation, workplace injury, workplace safety

The Road Ahead: Adjusting To Life After An Injury

Today’s post comes from guest author Catherine Stanton, from Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano.

As an attorney who has represented injured workers for more than 27 years, I see first hand what an injury can do to workers and their families. A number of years ago I represented an injured electrician, who as a result of an overextension injury sustained on the job, ended up having multiple surgeries. Almost immediately, this once athletic, high wage earner with a beautiful family and comfortable lifestyle saw an abrupt end to the life he knew.

My client faced a debilitating injury. He was no longer able to travel, his personal relationships suffered, and his once strong physique withered away. His financial situation was dire and he was unable to afford his home. Beside the extreme physical impairment, he ended up being treated for major depression. Both the insurance carrier’s medical providers, as well as the claimant’s treating doctors in this particular case, agreed that the claimant was totally disabled or incapable of performing any meaningful work activity – a standard not easy to meet.

Many of those injured on the job may not be able to return to their prior employment. Yet, according to the law, that does not mean they are totally disabled from any employment. If they are able to perform any work activity at all then they may be considered partially disabled. The amount of weekly payments an injured person receives and the length of time an injured worker receives these benefits is dependent upon a number of factors including degree of disability and loss of earning capacity. A partial disability can be considered mild, moderate, or marked.  These degrees are further broken down into when an injury is deemed permanent to a percentage loss of earning capacity. In some cases the difference of one percent loss of earning capacity can mean the difference of a full year of additional benefits. As you can imagine, much of my practice is consumed with litigation regarding the degree of disability and the loss of earning capacity.

The road for those who are partially disabled is not an easy one. Despite the Workers’ Compensation Board’s determination that an injured person has an ability to perform some work activity, it does not always translate into being able to obtain employment. In the case of serious injuries resulting in extensive lost time, the employer may have had to fill the position or the employer may not be able to accommodate the physical limitations. This puts injured workers in a position of having to look for alternate employment that they may not be trained for. The Board recommends a number of resources available to those seeking assistance, including one-stop career centers, as well as participating in vocational rehabilitation programs and continuing education such as SUNY Educational Opportunity centers adult career and continuing education. For more information go to www.wcb.ny.gov/labor-market-attachment

Many workers who are unable to obtain employment because of their injuries apply for Social Security Disability benefits. The standard for Social Security disability is different than Workers’ Compensation and relies more on the age and ability of the injured person to be retrained and to obtain relevant future employment. Social Security Disability benefits are payable for any illness or injury and do not have to be work related. All medical conditions are considered by the federal judge when making a determination as to eligibility, including physical or emotional impairments.

While an injury on the job can be life altering, there are resources available. You may never be able to return to your pre-injury status, but knowing your options allows you the ability to have some control over your future.

 

Catherine M. Stanton is a senior partner in the law firm of Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP. She focuses on the area of Workers’ Compensation, having helped thousands of injured workers navigate a highly complex system and obtain all the benefits to which they were entitled. Ms. Stanton has been honored as a New York Super Lawyer, is the past president of the New York Workers’ Compensation Bar Association, the immediate past president of the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group, and is an officer in several organizations dedicated to injured workers and their families. She can be reached at 800.692.3717.

government, Legislation, Workers' Compensation

Medicaid Cuts Will Cause More Nursing Injuries

Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Rehm, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.

While efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid appear to have stalled for now, any successful effort to cut Medicaid will adversely impact workplace safety for nurses and nurse’s aides.

Studies by the National Institutes of Health show that reductions in Medicaid funding leads to less staffing at long term care facilities and that lower staffing leads to more injuries for nursing employees. Since most nurses and nurse’s aides are covered under state-based workers compensation laws the additional costs of work injuries from Medicaid cuts may not be fully accounted for on a federal level.

At least in Nebraska nursing employees have some ways to protect themselves when advocating for safer working conditions even if they do not belong to a union.

Nebraska has a whistleblower law that applies specifically to health care workers, including nurses. The benefit of this act is that it allows employees to recover for damages similar to what they could collect under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act, including front pay and possibly attorney fees, without having to exhaust administrative remedies. Additionally, health care workers would have four years to bring a suit under the health care whistleblowers law, rather than the much shorter and complicated statute of limitations under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act.

Nebraska has a broad general whistleblower law that allows employees to oppose unlawful conduct by their employers. Nebraska law requires that nursing homes to be adequately staffed. Federal law also requires that employers provide a workplace to be free of recognizable hazard. Inadequate staffing would certainly be deemed be a recognizable hazard in a nursing home. The only drawback to Nebraska’s whistleblower law is the short and potentially uncertain statute of limitations.

Nebraska law would also allow nurses reporting inadequate staffing to be protected from retaliation under a public policy claim that also has a four year statute of limitations.

Workers' Compensation

Cries of High Costs and Fraud – Watch for Reforms

There is always discussion, in every state, about the expense of workers’ compensation insurance to employers. It is common to hear stories of corruption and fraud when employer costs run high. This discussion can lead to cries of fraud, usually with fingers pointed towards claimants and often tied into efforts to reduce benefits to injured workers. As a recent example, take a look at the article published on July 23rd in the Fresno Bee, written by Dan Walters of CALmatters, titled “California workers’ compensation system plagued by high costs and fraud.” In the article, Mr. Walters points to Southern California as an area particularly afflicted by fraud, inserting the hot-button phrase “immigrant workers,” as follows:

“Why Southern California? Its large numbers of immigrant workers are easily persuaded by recruitment agents, called “cappers,” to file claims that allow unscrupulous lawyers and medical providers to milk inflated payments for nonexistent injuries.”

Mr. Walter’s statement is misleading and inflammatory. The link provided by Mr. Walters to support his claim of fraud leads to a news piece – not a study – released by the Center for Investigative Reporting on their “Reveal” radio and web platform.  

The story on Reveal, titled “Profiteering masquerades as medical care for injured California workers,” published in March of 2016, focuses on fraud within the medical component of the workers’ compensation system.  It makes no mention of “immigrant workers” although there is discussion of Spanish-language service providers within the article. The conclusion of the Reveal piece describes injured workers as the real victims of the scams they investigated.

From our experience representing injured workers in Washington State, we see very little in the way of fraudulent acts, by medical providers, injured workers, insurance carriers or employers. In our cases, the fraud we encounter most, on both small and large scales, is committed by employers. We see misclassification of workers to reduce premium rates paid or the failure to provide coverage of a worker by stating they are independent contractors.  We see inaccurate data about earnings and overtime provided by employers in an effort to reduce compensation paid to injured workers and even outright lies about the circumstances of an injury to try to keep a claim rejected.

We do, however, see inefficiencies, on a daily basis, usually under the guise of cost management. Claims managers spend an incredible amount of time and energy micromanaging claims, segregating medical conditions from claim coverage, delaying or denying medical treatment authorizations, sometimes leading to litigation with months, or even years, involved and no relief from legal fees or costs for the claimant, even if successful at trial. In most cases, private insurance policies will not authorize treatment or surgery when a workers’ compensation claim is involved until the litigation has been concluded and the responsibility for coverage is clearly under their policy.

Fraud is a problem whenever it occurs, whomever is committing the fraudulent acts. To hear the cry of “fraud!” – especially when peppered with phrases like “immigrant workers” –  is a good warning bell. These cries often indicate another round of injured worker benefit cuts will soon be on the table. Watch for more news stories, videos of an injured worker riding a jet ski, and you’ll know there’s soon to be “reforms” proposed.

“The “grand compromise” is just as valid today as it was in 1914, but it could collapse if costs – and the fraud and other unseemly aspects of work comp that drive them – are not tamed. The next overhaul should be systemic, not just another backroom deal.” – Dan Walters

An efficiently run system run with fairness and respect and a focus on a speedy, full recovery after an injury and limiting lost wage earning capacity for workers permanently injured on the job should be the goal of all of the players within a workers’ compensation system. Cost savings and improved outcomes can both be achieved. These goals are best met through broad-based efforts to work together on the full spectrum of issues rather than singling out one or more of the segments – doctors, lawyers, claimants, carriers or government agencies – as the primary culprit. There’s room for improvement in all of these segments.

Photo credit: Kit Case

Workers' Compensation

Seeking Balance and Value – Workers’ Comp Expenses and Benefits

Employer Rate Expenses and Injured Worker Compensation, by State

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services issues their Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Summary annually. In it, the Department quantifies the cost of workers’ compensation premiums in each state and ranks the states numerically based on the cost to employers for providing workers’ compensation benefits to the workforce.

The Oregon study is focused on the dollar-cost of coverage from the viewpoint of employers.  But, the employer is only one of the parties involved in the workers’ compensation world.  There are also medical professionals, vocational counselors, and the injured workers.  I was interested in how the ranked states would stack up from the injured worker’s perspective, so I looked up the maximum weekly benefit rates for each state, based on information maintained by the Social Security Administration – and made a comparison of my own. 

Understand that workers’ compensation claims have many facets that go beyond weekly benefit rates, and that every state has their own system with it’s own set of benefits and criteria for receiving those benefits.  This includes variations across the states that affect allowance of claims, compensability of claims, allowance of medical treatment and procedures, provision of vocational retraining benefits, conclusions about ability to return to work or placement on total disability pensions, caps on weeks of compensation paid and a variety of compensation structures for final settlements or awards for permanent partial disability.

My comparison is only of two data points: the ranking of cost per the Oregon study and each state’s maximum compensation rate paid to injured workers. It does not factor in the cost of living or average salaries in each state. It does not begin to touch on the issue of the quality of medical care available to workers in each state nor on claim outcomes, restoration of physical function or loss of wage-earning capacity for injured workers. It is a simplistic look at a complicated dataset.

To see an interactive map charting the results, click here.

To see my tally of the maximum compensation rates against the rankings of employer expense, click here.

In the most-recent Oregon summary, issued in October 2016, Washington State ranks 15th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, with a cost rate of 107% of the median.  The highest-cost state was California, at 176% of the median cost. The lowest was North Dakota, ranked at 51st with 48% of the median expense rate. But, the highest-cost states do not have the highest level of benefits paid to injured workers.

In my non-scientific analysis, Washington State ranked 5th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of maximum weekly compensation rates, at $1,313.06 per week or $5,689.93 as a monthly amount. The state with the highest maximum weekly rate was Iowa at $1,688.00 per week or $7,314.67 monthly. At the bottom of the list was Mississippi with a weekly rate of $468.63 or $2030.73 per month.

The most expensive state, California per the Oregon study, came in at #14 in monetary benefits to workers at a maximum of $1,128.43 per week or $4,889.86 per month. The least expensive state, North Dakota, came in at #10 based on maximum weekly compensation of $1,214.00 or $5,260.67 per month.

It is important for each state’s workers’ compensation system to be run efficiently, fairly, and provide the most “bang for the buck” to improve claim outcomes. For injured workers, on a personal scale, this means quick decisions on medical treatment authorizations to allow a speedy and full recovery after an injury. It also means providing meaningful vocational services when a full recovery is not possible to limit the decrease in earning capacity. On a bigger scale, injured workers need to know that quality medical care is available to them. This requires that doctors receive the payment and support they need to efficiently be able to treat injured workers without drowning in red tape and delays.

A well-run system can result in better outcomes for injured workers and lower costs to employers, all the while avoiding doctor flight. It would appear from the numbers that some states are doing better than others at achieving this goal with several that have lower employer costs and higher maximum weekly benefits to injured workers. This is a goal we can all work towards.

Photo credit: jimmiehomeschoolmom via Foter.com / CC BY

 

government, Legislation, Workers' Compensation, workplace injury

Opioids And Doctor Choice

Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Rehm, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel said in 2008 that “You never let a serious crisis go to waste.” In the context of opioids and workers compensation this could mean reforms to workers compensation systems beyond drug formularies If solving the opioid crisis means limiting the number of doctors who can prescribe opioids, then there will be fewer doctors who will treat workers compensation cases.

Additional licensure and certifications aren’t unheard of in the world of occupational health. In 2016, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration implemented a new rule that only doctors on their registry can perform DOT Physical Examinations for truckers and other professional drivers. This reduced the number of doctors who can perform those examinations. 

When I testified on LB 408, a bill that would have implemented drug formularies for opioids under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act, some doctors were testifying that there was little training in regards to prescribing opioids. Though an opioid prescription registry like the DOT examination registry wasn’t proposed, you could certainly see it proposed as a solution to the opioid problem.

By limiting the numbers of doctor who handle workers’ compensation claims through additional licensing requirements, injured employees will have fewer choices for medical treatment and are more likely to have their employer control their care.

Evidence shows that the workers compensation system has made some contribution to the opioid crisis. According to a 2015 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics over 3.5 million employees were injured at work. Half of those injuries required the employee to miss sometime from work. A study of employees in 25 states done by the Workers Compensation Research Institute revealed that 55 to 85 percent of employees who missed at least one week of work were prescribed at least one opioid prescription.

When I testified on LB 408 the consensus among the doctors testifying on the legislation was that injured workers were more vulnerable to narcotic addiction than other patients who are prescribed narcotic pain medication. Scientific studies give some credence to these conclusions. Workers compensation claims can cause economic insecurity. According to an article in Scientific America, Addiction rates for opioids are 3.4 times higher for those with incomes under $20,000 per year than they are for employees making more than 50,000 per year.

But that article also shared studies that state that pain pill prescriptions are not driving the opioid epidemic. Patients with pre-existing addiction issues are more likely to become addicted to opioids and 75 percent of those who develop opioids start taking opioids in a non-prescribed manner. Furthermore, only 12 to 13 percent of ER patients who are treated for opioid overdoses are chronic pain patients.

Workers’ Compensation is traditionally an area of the law that is controlled by the states. Regulation of drugs is generally an area reserved for the federal government. Any laws imposing additional hurdles or requirements upon doctors who prescribe opioid drugs may have to come from the federal government.

Elder Law, Employment, employment law, Iowa, Nebraska, Workers' Compensation

Proposed changes to Iowa workers compensation cruelly target elderly employees

Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Rehm, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.

Anti-worker changes could be coming to Iowa workers compensation. To me the cruelest reform would be the proposal to end permanent total disability benefits at age 67 and limit workers who are over 67 who become permanently and totally disabled to 150 weeks of benefits. One memorable client of mine demonstrates the callousness of the proposed Iowa reforms.

My client Doris Newkirk was 83 years old when she was injured working as a hostess at Lone Star Steakhouse in west Omaha in June 2006. She was near a bathroom door when a large male co-worker came barreling into the bathroom and caused Doris to fall back and injure multiple parts of her body. Like many retirees, Doris worked because she needed the money. After her injury she was unable to work. Fortunately Doris was able to receive permanent total disability benefits to make up for the income she lost because she wasn’t able to work. Those permanent benefits started in September 2007 and continued for five years and 10 ½ months until her death on July 21, 2013.

If Nebraska law limited those injured over the age of 67 to 150 weeks of permanent total disability benefits, Doris wouldn’t have been paid anything for the last three years of her life. To her credit, Doris travelled from Omaha to Lincoln in her late 80s to testify against similar legislation when it was proposed in Nebraska. According the Business and Labor committee clerk at the time, the state Senator who introduced the bill at the behest of insurance interests made a motion to kill the bill after listening to her testimony.

Workers compensation is a cost of business. But according to CNBC, Iowa has the second lowest cost of doing business in the country. Iowa, like Nebraska, generally ranks well in national surveys of business climate. Iowa’s weakest area when it comes to business climate,  according to CNBC, is quality of workforce. Unlike Nebraska, Iowa lacks vocational rehabilitation for injured workers. If Iowa is looking to reform its workers compensation system, they should consider investing in vocational rehabilitation so injured workers can fully regain their ability to contribute to the economy in Iowa.

CDC, centers for disease control and prevention, chronic pain, Health, opioid, task force, work comp, Workers' Compensation

Opioid Task Force, Recent Studies, and CDC Opioid Recommendations

Today’s post comes from guest author Kristina Brown Thompson, from The Jernigan Law Firm.

The North Carolina Industrial Commission recently joined many other states (i.e. Massachusetts) in tackling the issue of opioids in the workers’ compensation cases by creating a Workers’ Compensation Opioid Task Force. The goal of the task force is to “study and recommend solutions for the problems arising from the intersection of the opioid epidemic and related issues in workers’ compensation claims.” According to the Chair, “[o]pioid misuse and addiction are a major public health crisis in this state.” 

As of last June, a study by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) noted “noticeable decreases in the amount of opioids prescribed per workers’ compensation claim.” From 2012 – 2014, “the amount of opioids received by injured workers decreased.” In particular, there were “significant reductions in the range of 20 to 31 percent” in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Texas. 

Additionally last March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new recommendations for prescribing opioid medications for chronic pain “in response to an epidemic of prescription opioid overdose, which CDC says has been fueled by a quadrupling of sales of opioids since 1999.” 

Currently, the CDC’s recommendations for prescribing opioids for chronic pain outside of active cancer, palliative, and end-of-life care will likely follow these steps:

1.  Non-medication therapy / non-opioid will be preferred for chronic pain.

2.  Before starting opioid therapy for chronic pain, clinicians should establish treatment goals and consider how therapy will be discontinued if benefits do not outweigh risks.

3.  Before starting and periodically during opioid therapy, clinicians should discuss with patients known risks and realistic benefits of opioid therapy. 

Workers' Compensation

Agriculture Labor Law Training Offered by WA Dept. of Labor and Industries

The WA Department of Labor and Industries has announced labor law training for employers in April, including as a topic “workers’ compensation claims.” While this notice of training is directed to employers that hire migrant workers under H-2A visas, it is interesting to note that Washington State provides workers’ compensation coverage to injured workers regardless of their immigration status.  Non-documented injured workers receive the full complement of benefits under our system, although with wrinkles that can be manipulated by the employer or claims manager to limit benefits. 

The full text of the training announcement follows:

Agricultural supervisors and crew bosses who have the right training play an important role in ensuring that employers who hire migrant, seasonal and foreign workers with H-2A visas are following the law.

Training on state and federal labor laws will be offered in Spanish and English at labor laws forums in Yakima on April 26 and Wenatchee on April 27.

The forums are sponsored by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, the Washington Employment Security Department and the U. S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.

The free half-day trainings cover wage and hour requirements, workplace safety and health regulations, transportation and housing, workers’ compensation claims and more.

Space is limited, so preregistration is recommended. For more information or to register, go to:

April 26 – Yakima – Spanish

April 26 –Yakima – English 

April 27 – Wenatchee- Spanish

April 27 – Wenatchee – English 

For more information, contact Fabiola Gonzalez at 360-902-5419.

 

Photo credit: jaci XIII via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Age Discrimination, Workers' Compensation

Age Discrimination Claims in Workers’ Compensation Settlements?

Today’s post comes from guest author Anthony L. Lucas, from The Jernigan Law Firm.

When an employee settles a workers’ compensation claim, the employer often wants to terminate the employee and is cautious because of potential age discrimination. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. 621 et seq. (2015), prohibits companies with 20 or more employees from discriminating against a person (40 years of age or older) because of his or her age with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job assignments, and training.

An individual who has been discriminated against because of his or her age may be entitled to back pay, reinstatement, hiring, promotion, front pay, liquidated damages, and court costs and attorney fees.

To avoid potential discrimination claims after a workers’ compensation settlement, the employer often seeks an ADEA waiver at the same time. For an ADEA waiver to be enforceable, it must:

  • Be in writing and understandable;

  • Specifically refer to ADEA rights or claims;

  • Not waive an individual’s future rights or claims;

  • Be in exchange for valuable consideration in addition to anything of value to which the individuals is already entitled;

  • Advise the individual to consult with an attorney before signing the waiver;

  • Provide the individual with a certain amount of time to consider the agreement:

    • 21 days for individual agreements

    • 45 days for group waiver agreements

    • A “reasonable” amount of time for settlements of ADEA claims

  • Provide a period of at least 7 days following the execution of the agreement, in which the agreement is not effective or enforceable, in which the individual may revoke the agreement.

Some termination agreements may not be enforceable, and the individual may have a valid claim to pursue under the ADEA.

government, Legislation, Workers' Compensation

A Dismantling of the Grand Bargain That Created Workers’ Compensation

Today’s post comes from guest author Catherine Stanton, from Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano.

This week marks the official start of the holiday season. It is a time for family and loved ones, and a time to reflect on the blessings that we have received in our lives. This week marks the countdown to a number of holidays including Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanzaa. Unfortunately for some people, however, the holiday season is fraught with anxiety, depression, illness and injury. Many people who sustain work-related injuries find that without their weekly salary, the holidays are a stark reminder of how their lives have changed dramatically. The inability to provide for even the basic necessities, let alone splurge on holiday presents, is a prescription for depression.

The Grand Bargain Premise of Workers’ Compensation laws in this country is that the employer, through their insurance carrier, is responsible to pay for injured workers’ medical treatment, lost wages, and permanent disability in exchange for injured workers giving up their rights to sue their employers for negligence. During the last couple of decades, Workers’ Compensation benefits have been under the continuous scrutiny of the Business Council, which has been alleging that the cost of benefits to injured workers is at the root of their increase in costs and reduction in profits.

However, a report from the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) indicates otherwise. Benefits as a percent of payroll declined in 46 states between 2010 and 2014, continuing a national trend in lower benefits relative to payroll that began in the 1990s. Costs to employers, on the other hand, continue to climb. Between 2010 and 2014, employer costs associated with Workers’ Compensation – such as insurance premiums, reimbursement payments, and administrative costs – grew at a rate nearly five times faster than benefits. Instead of using employers’ money to provide benefits for injured workers, insurance companies pay a host of businesses, including insurance medical examiners, nurse case managers, vocational rehabilitation companies and defense counsel, all of which profit from the system at the expense of workers and reap record profits for themselves. Meanwhile, the insurance industry and the Business Council falsely blame the claims of disabled workers so they can continue to increase profits by slashing benefits and shifting costs to taxpayer-funded programs instead of employer-paid insurance.

Benefits in New York have decreased under the current Workers’ Compensation system. The changes in the law in 2007 allowed higher wage earners to benefit in the short term as the amount of their weekly benefits has increased. However, these benefits are only available for a fixed period of time. If injured workers are able to return to work after a short period of lost time and a limited period of medical treatment, then some may say the system is a success. Unfortunately for many severely-injured high and low wage earners, the Grand Bargain wasn’t so grand. Medical providers’ hands are tied by Medical Treatment guidelines that limit the amount of treatment authorized based upon “best practices” or cookie cutter treatment, as opposed to what is recommended by the treating doctor. Now there is the prospect of limiting prescription medications as well, all in the name of cost reduction.

The reduction of medical treatment based on the treatment guidelines to injured workers should not imply they are fully recovered. Also, they don’t all return to work once they reach their indemnity cap. The cost of providing monetary benefits and medical treatment are shifted to the taxpayers to pick up the tab. Injured workers don’t expect that the very act of working will forever alter their lives in a negative way. Workers’ Compensation benefits are not a charitable donation, but an entitlement based upon a compromise between workers and their employers. Unfortunately, it is clear that these benefits have been gradually eroded. We should not allow any legislation that further erodes these benefits. While the holidays will continue to bring depression and despair for some injured workers, it should not be as a result of our treatment of them afterward.

 

Catherine M. Stanton is a senior partner in the law firm of Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP. She focuses on the area of Workers’ Compensation, having helped thousands of injured workers navigate a highly complex system and obtain all the benefits to which they were entitled. Ms. Stanton has been honored as a New York Super Lawyer, is the past president of the New York Workers’ Compensation Bar Association, the immediate past president of the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group, and is an officer in several organizations dedicated to injured workers and their families. She can be reached at 800.692.3717.