Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog

June 2, 2015

New Workers’ Comp Bill Proposed in Massachusetts

When legislatures across the country created their state’s respective workers’ compensation systems, they looked to see what other states had done when crafting their set of laws. Some states are more favorable to the workers and others are more favorable to employers and big business. Some states try to strike and equal balance between the needs of workers to make ends meet following and injury and employer’s needs to keep costs down.

One of the common themes in virtually all workers’ compensation systems is that elected officials are hesitant to create a system where an injured worker can make the same or even more money staying at home and collecting benefits than he could at work had it not been for the on the job injury. While this may seem fair to some, the problem is the injured worker generally cannot go back to work so he or she should not have to earn less in workers’ compensation benefits than he or she would had the accident not occurred, since his or her other bill are not going to down along with his or her income.

While this is not likely to change anytime to soon, Massachusetts lawmakers are trying to make the situation a little more tolerable for injured workers by adjusting how the state average weekly wage (SAWW) is calculated. Essentially, the workers compensation board looks at what a worker would be earning according to an average worker in the state working the same job, and pays a percentage of that amount as benefits.
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May 31, 2015

Family of Disney Worker Killed on Job Files Lawsuit

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In 2011, a Walt Disney World ride mechanic was killed on-the-job while making repairs on an attraction at the park’s Animal Kingdom. According to a recent news article from Click Orlando, employee was performing work on the small roller coaster when another employee released a test car while employee was still on the tracks. Employee was 52-years-old at the time of his workplace death.

Family members have recently filed a lawsuit in connection with employee’s death, arguing defendant was negligent in performing a test run while employee was still on the tracks. They also allege employee’s supervisor did not properly warn him that a car was about to release, which would have allowed him to clear the tracks in a safe manner before being struck by the incoming car.

Plaintiff’s lawyers are technically alleging more than mere negligence, as they contend employee’s supervisor either was not paying attention, or actually “knew where [employee] was and launched [the car] anyway.”
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May 27, 2015

Workers’ Compensation Insurance Carriers Fear Rising Insurance Costs

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

It should come as a shock to no one that prescription drug costs in the United States are extremely high. We do not have many of the cost control measures implemented by governments of other countries, such as Canada and Europe. In fact, Congress has actually made it illegal to purchase and ship drugs to the U.S. from Canada or Mexico, where the same drugs are cheaper.

With prescription costs being as high as they are and still getting higher each year, workers’ compensation insurance carriers are worried these high costs will make it costly to provide benefits to injured workers in need of expensive prescriptions.

In other words, as our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys can explain, large insurance companies, which collect trillions of dollars in premiums each year, are worried high prescription costs will cut into their profitability, which tends to upset investors, and that is the last thing way want. Essentially, the lobbyists from the pharmaceutical industry are having more success in keeping prescription costs high than insurance industry lobbyists are having in keeping them low or getting federal subsidies.

According to a recent article from Insurance Business Magazine, the cost increases in pharmaceuticals are due to what industry insiders call high price inflation for brand and specialty drugs. They also argue there are fewer big name drugs going generic in the near future, which in the past had served as a cost corrector, as insurance companies can require a patient to use a generic drug if one is available. While they have not said how this actually affects workers’ compensation claims, they claim specialty treatments for Hepatitis C are very costly, and this is having a big impact on the value of claims.

In context to drugs more obviously associated with on-the-job injuries, such as antibiotics, narcotic painkillers, and antidepressants, many of which are already generic, and still increasing in costs, which is contributing to higher costs for workers’ compensation claims. It is not small increases these insurance companies are claiming either, as they note some generic drugs have increase in costs nearly 1,000 percent in the past year alone.
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May 23, 2015

Report: Nail Salon Workers Poisoned on the Job

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Anyone who has ever gone into a nail salon is familiar with the strong smell of chemicals and workers wearing face masks when doing client’s manicures. While these chemicals may not be harmful to customers who go into a nail salon a few times a month at most, they are proving very dangerous to nail salon workers who spend all day around toxic chemicals such as acetone throughout each work day.

According to a recent investigation by The New York Times, nail salon workers are being poisoned. The author focuses on the lives at one popular nail salon in New York City. When a customer opens the door, seemingly happy workers greet her and ask her to pick a color for her nails.

At the first work station, an immigrant worker trims a client’s nails while talking about her two children. She does not mention a child lost in miscarriage. Another worker is on the internet looking for reasons she had a miscarriage, as well, along with four others before the most recent one.
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May 19, 2015

Dukane Precast, Inc. v. Perez: Workplace Safety Violations

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Dukane Precast, Inc. v. Perez, a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, involved employee who worked at a concrete products plant. This workplace accident occurred when employee was standing in a large sand bin trying to scrape sand from the sides of the bin. The bin was about 10 feet wide at the top opening and narrowed down forming a cone, which was 18 feet deep.

While employee was scraping the sides of the bin, the sand on which he was standing gave way, causing him to sink into the sand and then get buried by more sand up to his neck. Employee screamed for help, and several employees heard him and came running to offer assistance. Despite their best efforts, they were only able to dig out the top portion of his body, so the tightly packed sand trapped him from his waist down.

At this point, other employees managed to find the plant manager to tell him what happened. This took about 10 minutes. Plant manager went to the bin and decided there was no emergency, as employee was in no immediate danger. Other employees told plant manager they believed they could dig him out, so manager left them on their own to try to free trapped employee. Employees tried their best to dig him out but were not trained in how to help him, and the sand removed only left a space for more sand to fall into the holes, thus increasing pressure exerted on trapped employee. He pleaded with everyone to dial 911, but, according to court records, nobody called for assistance.
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May 16, 2015

Hill v. City of Horn Lake: Workers’ Compensation and Independent Contractors

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In Hill v. City of Horn Lake, a case from the Supreme Court of Mississippi, two employees were working at the bottom of a trench when it collapsed without warning. The trench was 17 feet deep at its lowest point. When it collapsed, one worker was killed, and the other was seriously injured.

Following the accident, deceased worker’s estate and injured worker filed civil negligence suit against the city under a theory that their employer, construction company, had acted negligently in allowing the trench to collapse while they were inside.
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May 12, 2015

Payment for Scarring in Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from Boston.com, some disfigured employees are not being compensated for scarring caused by work-related accidents. Pursuant to Massachusetts law, employees injured on the job are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits to cover medical bills, future medical expenses, and lost wages for injuries expected to keep workers off the job for a period of more than five days. However, in some cases, additional compensation is allowed when an employee has scarring or other permanent injuries such as lost limbs.

This article discussed the story of an employee who constantly lives with severe pain. The 56-year-old worker was cleaning ventilation ducts when he lost his balance and fell into a vat of chemicals at the metal finishing factory where he worked. He was an employee for 14 years prior to his serious work-related accident.

Employee suffered severe burns, including second- and third-degree burns that ran from his thighs down to his feet. His doctors had to perform extensive skin grafts by taking skin from his back and chest and other areas his body and using it to cover the burns on his legs.
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May 8, 2015

Workers’ Memorial Day in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Each year thousands of workers die as result of on-the-job injuries and illness. While these people will never be forgotten by their families, it is still important to take a day to pay our respects to those who sacrificed their own lives so the rest of society could live their lives in a way in which we have all become accustomed.

This Workers’ Memorial Day, labor officials in Massachusetts listed the names of 62 workers who died in the past 16 months while working throughout our state.

A recent news article from Mass Live says this amounts to approximately one death per week – deaths that could have been prevented if there was a greater set of safety regulations, according to the director of the National Council for Occupational Health and Safety (COSH).
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May 4, 2015

Car Crashed into Chef Mario Batali’s Hollywood Restaurant, Worker Injured

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Millions of tourists come to Hollywood each year to see where movies are made and see where the stars spend their free time. People generally do not expect to see a car plow through a crowded restaurant while they are enjoying the sights.

According to a recent news article from Fox News, a worker was injured when a pickup truck and car crashed in way, which sent the pickup flying through the restaurant’s front door. Authorities say workers were at the restaurant at around one in the afternoon preparing the business to open later that afternoon when the pickup truck came crashing into the restaurant, causing him to suffer serious, but not life-threatening injuries.

While first responders were primarily there to help injured workers and driver of the pickup truck, who ultimately declined to be taken to a hospital, they became concerned about structural damage to the building and were worried it could collapse causing additional injuries. In total 44 firefighters responded to the scene of this car accident, along with city building inspectors to help contain the damage and prevent a structural collapse.
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April 30, 2015

Boeing Co. v. Dep’t of Labor & Indus.: Workers’ Compensation and Self-Insured Employers

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Boeing Co. v. Dep’t of Labor & Indus., a case from the Supreme Court of Washington, involved claimant who filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits after she suffered chemical exposure during her time working for employer.

Chemical exposure aggravated her pre-existing asthma condition. As result of this chemical exposure, claimant requires ongoing medical treatment. After submitting her claim, the workers’ compensation department made a determination she was permanently and totally disabled. In addition to her asthma and asthma complications due to chemical exposure, claimant also had a right knee injury, which was a determined to be a contributing factor to her permanent total disability rating. She was awarded a pension based upon her disability rating.

Employer applied for what is known as second injury relief, and workers’ compensation department ordered a portion of her benefits consistent with the percentage of disability rating associated with the knee injury to be paid from a second injury fund. In other words, employer was not responsible for paying for injuries not related to chemical exposure, but claimant would still get the money to which she was legally entitled. Department also determined claimant was entitled to post-pension compensation for her ongoing medical treatment for her chemical exposure-related asthma complications, and employer would be responsible for those costs.
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