Massey Security Director faces up to 25 years in prison following the coal mine disaster that left 29 miners dead
Hughie Elbert Stover, Massey Energy’s security director at the Upper Big Branch Mine, was found guilty of lying to federal agents and attempting to destroy evidence in the investigation of the April 2010 coal mine disaster that killed 29 miners. This is the second Massey executive to be convicted following the disaster. Thomas Harrah pled guilty to [...]
Joplin, MO Tornado Victim (and hero) has Workers’ Comp Claim Approved!
In an about face the Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America approved Mark Lindquist’s workers’ compensation claim yesterday after reports of their failure to do so spread on the national news. This is certainly a fortunate turn of events for Mr. Lindquist and his family. Hopefully, the Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America lives up to [...]
Man denied Workers’ Comp after saving multiple lives and miraculously surviving traumatic injuries from the worst tornado in American history
Mark Lindquist saved three developmentally disabled adults during the Joplin tornado earlier this year while working for Community Support Services. The powerful tornado threw Lindquist from his employer’s facility (which had no basement in which to safely hide) breaking all of his ribs, shattering his shoulder, and leaving him nearly toothless as he lay in a [...]
IL Supreme Court Reinstates Physician Search
According to the Illinois Dept of Professional Regulation : “On February 4, 2010, the Illinois Supreme Court filed its Opinion for Lebron v. Gottlieb, No. 105741 (Ill. Feb. 4, 2010). The Supreme Court held that the “limitation on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice actions set forth in section 2-1706.5 of the Code [of Civil Procedure] [...]
Gov. Quinn announces appointments of 7 Commissioners to the IWCC!
Gov. Quinn announced his seven appointments to the position of commissioner who will serve on 3 panels at the IWCC. There are 9 commissioners who serve at the IWCC. When an arbitrators’s decision is appealed by a party, each case is randomly assigned to a single commissioner. The parties submit briefs on appeal and then are [...]
NY Times picks up story of Hershey’s Exploitation of Student workers
The US State Department has opened an investigation in the patterns and practice at the Hershey plant in Palmyra, PA where, according to the NY TIMES, “many students who were placed at the packing plant found themselves working grueling night shifts on speeding production lines, repeatedly lifting boxes weighing as much as 60 pounds and financially [...]
Gov. Quinn Announces the 29 Arbitrators of the IWCC
From the Governor’s press release: CHICAGO – October 14, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today announced the appointments of 29 arbitrators in Illinois’ workers’ compensation system. Arbitrators rule on claims filed under the state’s Workers Compensation Act. The appointments are part of a package of reforms to the workers’ compensation system that Governor Quinn pushed through [...]
Can a protest on Wall Street change anything?
800 members of the AFL-CIO Next Up Young Worker Summit announced their support of the Occupy Wall Street protests. Maybe it’s just the cynic in me, but wasn’t electing Obama supposed to take care of some of this? What about Dodd-Frank? Until we get a 535 representatives in Congress that understand the realities facing us, 800 kids [...]
Elizabeth Warren: A Voice in the Senate for Progressives
After being passed over by President Obama to head the Consumer Protection Bureau that she championed into being, Elizabeth Warren has decided to run for the US Senate in Massachusetts. In a recent speech she makes it clear that nobody gets rich on their own, and that we are all in this together. “You built [...]