With increasing regularity, our practice continues to encounter employers who utilize transitional charitable light-duty placement when they are unable to accommodate injured workers' work restrictions. However, as a natural evolution there is also an increasing opposition to this practice. Perhaps naively, I find myself wondering; "What's the big deal; it's just charity work?" To me it would seem that the injured worker is getting paid, they are getting out of the house, and they are serving their own communities. With increasing regularity, our practice continues to encounter employers who utilize transitional charitable light-duty placement when they are unable to accommodate injured ... Continue Reading
“Are you sure that it was food poisoning?” The Current Status of Circumstantial Evidence in Foodborne Illness Cases
Litigation arising from allegations of food poisoning is common and often costly. Each year almost 1,000 Georgians will report an incident of food poisoning. www.cdc.gov. (2018). National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) Dashboard | CDC. [online] Available at: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/norsdashboard/ [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018]. In a foodborne illness lawsuit, the average award to a successful Plaintiff is $276,148, but verdicts have been as high as $6.2M in recent years. Litigation arising from allegations of food poisoning is common and often costly. Each year almost 1,000 Georgians will report an incident of food poisoning. www.cdc.gov. (2018). National Outbreak Reporting ... Continue Reading
Best Practices for Handling Liability Claims Involving Medicare
Overview of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSPA) Until 1980, Medicare was the primary payer for all medical services covered by Medicare except those covered by Worker's Compensation. The MSPA was created in 1980 to attempt to shift costs from Medicare to other private payers. 42 U.S.C. § 1395y (1980). Pursuant to the MSPA, Medicare is the "secondary payer" to insurance plans and programs for individuals covered through (among other things) auto and other liability insurance or no-fault liability insurance. Id. Overview of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSPA) Until 1980, Medicare was the primary payer for all medical services covered by Medicare except those covered by Worker’s ... Continue Reading
Subcontracting in the Construction Industry and Who is Responsible for the Injured Employee?
General contractors obtain the services of subcontractors as a common business practice to help construction projects become completed more efficiently. Often, these subcontractors are more capable of performing the specialized work, and in many ways, the construction industry is a subcontractor-driven industry. The addition of subcontractors to a construction project brings additional workers hired by each subcontractor. In the event a subcontractor's employee is injured in the performance of the work at the construction site, a question arises of who may be held responsible for payment of workers' compensation benefits for those injuries. The current trend in the construction industry ... Continue Reading