Overlawyered » workers’ compensation

Labor law roundup

Walter Olson — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:24:30 +0000

Union withdraws, and NLRB drops, complaint against Boeing over plant location decision [Adler, earlier] “Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) Introduces Bill to Reverse NLRB’s ‘Micro-Union’ Decision” [LRT via @jonhyman] Video of “Organized Labor & Obama administration” panel [Federalist Society convention]
Suing Atlantic City is an established sport for current, former employees [Press of AC] After lawsuit win, former Gotham sanitation worker litters neighborhood with cars [NY Post via Christopher Fountain] Why have House, Senate reversed usual ideological lines on federal employee workers’-comp reform? [WaPo]
Murder of reformist professors reinforces difficulty of changing Italian labor law [Tyler Cowen] UK considers relaxing “unfair dismissal” controls on employers [BBC, earlier]
Taylor Law and NYC transit strike: “ILO Urges that U.S. Stop Violating International Obligations It Hasn’t Agreed To” [Ku, OJ; Mitch Rubinstein, Adjunct Law Prof]
Maryland’s misnamed 2009 “Workplace Fraud Act” bedevils carpet installers and other firms that employ contract workers, and perhaps that was its point [Ed Waters Jr./Frederick News-Post, Weyrich Cronin & Sorra, Floor Daily]
“Government pay is higher” [Stoll] Notwithstanding “Occupy” themes, interests of unions and underemployed young folks might not actually be aligned very well [Althouse]
More on outcry over proposed federal restrictions on kids’ farm chores [WSJ, NPR, Gannett Wisconsin, CEI, earlier]

Tags: agriculture and farming, international human rights, Italy, labor unions, Maryland, New Jersey, NYC, United Kingdom, workers' compensation

Illinois’ fragile prison guards

Walter Olson — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:22:54 +0000

The Associated Press and Belleville News-Democrat investigate some curious clusters of workers’-comp claims among downstate correctional officers and other public employees.

Tags: Illinois, public employment, workers' compensation

August 11 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 05:25:02 +0000

Seattle’s best? Class action lawyer suing Apple, e-publishers has represented Microsoft [Seattle Times, earlier]
“Disabled” NYC firefighter/martial arts enthusiast can go on getting checks for life [NYPost; compare]
After the FDA enforcement action on drug manufacturing lapses come the tagalong liability claims by uninjured plaintiffs [Beck]
“What If Lower Court Judges Weren’t Bound by Supreme Court Precedent?” [Orin Kerr]
Fark.com settles a patent suit for $0 (rough language);
Canadian law society to pay $100K for asking prospective lawyers about mental illness [ABA Journal]
Self-help eviction? “Chinese Developers Accused Of Putting Scorpions In Apartments To Force Out Residents” [Business Insider]

Tags: Apple, China, disabled rights, FDA, firefighters, Microsoft, patent trolls, Steve Berman, Supreme Court, workers' compensation

August 2 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:45:48 +0000

Yikes! “House Committee Approves Bill Mandating That Internet Companies Spy on Their Users” [EFF; Julian Sanchez, New York Post/Cato and podcast]
Australia courts skeptical about claim that sex injury is covered under workers’ comp [Herald Sun]
Well-off community doesn’t need annual HUD grant, seeks to sell it [Dan Mitchell]
Report: playful City Museum in St. Louis has taken down signs criticizing lawyers [Bill Childs/TortsProf, earlier]
Chicago neurosurgeons pay $4500 a week in med-mal premiums, blame lawless Illinois Supreme Court [Medill Reports] Supreme Court declines to review Feres doctrine, which shields military doctors (among others) from suits [Stars and Stripes] Why is the most widely cited number of medical-misadventure deaths such an outlier? [White Coat; more here, here, etc.]
After “Facebook broken heart” suit, will pre-nups for Mafia Wars relationships be next? [Tri-Cities Herald]
Another horrific report of poppy seed positive drug test followed by child-grabbing [Radley Balko]

Tags: Australia, Chicago, Child Protective Services, Facebook, illegal drugs, medical malpractice, workers' compensation

July 18 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:13:46 +0000

Per New Jersey court, overly sedentary home office job can result in valid worker’s comp claim [Courier-Post, NJLRA]
Trial bar’s AAJ denies it played “direct” role in backing “Hot Coffee” [WaPo, some background]
“Cop repeatedly harasses waitresses, never disciplined. Feds defend their civil rights by . . . suing the restaurant.” [Palm Beach Post via Radley Balko]
On “unauthorized practice of law” as protective moat around profession’s interests, Britain does things differently [Gillian Hadfield via Andrew Sullivan; related, Larry Ribstein] Forthcoming book by Robert Crandall et al urges lawyer deregulation [Brookings]
“The Treaty Clause Doesn’t Give Congress Unlimited Power” [Ilya Shapiro, Cato on Golan v. Holder case headed to Supreme Court]
The small bank regulatory shakedown blues [Kevin Funnell] Why is the Department of Justice including gag orders as part of its enforcement decrees against banks on race and lending? [Investors Business Daily via PoL] “Emigrant fights back against mortgage-discrimination suits” [Fisher, Forbes] Dodd-Frank squeezing out community banks [Funnell]
“North Carolina to Seize Speeding Cars That Fail to Pull Over” [The Newspaper] “With what, a tractor beam?” [James Taranto]

Tags: AAJ, banks, constitutional law, harassment law, hot coffee, international law, mortgages, New Jersey, North Carolina, traffic laws, workers' compensation

April 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:40:04 +0000

Verbal fireworks from Judge Kozinski in Ninth Circuit “stolen valor” case [Above the Law]
Measure of artificially contrived scarcity: “NYC Taxi Medallions Approach $1 Million.” Would officials in Washington, D.C. really consider introducing such a destructive system? [Perry, more]
Workers’ comp OK’d in case where simulated chicken head blamed for subsequent emotional disability [Lowering the Bar]
“NBA referee sues sports writer over tweet” [Siouxsie Law] “Lessons from Dan Snyder’s Libel Suit” [Paul Alan Levy/CL&P, earlier]
Litigation rates similar for poor and good nursing homes, researchers find [US News] Effects of medical liability reform in Texas [White Coat, scroll] New York’s Cuomo caves on medical liability plan [Heritage] Sued if you do, sued if you don’t in the emergency room [same]
“Federal Government Wants to Bully School Bullies, and Demands School Help” [Doherty, Bader, Popehat, Bernstein] New York law firm launches school-bullying practice [Constitutional Daily]
Mass tort settlements: “The market for specious claims” [S. Todd Brown, Buffalo, SSRN]
Could Gene McCarthy’s candidacy have survived Arizona elections law? [Trevor Burrus, HuffPo]

Tags: Alex Kozinski, bullying, campaign regulation, emergency medicine, libel slander and defamation, mass tort fraud, nursing homes, NYC, sports, sued if you do, Texas, Twitter, workers' compensation

February 24 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:56:31 +0000

Judge Ciavarella defiant after racketeering conviction in Pennsylvania cash-for-kids horror [TheLegalIntel, Sullum and more, WSJ Law Blog, Greenfield, earlier]
Widener lawprof Lawrence Connell facing discipline over hypotheticals in class [Orin Kerr, NLJ, interview at NAS]
“Do we even want to remain a child care center if we have to eliminate all the parts we love?” [Free-Range Kids] Lawsuit fears tame a Frederick, Md. ice playground [same]
Marquette lawprof Rick Esenberg on Wisconsin showdown [first, second, third posts]
A patent owner, the Chicago Tribune and Sen. Durbin: Anatomy of a pool drain scare story [Woldenberg, AmendTheCPSIA.com]
Mayor Thomas Menino vows to save Boston from scourge of everyday low prices [Mark Perry]
“Comp Hearing Scheduled ‘On the Sly’ for Texting Cop Who Caused Fatal Accident” [Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal] “Paying for bad cops” [Balko]
Demand for shaker abstinence: nosy, hectoring CSPI files suit asking that salt in food be subjected to FDA regulation [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: Boston, Chicago, law schools, Luzerne County judicial scandal, police, pools, Wal-Mart, Wisconsin, workers' compensation

Convicted in double-fatality crash, trooper wants compensation

Walter Olson — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 05:19:41 +0000

“Former Illinois State trooper Matt Mitchell is asking the state to compensate him for injuries from a crash in which he hit and killed two Collinsville sisters at triple-digit speeds.” Mitchell pleaded guilty to reckless homicide after the incident, in which, headed for an accident scene, he “was driving 126 mph in busy day-after-Thanksgiving traffic on Interstate 64 near O’Fallon while sending and receiving e-mails and talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone.” “People get hurt at work all the time,” said Mitchell’s lawyer, Kerri O’Sullivan of St. Louis’ Brown and Crouppen. “It’s our job as lawyers to help people with the difficult and complicated administrative process of worker’s compensation.” [Belleville News-Democrat]

Tags: Illinois, police, workers' compensation

Worker’s comp in California

Walter Olson — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:53:26 +0000

The state’s onetime crisis abated after Gov. Schwarzenegger presided over serious reforms in 2004, but now rates are on the rise again following court decisions that have let lawyers bypass medical-eligibility guidelines. [Orange County Register]

Tags: California, workers' compensation

Milwaukee triathlete making $53k on disability

Ted Frank — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:39:51 +0000

Taxpayers are paying former police officer Dave Orlowski $53,063 a year of tax-free disability payments, though he’s fit enough to compete in several triathlons a year. An old court decision permits Orlowski to refuse desk work after since he injured his shoulder in 1999. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (h/t W.J.)]

Tags: police, taxpayers, Wisconsin, workers' compensation

Overlawyered » workers’ compensation

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