Federal workplace safety inspectors fined a grain operator in Nebraska $536,965 for exposing workers to fire and explosion risks by allowing combustible dust to accumulate. U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration…

Hawaii’s Intermediate Court of Appeals overturned the denial of a worker’s claim for permanent partial disability benefits, finding that the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board imposed the wrong standard…

The Hawaii Court of Appeals revived an injured health care worker’s untimely claim for her tuberculosis infection. Case: Weis v. Pali Momi Medical Center, No. CAAP-19-0000575, 06/04/2024, unpublished. Facts: Teresa L. Weis…

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations cannot reject an appeal as untimely based on its “sent” date for a decision without direct evidence that…

Large language model does better than human mathematicians trying to solve combinatorics problems inspired by the card game Set

Until now computers have failed to solve mathematical problems. But the AI program AlphaGeometry has succeeded in finding proofs for dozens of theorems from the International Mathematical Olympiad

The inspection paradox makes sense of social networks, long train wait times and why the call center is always busy 

Mathematicians cannot determine whether multiplying pi by itself repeatedly might produce a whole number

The Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division reported that covered employment and the number of accepted disabling claims increased in 2022, resulting in the claims rate per 100 workers remaining the same as…

The Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division on Monday published a bulletin explaining how to calculate self-insured employer premium assessments for the upcoming fiscal year. Self-insureds can choose premium assessments using either a…

A federal appellate court revived an injured worker’s suit against a crane contractor, finding there were triable questions as to whether the crane operator allegedly responsible for his injuries was…

The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that a trial judge miscalculated an insurance provider’s lien against a truck driver’s third-party recovery for an accident that resulted in the loss of…

The Workers Compensation Research Institute reported that medical payments per claim in Indiana were higher than typical among the 17 states included in a recent study. WCRI said its analysis of…

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals overturned the denial of a university employee’s claim for injuries from a collision with a jogger as she walked along a public sidewalk…

The District of Columbia’s high court overturned the denial of a former professional soccer player’s claim for benefits for a right knee injury allegedly caused by a decades-old injury to her…

A federal appellate court upheld the dismissal of an insurance carrier’s garnishment claim against another carrier seeking to collect a default judgment against an employer for a workers’ compensation claim. Case:…

A federal appellate court upheld the summary dismissal of a widow’s wrongful death claim against the parent company of her late-husband’s employer. Case: Mesenbring v. Rollins Inc., No. 23-2473, 06/28/2024, published. Facts:…

A federal appellate court upheld the summary dismissal of a worker’s claim of retaliation for pursuing workers’ compensation benefits. Paula Emerson began working for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in 2008.

A federal appellate court ruled that a worker’s claim that his employer’s health plan administrator violated Illinois law was preempted by federal law. Case: Carnes v. HMO Louisiana Inc., No. 4:22-cv-04179,…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the denial of a widow’s claim for a truck driver’s fatal heart attack. Case: Dnistranskiy v. Brite Logistics Inc. (WCAB), No. 414 C.D. 2023, 05/10/2024,…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that when an injured worker is a sole proprietor, he must report a work-related injury to the insurance carrier for the business within 120…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the denial of a worker’s claim for benefits based on his industrial lead exposure. Case: Mercer v. Active Radiator MPN Inc., No. 1326 C.D. 2023,…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld an administrative decision finding that an employer could not join another entity and its insurance carrier as liable parties for a worker’s fatal accident. Case:…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that Amazon.com was not entitled to join an injured employee’s prior employer as a defendant in her claim and that she was entitled to…

Billing agents can pursue payments for workers' comp prescriptions outside of the fee-review process, under a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision. The high court on Tuesday published a split decision in…

The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld the dismissal of an insurance carrier’s breach-of-contract claim against a third-party claims administrator and a malpractice action against the former attorney for the carrier. Case: Pyramid…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld a determination that a union painter’s direct employer was liable for his benefits but was entitled to a pension offset — and that the worker had…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that a pension offset is not available when the retiree returns to work for a former employer on a part-time basis and suffers an…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the denial of a railway worker’s claim of injury to his ear and hearing loss. Case: Patrick v. Velocity Rail Solutions Inc. (WCAB), No. 652…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected an employer’s challenges to orders reinstating a worker’s benefits, the expansion of his claim and the imposition of penalties. Case: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. Berardi (WCAB),…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the denial of a worker’s claim for penalties for his employer’s failure to pay for his prescribed medications. Case: Benedict v. Hard Chrome Specialists Inc.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld the dismissal of a medical provider’s claim for damages against an insurance company executive for the carrier’s alleged failure to pay for the treatment of…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania overturned a ruling that an employer had waived its subrogation claim for the benefits it paid to an injured worker in a settlement. Case: American General Life Insurance…

A Missouri appellate court ruled that an employer was entitled to direct a worker’s future medical care even though it had refused to pay for her treatment for more than a…

The Missouri Court of Appeals reinstated a jury’s verdicts in favor of an injured worker on his disability discrimination claim. Scott Caldwell worked for the UniFirst Corp. as a district sales…

The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the denial of a worker’s claim for benefits for a knee injury allegedly caused by his misstep while descending a flight of stairs. Case: Fernandez…

The Missouri Court of Appeals overturned a denial of Second Injury Fund benefits to a long-time aircraft mechanic with a multitude of injuries. James Eckardt spent over 40 years working as…

A Missouri appellate court ruled that a worker could not proceed with a civil suit against a company that qualified as his statutory employer. Case: Montgomery v. Coreslab Structures (Missouri) Inc.,…

A California appellate court ruled that some claims in a dispute between the founding partners of a factoring company should have been dismissed. In 2010, Ari Resnick and Dr. Ismael Silva Jr.

The California Legislature passed a bill that would increase salaries for Insurance Department fraud investigators. The Senate on Aug. 26 voted 32-7 to pass AB 2872, which had not been amended…

An injured worker’s 2023 medical malpractice action was time-barred because more than three years had passed since she underwent the physical therapy that allegedly caused the additional injuries, a California…

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed bills that would have required some utilization review doctors to be licensed in the state and would have increased salaries for fraud investigators at the…

A California appellate court revived a worker’s claims against his employer for harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jose Rivera worked for FSC Corp. at Il Pastaio restaurant in Beverly…

A California appellate court overturned a jury verdict in favor of a railway, finding that the trial judge prejudicially erred in excluding the testimony of an injured worker’s expert witness. Terrence Richard…

About 15% of COVID-19 claims with medical payments involved treatment for long COVID symptoms, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California reported. More than one in seven COVID-19 claims filed…

The California Workers’ Compensation Institute reported that a nearly eightfold increase in migraine drug prescriptions coincided with the emergence of several high-cost drugs that are not included in the formulary. “Although…

The California Highway Patrol announced that a former captain was arrested on suspicion of workers' compensation insurance fraud and theft. Matthew Stover, 51, was arrested without incident in Folsom Thursday on…

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that a worker was partially disabled by carpal tunnel syndrome and the Workers’ Disability Compensation Appeals Commission should address whether she received an overpayment…

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that a worker’s settlement of his compensation claim against his employer did not preclude him from pursuing a civil suit against alleged third-party tortfeasors…

The Georgia Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a widow’s challenge to the denial of her claim for death benefits as time-barred. Case: Coffman v. Barnsley Consulting Group, No. A24A0740,…