Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation

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In a recent decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Court found that workers’ compensation disability benefits could, in some cases, be calculated based on the worker’s current weekly earnings at his most recent job-even if that job is not in Massachusetts.

The controlling precedent for the lower court’s decision in this case was Letteney’s Case, where the court held that wages earned outside of Massachusetts could NOT be used to determine current workers’ compensation benefits. In the case at bar, the court reined in that holding-limiting it to cases involving “out-of-State wages earned after suffering latent injuries (such as from exposure to asbestos) that do not result in eligibility for incapacity benefits for at least 5 years.”

Scott Wadsworth, the plaintiff in the case, was certainly pleased. Wadsworth was injured in a metal rolling machine accident (his right hand was crushed) in 1980 while on the job at a Massachusetts corporation. He received benefits for incapacity from 1980-1988. He then started a job in Connecticut. He underwent a procedure to help the pain in his previously injured hand, which only caused further pain, then applied for permanent disability in 2003, arguing that his benefits should be calculated based on his wage rate in 2003 at his Connecticut job. Wadsworth’s rationale was that “he was permanently disabled from a subsequent injury that was a recurrence of his 1980 injury after having returned to work for a period of at least two months.”

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Real “employee” versus “independent contractor.” How much difference does it make? The answer is that it can mean a great deal, as Massachusetts employers keenly recognize in seeking to classify more workers as independent contractors rather than employees these days, in an effort to limit their own responsibilities.

Regular employees get overtime. Independent contractors, by contrast, do not. Employees get unemployment insurance and-importantly-workers’ compensation benefits. Independent contractors do not. As such, how you are classified can me a whole lot in the case of an accident on the job or an injury that prevents you from working.

Recently, Boston taxi drivers have taken a stand against a change in their classification. According to the Boston Globe (quoting Catherine Ruckelhaus),

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According to reports, workers’ compensation rates in Massachusetts may significantly increase in September, if the state approves a proposed increase. The Workers’ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts (WCRIBMA)-a non-profit organization licensed by the MA Division of Insurance that represents companies that write workers’ comp policies- asked the state to approve a 19.3% increase. This increase would raise the cost of employee compensation insurance for MA employers, which they are required to provide under M.G.L. Chapter 152, Section 25A.

We will keep you updated on this and other workers’ compensation developments in Massachusetts. If you have been injured on the job and believe you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, contact a seasoned MA workers’ compensation lawyer.

Workers’ comp rates could go up, Boston.com, March 2, 2012

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A recent complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s regional solicitor’s office in Boston requests that the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission orders DeMoulas Super Markets Inc., doing business as Market Basket, to adhere to workplace safety measures. The Tewksbury, Massachusetts-based grocery store chain has more than 60 stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The request for the entire company to adhere to the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s safety standards comes after multiple inspections at various store locations in which similar safety hazards were discovered. An inspection of Market Baskets stores in Rindge and Concord, New Hampshire, resulted in citations and fines up to $589,200. An employee of the Market Basket store in Billerica, Massachusetts, was seriously injured in 2007 after an unguarded fall and an employee of the Rindge, New Hampshire store was similarly seriously injured in April 2011 when he fell 11 feet onto a concrete floor from a poorly guarded storage mezzanine.

In addition to multiple fall hazards and recorded fall injuries, employees at the Rindge and Concord stores alone sustained at least 40 recorded hand lacerations between 2008 and 2011. OSHA has found that the company also failed to protect employees in produce, deli, and bakery departments against laceration dangers by not identifying the need for employee hand protection and by not providing any hand protection to employees working with knives, sharp objects, or cutting machines. The company agreed to complete job hazard analyses in all of their stores after being cited by OSHA in 2006, which they have failed to carry out.

Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, said “Hazardous conditions at multiple locations that expose employees to serious injuries demand a swift and comprehensive corrective response at the corporate level…OSHA insists that this employer completely and effectively eliminate the hazards it never should have allowed to exist in the first place.” He continued to say, “Worker safety is not optional, and it cannot be addressed in a piecemeal fashion. It must be addressed across the board…This employer has the responsibility to safeguard all its employees at all its locations, something it has failed to do.”

If you or your loved one has been injured in the workplace, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Source:

US Labor Department files complaint to require DeMoulas Super Markets to address hazards at Market Basket stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, OSHA Regional News Release, January 18, 2012
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According to Easthampton city officials, a city police officer might be retiring from the Easthampton Police Department against his will. An injury that he sustained while on duty has prevented him from returning to work for over two years. Officer Anthony Covalli, 30, who has been with the Easthampton Police Department since 2004, broke his leg in November of 2009, when he jumped over a chain link fence while he was pursuing a suspect.

Although his expected date to return to work was in May 2010, Personnel Director Raisa Riggott confirmed that he remains out on paid leave. She said “It’s tough because he really wants to get back to work, but he’s had so many complications with his injury.” According to Riggott, Police Chief Bruce McMahon is attempting to involuntarily retire Covalli because his paid leave is “costing the city money.”

Massachusetts State Law mandates that police officers or firefighters who are injured while on duty must receive their full, untaxed wages while they are “incapacitated.” Riggott confirmed that Covalli has been receiving his regular salary since his accident in 2009 and that the law does not currently state any limit on the length of time the officer is allowed to be on paid leave. The base annual salary for Covalli’s position is $49,587; however, he may be receiving additional pay depending on his level of education or training.

A panel of doctors is scheduled to examine Covalli to determine whether or not he should retire due to the injury. Tina Schneider, administrator for the Easthampton Retirement Department, said that if the Retirement Board decides to retire Covalli, he will receive the same retirement package as any other officer who has had to retire because of an accidental disability.

The city´s Retirement Board accepted this request from Police Chief Bruce McMahon to begin involuntary retirement proceedings for Covalli and the department has commenced the paperwork that will be submitted to the state’s Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission to start the involuntary retirement process. According to the retirement administration commission’s guidelines, Covalli has the option to appeal the Retirement Board’s decision in district court within 30 days.

Covalli grew up in and is still a resident of Easthampton. He became a full-time police officer when he was 23 years old after serving in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves for six months in 2006.

If you or your loved one has been injured in the workplace or are facing complications over your workers´ compensation, it is advised that you contact an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Sources:

Easthampton moves to force retirement of injured police officer , www.gazettenet.com, January 14, 2012
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Bostik Inc. Provides Cause for Plant Explosion and Worker Injuries in Middleton, Officials Continue Investigation
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The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recently investigated a workplace accident in which an East Boston, Massachusetts, painting contractor´s employee suffered from paint fumes in a confined space while working at a job at the Senesco Marine LLC shipyard in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The employee was spray-painting the interior of a tugboat and subsequently became unconscious in the confined space. The worker was rescued by the North Kingstown Fire Department.

The company, AMEX Inc., now faces $72,900 in proposed fines and was cited for 13 alleged violations of workplace and confined space safety violations. Working in a confined or enclosed space can result in a greater risk of fatalities, severe injuries, illnesses, and fume inhalation, such as the case here. During their investigation, OSHA found that AMEX did not abide by the required safety precautions for working in a confined space. The company did not properly check for hazardous conditions inside the confined space, did not test the atmosphere for toxic or flammable vapors before the worker entered, and did not provide confined space training for employees working in the space. The contractor also failed to supply the workers with sufficient respiratory protection or safe ventilation equipment.

Twelve of the violations were listed as serious and one was an other-than-serious violation due to an incomplete worker injury log. OSHA issues a serious violation when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. An other-than-serious violation is issued when the violation has an impact on workplace safety and health, but would most likely not result in death or serious physical harm, such as a serious violation.

OSHA´s area director, Patrick Griffin, said “This could very easily have been a fatality…Confined spaces are characterized by toxic, oxygen-deficient or flammable atmospheres that can be deadly for employees working in those spaces. No worker should ever enter a confined space until the atmosphere has been tested, proper respiratory protection is supplied and used, and adequate rescue procedures are in place.”

AMEX Inc. has 15 business days from the day that they received these citations and proposed monetary fines to agree with, or contest, these workplace safety violations with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

If you or your loved one has been injured in the workplace, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Source:

US Labor Department’s OSHA proposes $72,900 in fines for East Boston, Mass., painting contractor for violations at North Kingstown, RI, shipyard, OSHA Regional News Release, December 1, 2011
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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recently cited Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. LLC for 22 alleged serious workplace safety violationsin Somerville´s Inner Belt neighborhood. OSHA additionally proposed $130,800 in fines to the company for these violations.

Inspections carried out between April and October uncovered that employees in the facility’s diesel, carpentry, truck, pipe and coach workshops were exposed to potential electric shocks, fires, falls, chemical burns, lacerations, amputations and bloodborne pathogens, in addition to possible injuries from crushing, slipping and tripping hazards.

OSHA discovered that unqualified employees were working on energized electrical equipment without proper personal protective equipment. Additionally, the facility had numerous exposed electrical circuits, inadequately misused power cords, the lack of locking out electrical power sources during maintenance, incorrect and inadequately secured oxygen and acetylene cylinders in storage, and a blocked emergency exit by a storage unit of flammable materials. Employees were also allowed to work with corrosive chemicals without face masks, hand protection or protective clothing. The facility had unguarded saw blades and unlabeled containers of hazardous chemicals. The company also failed to offer hepatitis B vaccinations to employees who were potentially exposed to bloodborne pathogens while cleaning passenger cars.

OSHA issues a serious violation when there is substantial likelihood that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which “the employer knew or should have known.”

Jeffrey A. Erskine, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties said, “The sizable fines proposed here reflect the number and breadth of hazardous conditions found at this facility…While some violations were corrected during the course of the inspection, the railroad must correct all hazards and take effective steps to prevent their recurrence.”

In a statement following the proposed fines and citations, the company stated: “MBCR treats safety with the utmost seriousness…MBCR has abated or is in the process of addressing all of the issues identified by OSHA. The company will continue to work closely with OSHA and the Federal Railroad Association to ensure the highest possible level of safety for employees and customers.” The statement also said that MBCR has the second lowest rate of injuries in the industry and also that the company had reduced workplace injuries by 58 percent over the past year.

The railroad company has 15 business days to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director or object to the inspection´s findings to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

If you or your loved one has been injured in the workplace, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Sources:

US Labor Department’s OSHA cites Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad for workplace safety hazards at Somerville maintenance facility, OSHA Regional News, November 1, 2011
OSHA: Train yard in Somerville cited for 22 serious safety violations, www.wickedlocal.com, November 2, 2011
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recently cited Bostik Inc. for 50 alleged violations of workplace safety standards following a March 13 explosion at the company’s Middleton plant. The explosion injured four of their workers. As reported in Bostik Inc. Provides Cause for Plant Explosion and Worker Injuries in Middleton, Officials Continue Investigation, the company claimed that the explosion was due to open valves that let flammable gas permeate throughout the building. The company, an adhesives manufacturer, faces a total of $917,000 in proposed fines and 50 citations.

OSHA’s inspection identified numerous serious problems in the company’s process safety management (PSM) program, safety requirements and procedures which employers must follow when dealing with chemical hazards. On the day of the explosion, a valve on a transfer line was accidentally left open, which led to the release of flammable acetone vapors. The vapors then exploded after they were ignited by an undetermined source.

Jeffrey A. Erskine, OSHA’s area director for northeastern Massachusetts, said “In this case, Bostik knew from prior third party and internal compliance audits conducted at the plant that aspects of its PSM program were incomplete or inadequate, and misclassified electrical equipment was in use. The company did not take adequate steps to address those conditions…Luckily, the explosion happened when there were few workers in the plant. Otherwise, this incident could have resulted in a catastrophic loss of life.”

Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, said “The requirements of OSHA’s PSM standard are stringent and comprehensive because the stakes are so high…Failure to evaluate, anticipate, address and prevent hazardous conditions associated with a process can result in a catastrophic incident such as an explosion.”

OSHA issued Bostik with nine willful citations and with $630,000 in proposed fines because OSHA found that the company willfully knew that their process safety management program was incomplete. OSHA issues a willful violation when it is committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with disregard to worker safety and health.

OSHA also issued Bostik Inc. with 41 serious citations and $287,000 in fines, for numerous other safety violations ranging from an insufficient emergency response plan, inadequate training for employees required to respond to fires, obstructed exit access, and electrical hazards. OSHA issues a serious violation when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Bostik´s workers´ compensation carrier is the Illinois National Insurance Company.

If you have been injured in the workplace, it is best advised that you contact an
experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation lawyer.

Sources:

US Labor Department’s OSHA cites 50 safety violations, proposes $917,000 in fines against Bostik Inc. following Middleton, Mass., explosion, OSHA Regional News, September 13, 2011
Bostik Provides Update on the March 13 Incident to Local Agencies, Bostik, Inc., Press Release
Fire Prevention Plans, Standard 1910.39, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
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Bostik Inc. Provides Cause for Plant Explosion and Worker Injuries in Middleton, Officials Continue Investigation
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A Massachusetts Appeals Court has recently ruled that two employers can be held jointly responsible for an injured employee´s workers’ compensation benefits, despite them each having classified the worker as an independent contractor.

In Leo Whitman’s Case, No. 10-P-71, Sept. 6, 2011, the court affirmed an earlier decision by the Industrial Accident Reviewing Board within the Department of Industrial Accidents by ruling that the claimant was an employee, not an independent contractor, for both of the businesses he was working for at the time of his injury. Leo Whitman, a construction worker whose specialty was installing drywall, had been working for approximately three years for two redevelopers, Stephen Sarcia and John Citrano. Each purchased, refurbished, and resold delapidated residential properties. The two men also introduced Whitman to Anthony Pace, the owner of PPM, a redevelopment company that also hired Whitman to work on condominium residences.

During this time period, Whitman continued to work for Sarcia and Citrano, whom he thought of as partners, and from PPM. Whitman viewed them collectively as “a group” because of their continuous supply of full-time work for him, according to the court papers. Throughout 2004 and 2005, Whitman worked for PPM in addition to Sarcia and Citrano at 10 different building sites. According to court documents, Whitman thought of Sarcia and Citrano as partners and he thought of Sarcia, Citrano, and PPM, as “a group” because of their continuous supply of full-time work for him. At the rate of $250 per day for five to seven days per week, Whitman was given daily assignments and was paid weekly by checks addressed to him individually. The payments were his sole income and Whitman did not submit a bid or sign a contract related to his work.

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The Massachusetts State Auditor has revealed that a non-profit human services provider in Western Massachusetts that serves mentally ill and emotionally disturbed children has corruptly used over $1 million in state taxpayer money. They are additionally accused of paying an employee´s workers´ compensation insurance claim with state money during a time period in which their workers´ compensation had lapsed.

In a report released by the auditor´s office, the Easthampton-based Northeast Center for Youth and Families Inc. has allegedly misused funds over a five-year period. The organization serves approximately 600 mentally ill and emotionally disturbed children in Massachusetts. The organization also operates in Connecticut.

State Auditor Suzanne Bump said, “We want to ensure that human service providers like the Northeast Center are spending public funds legally, appropriately and wisely to maximize every dollar and help the greatest number of physical and emotionally needy children, adults and families.” She described that this situation was “another side of the coin of waste, fraud and abuse.” In response to the audit´s findings, the organization responded, “It is possible that we will continue to disagree with one or more of the Auditor’s findings…In any event, we will cooperate with the Commonwealth in its prescribed process for the resolution of audits.”

Auditor Bump reported that the center sent higher cost information to the Department of Youth Services between 2006 and 2008, which resulted in an unfounded overpayment of more than $650,000 to the organization. They also allowed their workers´ compensation insurance to lapse for 21 days in 2007, during which time an employee was injured on the job and was paid $52,073 to cover medical expenses, lost wages and a settlement. In this case, the state auditors determined that the agency used over $7,000 of state funds to pay the claim. The center also reportedly improperly used $406,360 to cover out-of-state losses in Connecticut and the $1 million amount of bonuses that were given out over a three-year time period is now being reviewed by the Department of Youth Services.

A former bookkeeper for 27 years at the organization, Cecile Guilbault, commented “They’ve been doing unethical things for years…I’m glad that finally, after all these years, the state has finally caught up with them.”

Auditor Bump requested that the organization return all fraudulently used funds to the state.

Sources:

State audit finds that Northeast Center for Youth and Families misspent money, Gazettenet.com, August 26, 2011
Audit: Human services provider misused $1m in taxpayer funds, Boston.com, August 25, 2011
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