September 1st, 2010
There is a case where a plastic manufacturer is compelled to demonstrate why it should not be subject to $52,500 in fines for not reporting job-related injuries to the Workers Comp Board.An investigation of the company revealed that the company delayed reporting approximately 21 injuries to the Board. The companies are given 10 days to report injuries to the board according to law.
The plastics firm was formally requested to deliver proof in court that it had indeed complied with state law by properly disclosing these injuries to the Board. The investigation, however, revealed most of these cases had yet to be reported, and that they were dated as far back as the previous year. According to record, there were no prior cases of employers being brought up on these charges. You may be looking for melbourne personal injury lawyer information, in which case you should visit that site.
The ability to impose fines for noncompliance under the law was established in 1944, but the attorneys for the Workers’ Compensation Board were unable to find any case since that time where a company was ordered to pay a fine for the violation. Lawyers representing the plastic manufacturer also failed to locate another case. The attorneys involved specialized in Workers’ Compensation Law.
To date there has been no comments issued concerning the allegations from any of the board members. The plastics manufacturer’s human resources manager stated that he will be happy to see the matter come to a close. This situation provided a chance to get these issues out into the open and hopefully to create a dialogue regarding the relevant information.
Accusations by the unions representing the workers are that the company intentionally withheld the injury reports from both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Workers’ Compensation Board. A large amount of employees are viewing the company’s actions as an effort to save money. There were reports of injured workers receiving paid medical care and stipends from the business if their injuries resulted in their not being able to work. To get a closer look on melbourne compensation lawyers visit this site.
Underreporting and not reporting on-the-job injuries can reduce the cost of paying injured workers for prolonged periods of time (sometimes years) or avoiding inspections by governmental agencies, according to the United Steelworkers of America attorney. After the initial filings, the union uncovered 60 more cases of non-related injuries that they submitted to the Workers’ Compensation Board, some of the cases going as far back as 1994.While the company conceded they should have filed some of them earlier, the excuse was a misunderstanding of the law.
Should the Board discover the firm has transgressed the law, they’re apt to face fines as steep as $2,500 for every case not disclosed within the mandated 10-day period. On top of that, the company will be susceptible to criminal allegations.This case has now been sent to the Attorney General’s Criminal Fraud Unit by the Worker’s Compensation Board.
An investigation is ongoing regarding allegations of under-reported injuries, including the most recent of four cases of workers who lost all or a portion of their fingers while working at the plant.
Another former worker for the company, in a suit filed for damages totaling $350,000, claimed the firm terminated her health benefits even as they continued to cash out her insurance payments-all while she was out on Workers’ Compensation.
A call to the international union to open a large-scale investigation into company affairs was made by the Director of the United Steelworkers of America; the director’s demand was seemingly motivated by the union’s discoveries at their single plant under fire. In addition to the facility in question, four others are owned by the same company in two different states.
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