Under Massachusetts law, employees who suffer work-related injuries may be entitled to benefits and medical costs. Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance that provides reimbursement for medical costs, reduced wages due to a disability, and other coverage, such as job retraining. In addition to state law, the federal government…
Recently, the Massachusetts Reviewing Board of Industrial Accidents issued a decision in favor of an injured worker who received partial and total incapacity benefits until her employer went bankrupt and then received payment from a bondholder for a limited period of time. The employee sought payment of her § 34A…
In a concise opinion, the Massachusetts Appeals Court confirmed a lower court ruling regarding a wrongful termination following the commencement of a legal action related to a compensable workers’ compensation claim. At issue in Santarpia v. Senior Residential Care, Mass. App. Ct. (2014), was an employee’s allegation that she was wrongfully…
Virtually all Massachusetts employees are eligible for workers’ compensation insurance coverage, even if they work for a temporary agency or are undocumented immigrants. Their survivors are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if the worker dies in a job-related accident. Worker Killed While Cleaning Machinery A sanitation supervisor at the New Bedford,…
Central Transport’s Billerica, Massachusetts Shipping Terminal Cited For Hazards The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Central Transport LLC for safety hazards at its freight shipping terminal in Billerica, Massachusetts. OSHA investigators found conditions at the terminal that could lead to Central Transport employees’ being electrocuted, crushed, or injured due…
DOL Sues Crown Furniture for Firing Employee who Filed OSHA Complaint The US Department of Labor has sued Crown Furniture, a West Springfield, Massachusetts company, and its owner, Donald Pottern, after Pottern allegedly fired a worker who had filed a complaint with OSHA over workplace safety violations. The Occupational Safety and Health Act is…
Firefighters Die Trapped in Burning Building A fire on March 26, 2014 near D & J Ironworks in Malden caused the deaths of two Boston firefighters, Michael R. Kennedy, 33, and Lieutenant Edward J. Walsh, Jr., 43. The firefighters died trapped in the basement of 298 Beacon St. They had been called to…
Although there has been no confirmed case of Ebola in Massachusetts, health care officials and front-line workers are developing protocols for screening those at highest risk for the disease and for protecting emergency responders and members of the public from contracting the lethal virus. After two nurses in Dallas tested positive for Ebola after…