A man from Illinois has filed a lawsuit against his former employer claiming he was fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim.

Thomas Martindale filed the workers’ compensation lawsuit against Carter-Waters LLC on August 5 in Madison County Circuit Court. In the lawsuit, Martindale claims the Collinsville construction supply company terminated his employment in retaliation to a workers’ compensation claim he filed.

According to court documents, Martindale started working for Carter-Waters in April of 2010. The lawsuit claims Martindale was injured on the job in November 2010. He says he reported his injury to the construction supply company and filed claim for workers’ compensation benefits. The lawsuit contends that Martindale was fired in June in retaliation for filing his workers’ compensation claim. Carter-Waters officials say Martindale was terminated for job abandonment.

The Belleville, Illinois man is seeking more than $100,000 in damages for loss of benefits and loss of income. He is also asking that the defendant pay all court costs and attorneys fees.

If you need assistance with a workers’ comp lawsuit, please contact a New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Lawyer of Levinson Axelrod, P.A., by calling 800-346-5529.

Liberty Mutual will likely appeal a $450 million settlement in the American International Group Inc. worker compensation lawsuit, company officials said.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Gettleman released his written opinion to grant preliminary approval of the settlement reached with companies that alleged AIG underreported premiums to a workers’ compensation program. Liberty Mutual is mulling its options and, “in all likelihood,” will appeal the approval, according to Liberty Mutual spokesman John Cusolito. Gettlement already told the insurers during a court hearing that he was going to grant a preliminary approval to the settlement.

AIG announced at the start of the year that it had agreed to pay a group of companies – ACE, Auto Owners, Companion, FirstComp, Hartford, Technology and Travelers — $450 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Liberty Mutual’s Ohio Casualty and Safeco subsidiaries in April 2009 on behalf of a group of insurers alleging that AIG underreported workers’ compensation premiums over a 20-year period.

Liberty Mutual has worked to stop the settlement, saying it comes nowhere near the true extent of AIG’s underreporting. The company says the settlement was made because AIG agreed to release the companies from a lawsuit it filed against them.

If you need help pursuing a workers’ compensation lawsuit, please contact the New Jersey Workers’ Comp Lawyers of Levinson Axelrod, P.A., by calling 1-888-389-5529.

A jury in Illinois returned a $3.6 million verdict in a workers’ compensation retaliation lawsuit.

According to court documents, a First Judicial Circuit Court jury ruled against Schwan’s Home Service, Inc. in favor of Benton, Illinois-resident Larry Holland. The jury found that corporate officials fired Holland for seeking medical care after an August 2008 injury.

“The whole issue is employers trying to retaliate because a person is exercising their rights,” said Holland’s attorney Tom Crosby. “They fired him because he was attempting to get medical care for a work injury, and that is the only reason.”

According to the lawsuit, Holland worked as Schwan’s West Frankfort facility supervisor until January 2009 when doctors told Holland a back injury required he cut back hours. Doctors instructed Holland to take time off for physical therapy beginning March 28, 2009. He was cleared to return three weeks later, but he was then fired.

Emails between Schwan’s managers showed officials crafting a reason to fire Holland once his Family Medical Leave Act leave expired.

Schwan’s lawyers claimed Holland voluntarily ended his employment by not accepting a demotion.

Holland was awarded $3.6 million in punitive damages.

If you need assistance with a workers’ compensation retaliation lawsuit, please contact the New Jersey Workers’ Comp Attorneys of Levinson Axelrod, P.A. at 1-888-389-5529.

A woman in Ohio must repay more than $19,000 in workers compensation benfits.

According to officials with the Ohioa Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Columbus-resident Annette McDaniel was working four jobs while receiving workers’ compensation benfits for a prior workplace injury. McDaniel pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud and was sentenced in a Franklin County courtroom.

“McDaniel thought she could get away with working several jobs and also collecting several types of benefits under a number of aliases,” said Ohio BWC Administrator Stephen Buehrer.

The agency’s special investigation department began looking into McDaniel’s case in August 2007, after a database cross-match conducted with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services raised red flags. The database reported McDaniel as working for KC Men’s Clothing while she was collection temporary total disability and living maintenance wage loss benefits from the state.

An investigation confirmed that McDaniel worked for KC Men’s Clothing, as well as AmeriCoat, Value City Department Stores, and Adecco USA during the periods she collected benefits.

If you need assistance with a workers’ comp lawsuit, please contact the New Jersey Disability Litigation Lawyers of Levinson Axelrod, P.A., by calling 800-346-5529.

An appeals court ruled that an injured Wal-Mart employee can pursue her workers’ compensation retaliation lawsuit against the retailer.

According to court documents, Heidi M. Cox was an employee of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. when she was injured in a fall in 2007. The lawsuit claims Cox returned to work in May 2007 and Wal-Mart disciplined and fired her after she invoked her rights under Oregon’s workers’ compensation law. The appeals court ruled that Wal-Mart did not engage in the interactive accommodation process in good faith when it rejected Cox’s request for a deadline extension to return paperwork regarding her leave.

The court also found that Cox provided evidence that when she invoked her rights under Oregon’s workers’ compensation law, Wal-Mart unjustifiably disciplined her three times. Therefore, the court ruled, a reasonable jury could infer her termination was linked to her invoking her workers’ compensation rights.

If you need assistance with a workers’ comp claim, please contact the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Attorneys of Levinson Axelrod, P.A., by calling 800-346-5529.

A New Jersey man was injured in a workplace accident Tuesday.

According to officials with the Linden Police Department, 55 year-old Angelo Gervasi was injured in a workplace accident at Patwin Plastics, located at 2300 E. Linden Ave, shortly after 3:00 p.m. Police say Gervasi was working on a hydraulic saw when the machine kicked back and struck him in the wrist and arm. Gervasi suffered a deep laceration on his wrist and a possible fracture, police said.

According to Lieutenant James Sarnicki, Gervasi was transported by a Linden Fire Department ground ambulance to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Rahway after being treated by Medic 10. No information on the extent of his injuries was immediately available.

If you have been injured in a workplace accident, please contact the New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyers of Levinson & Axelrod, P.A., by calling 1-888-389-COMP.

A worker was injured at the famous MetraPark in Montana on Wednesday.

According to officials with Circuit Electric, an electrical worker from Billings, Utah was working on a 7,200-volt line he believed to be dead, but was live when he was injured. Ken Reinhardt, the owner of Circuit Electric, said the worker was flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City for treatment of burns.

“He will recover full,” Reinhardt said.

Yellowstone County Commissioner Bill Kennedy said Friday that Circuit Electric was working in the infield of the MetraPark track to assemble lights in preparation for MontanaFair. A ground ambulance responded to a 911 call and transported the worker to an area hospital for treatment.

If you fail to properly file a claim for workers compensation benefits, in a timely fashion, you could be prevented from receiving your payment. If you have been injured in the workplace, please contact the New Jersey Workplace Injury Lawyers of Levinson & Axelrod, P.A., by calling 1-888-389-COMP.

A man in Baytown, Texas has filed a lawsuit against his employer after, he claims, he was terminated for filing for workers’ compensation.

Michael Stevenson filed a lawsuit against Jacob Engineering, Inc. on June 6 in Galveston County District Court. According to the lawsuit, Stevenson was injured on February 16, 2010 when he lifted one end of a pipe at Jacobs Engineering, as instructed by his supervisor. As a result, Stevenson filed a workers’ compensation claim under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act.

The lawsuit claims that Stevenson’s pursuit of workers’ compensation was a factor in his termination. Jacobs Engineering “discharged or in some other manner discriminated against the plaintiff because he, in good faith, filed a claim, or caused to be instituted, in good faith, a proceeding under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act,” the lawsuit says.
Stevenson is seeking compensation for mental anguish, lost wages, and benefits.

If you need assistance securing workers compensation benefits or compensation for lost wages, please contact the New Jersey Lost Wages Attorneys of Levinson Axelrod, P.A., by calling 800-346-5529.

The Annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference will take place in Orlando, Florida this August.

The convention will be held at the Orlando World Marriott Center from Sunday, August 21 through Wednesday, August 24. Officiators say 2011 marks the 66th Annual Workers Compensation educational Conference and 23rd Annual Safety and Health Conference, the two will be held in tandem.

The conference started as a meeting of about 300 attorneys and adjusters, but over the years it has grown substantially. This year the conference expects to see 9,000 individuals from all walks of life.

An awards ceremony is held every year at the conference, and includes categories such as: “National Underwriter Award for Excellence in Workers’ Compensation Risk Management” and “Workers’ Compensation Risk Manager of the Year.”

If you would like to speak with a New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyer, please call Levinson & Axelrod, P.A., at 800-346-5529.

Former Tennessee Titans wide receiver David Givens agreed to a settlement in a workers’ compensation lawsuit he filed against the team in 2009.

Accoridng to Davidson County Chancery Court documents, Givens settled with the team for $5,115. The workers compensation claim stems from a thumb injury Givens sustained in 2006, just a month before he suffered a season ending knee injury.

The lawsuit was filed in 2009 in federal court, but was dismissed last year. Givens was seeking $25 million in workers’ compensation. He claimed the Titans withheld medical information and encouraged him to play despite bein advised that his knee condition could not withstand the strain of NFL competition.

The workers’ compensation settlement was filed with the court on Thursday.

If you need assistance with a workers’ comp claim, please contact a New Jersey Workers Comp Lawyer of Levinson & Axelrod, P.A., at 800-346-5529.