Workers Compensation

July 21, 2009

Baltimore Traffic Accident Prevention: Speed Cameras May Snap Offenders at Schools and Construction Sites

State and city officials are looking at ways to curb Baltimore, Maryland car accidents caused by speeding. In May, Maryland legislators passed a law which allows speed cameras to be posted within one half mile of schools and construction sites. Now the Baltimore City Council has voted an initial thumbs-up to installing speed cameras in those vulnerable places. If the measure passes, the speed cameras could start going up around Baltimore construction sites and schools by October.

Maryland law requires that signs be posted alerting motorists that the speed cameras are in use. Speed cameras snap photos of license plates of motorists going more than 12 miles per hour above the posted speed limit. A $40 ticket would then be sent to the address connected to the vehicle’s license plate registration. The hope is the cameras will deter speeding drivers, who can cause fatal Maryland traffic and pedestrian accidents.

Baltimore and Maryland Speeding Fatalities

June 8, 2009

Maryland Workers Compensation: The Top 3 Reasons Employers Tell Injured Workers Not to File (And Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Them)

by Jeff Butschky

In our work as Maryland Workers Comp attorneys, we hear this all the time: People who are hurt on the job will say, “My employer said that I don’t need to file for workers’ compensation because we have disability insurance.” Or, “They said they would pay me under the table while I take time off to recuperate.” Or, “They said they would continue to pay me legitimately (i.e., on the books) while I’m off.”

Those are the BIG 3 EXCUSES we hear employers using to discourage injured workers from filing Maryland Workers Comp cases. What happens in those scenarios, inevitably, is the employee gets paid for the time that they’re off, but they really get shorted on the two most important things:

1. They don’t get compensated for any permanent physical problems they’re having.

April 28, 2009

Maryland Construction Accidents: Stricter Crane Regulations May Save Lives

by Jeff Butschky

With the goal of reducing Md. construction injuries and deaths, the state has added teeth to what are already among the strictest crane regulations in the country.

New regulations went into effect for Maryland earlier this month following several serious construction crane incidents, such as a fatal Anne Arundel County accident that occurred in April 2008. According to a Baltimore news report, workers in Annapolis Towne Centre were dismantling an end section of a crane when an accident occurred, crushing a construction worker between two sections of the crane 200 feet up. Another worker was injured.

The new regulations will require all construction workers operating cranes as well as those who load and signal them to receive intensive training on the equipment, to avoid serious and possibly fatal Maryland construction accidents. Employers are now required to carry out daily inspections and to keep training records. Maryland Labor and Industry Commissioner Ronald Julius told a local news outlet that state inspectors will be checking on projects where construction cranes are in use.

March 31, 2009

Maryland Workers Comp Eligibility: Hurt at Work? “Report and Record”

by Jeff Butschky

Earlier this month, I talked about how the Maryland Workers Comp system is tilted in the employer’s favor, and how important it is for injured workers to take charge of their situations right away. (See “Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer on Maryland Workers Compensation System,” March 18, 2009, below.)

My partner and I have handled personal injury cases for injured workers in Maryland for more than two decades. We’ve seen all kinds of work comp cases, from people who throw their backs out lifting something heavy, to typists who develop carpal tunnel syndrome, to a client who got bit by a mosquito and contracted malaria while on a sales call to a foreign country. We’ve seen industrial accidents resulting in burns and other serious injuries, and people who suffer shock and psychiatric problems as the result of a traumatic event at work, like a robbery.

Advice for Injured Workers in Maryland

March 18, 2009

An Introduction to the Maryland Workers Compensation System

by Jeff Butschky

Unlike a lot of states, the Maryland Workers’ Compensation system is very adversarial. In some states, the hurdle injured workers have to get over to receive compensation is ridiculously low. They basically just need to prove that they were hurt at work — or anything remotely close to work. If they were injured driving to or home from work, they’re covered. Even if they were goofing around and got hurt at work, they’re covered. In Maryland, it’s different.

Maryland is an “at will” employment state, meaning you can be fired at will by your employer, providing they’re not violating any Federal laws against discrimination for age, gender, race, etc. The playing field is not level — it’s tilted in the employer’s favor. And that goes for the Maryland Workers Comp system, too.

The bright spot is if you’re injured on the job in Maryland, your employer is required by law to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Even if they don’t have it — which I’ve seen a dozen times or so in 20 years of helping injured workers in Maryland — the Uninsured Employers’ Fund will step in and pay. So the good news is if you’re hurt at work in Maryland and if you have a compensable claim, your employer has insurance to cover it.

February 26, 2009

Will Proposed Labor Law Affect Maryland Workers Comp?

by Jeff Butschky

The laws and regulations governing Maryland Workers Comp cases are in place to protect people who are injured at work or in the course of doing their jobs. But what happens if you’re employed as an “independent contractor,” as are so many plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters, and other trades people in the construction industry, where serious and fatal accidents can and do happen?

Do you have the same rights to Maryland Workers Compensation benefits if you’re injured on the job in Maryland? A bill before Maryland lawmakers is tackling the issue of independent contractors’ rights. As the law stands now, employers who classify workers as “independent contractors” are exempt from paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation premiums. So if you’re injured on the job and you’re classified as an independent contractor — you’re on your own.

According to a report in The Washington Post, state officials believe as many as 20 percent of Maryland’s blue-collar workers are wrongly classified as independent contractors. The Maryland Governor is calling on the General Assembly to make it illegal for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors. Building industry representatives object to the proposed law, which would fine business owners $5,000 for each worker they knowingly misclassified. Repeat offenders would receive additional fines and could be debarred and put out of business.

November 12, 2008

Maryland Recycling Truck Accident: Worker Dies While Collecting Paper

by Jeff Butschky

Police in Montgomery County, Maryland are investigating a recycling truck accident that resulted in the horrible death of a Rockville man. The fatal work accident occurred in the Aspen Hill, Maryland area on Nov. 12, 2008 during a morning recycling truck run.

Juan Antonio Rosales-Lopez, 26, of Rockville, Maryland, was working for the Potomac Disposal Company collecting paper for a recycling truck compactor. According to the truck driver, this terrible work accident occurred when Rosales-Lopez reached into the truck to clear the chute and was accidentally pulled into the compacting machinery. The driver says he tried to free Rosales-Lopez but was unsuccessful.

In addition to the Montgomery County Police investigation, officials from the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Act were called in to determine potential liability in this fatal work-related truck accident.