Workers Compensation

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature achievement -- his overhaul of California's long-troubled workers' compensation insurance system -- may be headed to the repair shop. The leaders of the Democratic-controlled Legislature, prodded by complaints from doctors, lawyers, labor unions and injured workers, have put the Republican governor on notice that rolling back major elements of the recent workers' comp overhaul will be a top priority when lawmakers reconvene today.

A bus driver has been charged with fraud and grand theft for allegedly completing a marathon while receiving workers' compensation for a back injury, prosecutors said. Johnny Chavarria, 57, a driver for the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District, allegedly finished the Big Sur Marathon while receiving thousands of dollars in workers' compensation funds. He was arrested Friday after an investigation.

California's overhaul of its troubled workers' compensation insurance system has saved employers at least $8.1 billion over the last three years, and the benefits to the economy are expected to continue, according to a study sent to the governor and Legislature on Friday.

Three ballot proposals that could cost employers billions of dollars by undoing large portions of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature overhaul of the state workers' compensation system have been cleared for signature gathering. The measures propose to hike benefits paid to permanently disabled workers and even allow them to sue their employers in state court over on-the-job injuries. The latter change would undo a key feature of California's first workers' compensation law.

The state barred workers from Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley on Thursday and fined the pop star $69,000 because the ranch's workers' compensation insurance policy had lapsed. The "stop order" was issued after an employee reported Tuesday that a co-worker who had been injured did not have the state-required health coverage, officials said. Regulators determined that coverage for 69 employees at the ranch in Santa Barbara County lapsed Jan. 10.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sounded an alarm Tuesday about a 21% increase in workers' compensation claims by Los Angeles firefighters, calling for a plan to reduce the numbers of on-duty injuries. Firefighters filed 1,001 claims in the first eight months of this fiscal year, up from 830 during the same period last budget year. In addition, firefighters took 13,768 more hours off due to injuries.

Arthur Flores, a 53-year-old grandfather from Downey, made a good living driving trucks before a herniated spinal disk, arthritis and five back surgeries left him permanently disabled, unable to work and financially strapped. Now, Flores told state lawmakers Wednesday, he's close to flat broke because of deep cuts in his disability benefits mandated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration as part of the 2004 overhaul of California's workers' compensation insurance program.

Massachusetts authorities, acting on insurance fraud indictments in California, have arrested executives at a company that helps courier services cut payroll expenses by making their drivers independent contractors instead of employees. Thomas McGrath, the owner and president of Braintree, Mass.-based NICA Inc.

By July, many California employers could be paying less than half what they paid three years ago for workers' compensation insurance, although the dramatic decline in premiums finally may be coming to an end. On Wednesday, state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi recommended that workers' comp insurers cut their premiums 16.4% for policies that begin or renew during the second half of the year.

The former chief financial officer for the Ohio workers' compensation fund will plead guilty to trading investment opportunities for gifts, a prosecutor said Thursday. Terrence Gasper is accused of accepting money, college tuition for his son and stays at a Florida condominium. The state racketeering and money-laundering charges represent the latest development in a scandal that has upended Ohio politics and led to ethics charges against Republican Gov. Bob Taft.