Workers' Compensation

As I prepared for my most recent hearing on Wage loss compensation, I was again struck by the cumbersome and unfair rules that apply to receiving this compensation.  While the Ohio Revised Code provides for wage loss compensation when an injured worker is unable to find employment consistent with his disability resulting from an injury [...]

Recently, I received an unsolicited message from an anonymous source suggesting that there isn’t as much need for Workers’ Compensation today as there was a century ago because employers are more safety conscious today than they were back then. Hmmm, I thought. Tell that to our client who we will simply refer to as “JK” [...]

Ohio law provides for the payment of lost wages, or “temporary total disability” where an injury prevents the worker from returning to his/her former position of employment.  Unscrupulous employers attempt to avoid the payment of temporary total by terminating the injured worker’s employment with the company. Unfortunately, the Ohio Supreme Court, in State ex rel. [...]

During my last semester of law school, I completed a research paper on the national trend of state legislatures imposing limits on employer workers’ compensation liability.  Unfortunately, this trend is continuing in Michigan, where House Bill 5002 is working its way through the state legislature. House Bill 5002 seeks to reduce the cost of workers’ [...]

 Recently, a news release was issued by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) revealing a startling new development.  In 2010, the injury rate for healthcare support workers rose by 6%, almost 2½ times the rate for all private and public sector workers.  The rate among nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants rose by 7%.  A [...]

Shortly after taking office Governor John Kasich delivered a message to those who opposed his anti-union and anti worker agenda for “improving” the business climate in Ohio. “Get on the bus” the governor warned, “or we will run you over with it.” Fortunately for millions of working men and women , the Governor’s bus ran [...]

Election Day is upon us and I urge you to vote on November 8th or early vote and to vote NO on Issue 2. If you would like to vote early you may do so this week at your local Board of Elections: We Are Ohio – Action. Issue 2 is the referendum on Senate [...]

Sometimes it is in your best interest to settle your workers’ compensation claim. A settlement is an agreement between the injured worker, the employer and the BWC to close the claim for a final payout of money.  No further benefits can be paid under the claim, and the money that the injured worker receives in [...]

At Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Schaffer, Co., LPA, our mission dedicates us to providing legal assistance to working men and women, individuals with disabilities, and labor organizations. We are very proud of that tradition. Now, I’m happy to announce that the firm is providing legal representation to veterans of our military who have physical or [...]

As many of us know, the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) will take it upon itself to change its policies from time to time.  The most recent change? A decision that the BWC will no longer pay for skeletal muscle relaxants such as Skelaxin and Soma.  What can be done about this?  Nothing.  That’s right, [...]