The Texas Department of Insurance on January 14, 2011, released final disciplinary decisions for violations of Division of Workers’ Compensation rules. Among these fines were the following insurer violations:
Doyle filed suit against Travelers Insurance Company and its adjuster on January 31, 2011, in a workers’ compensation bad faith action. The suit was filed on behalf of an employee who was injured while working in January 2009. Without any appropriate investigation, Travelers denied that the employee had been injured, delaying his medical and income benefits. Even after agreeing that the employee had been injured at work, Travelers continued to deny the severity of his injury, forcing him to go through an administrative hearing with the Texas Department of Insurance and unreasonably delaying his recovery from the injury and his return to work.
The Texas Department of Insurance on February 11, 2011, released final disciplinary decisions for violations of Division of Workers’ Compensation rules. Among these fines were the following insurer violations:
On February 16, 2011, Doyle filed suit against American Zurich Insurance Company (Zurich) and its adjuster on behalf of an employee who was wrongfully denied workers’ compensation medical and income benefits. The employee, a long-time truck driver, injured his back in 2009 while loading his truck. Ultimately, the employee won his case in front of the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation. In the meantime however, he was unable to have any medical treatment for his back due to Zurich’s denials, leading to a worsening of his condition.
John Gibson, a Lubbock, Texas workers’ compensation attorney, filed suit against the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC), on February 21, 2011. Mr. Gibson is seeking a declaratory judgment, permitting him to continue the publication of his blog, dedicated to Texas workers’ compensation law. DWC had sent Mr. Gibson a cease-and-desist letter on February 7, 2011, that cited the Texas Labor Code in requesting him to stop the use of the words “Texas” along with either “Workers’ Compensation” or “Workers’ Comp.”