Author Archives: Edgar Romano

What Young Workers Need To Know About Their Social Security Benefits

teenage workerToday’s post comes to us from our colleage Ryan Benharris of Massachusetts.

According to a recent article published in the Palm Beach News Post, approximately one in four workers under the age of thirty will become disabled before reaching their full retirement age of 67. What many workers do not realize is that Social Security will pay benefits if you become incapable of performing any substantial gainful activity.

It is astounding that 25% of the population will likely suffer a work ending disability. In a poor economy with job availability flailing and gas prices rising, it is becoming increasingly more important to know your rights to protect yourself and your family if you become unable to work. It is truly a shame that many individuals do not know that they may be eligible for benefits that could provide them with income and medical treatment that they may otherwise not have.

25% of the population will likely suffer a work ending disability

The easiest way to stay informed about your rights is to keep meticulous files of anything you receive from Social Security. Each year, the Social Security Administration sends all American citizens a breakdown of their potential benefits in the system; including a detailed list of your previous year’s earnings. This breakdown specifically outlines Continue reading →

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
Attorney Advertising.

Death by Overwork: Is It Compensable?

Dangerously long working hours are a problem around the world.

Today we have a guest post from my colleague Jon Gelman of New Jersey.

Since the 1960s there has been serious social concern over health problems due to long working hours in Japan. Around that time the term Karoshi, or “death from over work,” became known.

Recent national statistics show that more than 6 million people worked for 60 h or more per week during years 2000 and 2004. Approximately three hundred cases of brain and heart diseases were recognized as labour accidents resulting from overwork (Karoshi) by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) between 2002 and 2005. Consequently, the MHLW has been working to establish a more appropriate compensation system for Karoshi, as well as preventive measures for overwork related health problems.

In 2001, the MHLW set the standards for clearly recognizing Karoshi in association with the amount of overtime working hours. These standards Continue reading →

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
Attorney Advertising.

Asking Congress To Make Our Laws More Fair To Injured Workers

US Capitol buildingDuring our trip to Washington D.C. last week, we spoke to elected officials about a few laws that impact injured workers. One of the laws is a proposed amendment to The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA), the law the provides medical benefits and wage replacement to injured Federal employees. It is the federal version of the otherwise state-based workers’ compensation system. The amendment is being proposed as part of S. 1789, the Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA).

We wanted to share some highlights of why the proposed changes are harmful to injured workers. The most damaging parts of the legislation are discussed below:

  1. Conversion of entitlement at retirement age 
    §302 of the bill would reduce the compensation rate to 50% of wages (for employees on total disability) and to 50% of wage-earning capacity loss (for employees receiving partial disability) once any of those employees have reached retirement age.This proposal would reduce by up to 1/3 (from 75% or 66-2/3% of wage loss to 50% of wage loss) the compensation for disabled employees who have reached retirement age. Given that many people (including members of the House and Senate and their staffs, all of whom are covered by FECA) work the traditional retirement age, this is unfair and raises issues of age discrimination. Reduction to 50% of wages is drastic, and Continue reading →

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
Attorney Advertising.

Partners Cathy Stanton And Edgar Romano Lobby Congress In Washington D.C.

Cathy Stanton and Edgar Romano with Congressman Eliot Engel (Representative from The Bronx, Rockland and Westchester).

Yesterday Paternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano partners Cathy Stanton and Edgar Romano were in Washington with the Workers Injury Law & Advocacy Group lobbying the United States Congress for the needs of injured workers.

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
Attorney Advertising.

$100 Million Fraud in New Hampshire

New Hampshire Local Government CenterOur good friend and colleague Jon Gelman posted this recent piece of news on his blog the other week:

A New Hampshire insurance group has been charged by the State with improperly appropriating millions of dollars of taxpayers’ funds to a workers’ compensation insurance plan. The improper allocation is described in a petition filed by the State.

To provide a bit more detail, the amount of misappropriated funds is actually estimated at upward of $100 million. The, or LGC, is a non-government, non-profit organization that provides a range of services to municipal governments. LGC is an umbrella organization with subsidiaries that offer services in areas such as finance, personnel, and legal. They also provide a range of insurance programs that municipalities and their employees may buy into.

In this case, the municipal employees thought that they were paying for LGC’s HealthTrust and Property-Liability insurance programs. Instead LGC used the funds to pay for a completely separate workers’ compensation insurance program.

LGC asserts that they did nothing inappropriate, even though what they did is clearly illegal and they used some very tricky tactics to circumvent the law. Continue reading →

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
Attorney Advertising.

Workplace Stress Can Make You Physically Ill

workplace stress

New studies reveal that workplace stress can make you sick.

Today’s post comes to us from Jon Rehm from Nebraska. While Jon’s post mentions Nebraska law, you should contact our office if you have any questions regarding a claim you might have under New York law.

Serious disabling medical conditions can arise from workplace stress. A recent study showed that people working long hours (11+) are more than twice as likely to experience major depression than those who work only 7-8 hours a day. Another study discovered that stressed workers have a 67% greater risk of heart disease. And other studies mention that “long working hours” lead to more risks of anxiety and a reduced ability to both think and sleep well.

Marianna Virtanen, one of the newest study’s authors, recently gave some tips to workers on ABCNews.com. One of her tips is to: “Make a distinction between work and leisure; don’t skip your holidays; take care of your health and well-being, especially sleep and exercise.” With Americans now working more hours than many of their counterparts in other countries, workers need to be proactive in taking caring of themselves.

But it isn’t just up to the workers. Psychological illnesses and depression cost companies money and result in less worker productivity, according to the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Without buy-in from employers and workers, the personal and corporate costs from psychological illness will never be reduced.

Unfortunately, Nebraska law Continue reading →

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
Attorney Advertising.

New Joint Venture Brings Depth And Diversity

Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano LLP (PT), one of New York’s largest workers’ injury firms specializing in serious personal injury cases, workers compensation claims, occupational disease claims and social security claims, has joined forces with Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik LLP (NBRS), a nationally recognized plaintiff’s law firm. The venture will provide PT additional depth of expertise in NBRS’s areas of specialty, including asbestos-related illnesses, securities fraud, environmental contamination, defective prescription drugs and medical devices and mass torts. The joint venture will operate under the name Pasternack Tilker Napoli Bern, LLP (“PTNB”).

Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik, LLP“Our combined team of over 80 lawyers has the expertise to help working people resolve almost any civil claim they might have, with top quality representation for all of these kinds of cases all under one roof,” said Victor Pasternack, PT Managing Partner.

The firm’s principal office is located in New York’s iconic Empire State Building with additional offices throughout the New York Metro Area, including Brooklyn and the Bronx along with affiliate offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois and California.

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
Attorney Advertising.

NIOSH To Review Underreporting of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses by Workers

Congress: Work-related injuries and illnesses in the US are chronically and even grossly underreported

Today’s post is from our colleague Jon L. Gelman of Wayne, New Jersey.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has proposed a project to review the Underreporting of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses by Workers.

“In 2008, the Congressional Committee on Education and Labor released the report, “Hidden Tragedy: Underreporting of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,” indicating “that work-related injuries and illnesses in the United States are chronically and even grossly underreported.” Based in part on the report’s results, Congress allocated funds for NIOSH to conduct a follow-up study using NIOSH’s occupational supplement to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS-Work) to estimate underreporting among individuals who seek care at an emergency department (ED) for an occupational illness, injury, or exposure.

“Objectives for this project are to (1) assess the reporting behavior of workers that are injured, ill, or exposed to a harmful substance at work; (2) characterize the chronic aspects of work-related injuries or illnesses; and (3) estimate the prevalence of work-related chronic injuries and illnesses among United States workers treated in EDs. Particular attention will be paid to self-employed workers, workers with work-related illnesses, and workers with chronic health problems.
“Data collection for the telephone interview survey will be done via a questionnaire containing questions about the respondent’s injury, illness, or exposure that sent them to the ED; the characteristics of the job they were working when they were injured, became ill, or were exposed; their experiences reporting their injury, illness, or exposure to the ED and their employer (if applicable); the presence of an underlying chronic condition that was associated with their ED visit; and the nature of any other work-related chronic conditions they have experienced. The questionnaire was designed to take 30 minutes to complete and includes a brief series of questions to screen out individuals who were not seen in the ED for a work-related injury, illness, or exposure; who are younger than age 20 or older than age 64; who do not speak English or Spanish; or who were working as volunteers or day laborers when the injury, illness, or exposure occurred or was made worse.

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
Attorney Advertising.