The manufacturer was instructed to present itself at a hearing to demonstrate that it had adhered to the law and had reported the injuries to Workers' Compensation. There were several cases that dated back a year and had not been reported the Worker's Compensation Board. No company has ever been this harshly punished for failure to report injuries.
The Board's lawyers concluded from their research of the law that there had been no instance where a company had been penalized for the under-reporting of job-related injuries since that alternative became possible when the law went into effect in 1944. An attorney representing the plastics firm, attempting to find an existing case, failed to find one. This specific lawyer is an expert in Workers' Compensation law.
The government hasn't yet released any statements regarding the charges of failing to report injuries. The human resources manager of the company under investigation stated that the company was happy that the hearing would bring a resolution to the issue. They are hoping for an impartial assessment of all of the facts presented thus far, as well the chance to clarify the underlying situation.
The company has been blamed by several employees and the steelworkers' union for intentionally omitting information regarding the injuries to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Workers' Compensation Board. Plenty of individuals take issue with the company's stance, claiming that they are gaming the system for profit. Generally, in instances where the injuries prevented to employees from working, the company reimbursed the workers for lost time at work and also paid for related medical costs.
Underreporting and not reporting on-the-job injuries can reduce the cost of paying injured workers for prolonged periods of time (sometimes years) or avoiding inspections by governmental agencies, according to the United Steelworkers of America attorney. Subsequent to the allegations of the union, an additional sixty cases of non-related injuries was reported to the Workers' Compensation Board, some of which occurred as far back as 1994. The manufacturer allowed that some of the cases should have been submitted earlier, but they claimed to have misinterpreted the applicable law.
If a company does not report an injury within 10 days of the incident, then the law allows the company to be fined for as much as $2,500 per case they haven't reported. In addition to the monetary penalty, they could be criminally liable. The Worker's Compensation Board has directed the case to the attention of the criminal fraud unit of the Attorney General.
The unreported injuries will continue to be examined, although the board is also investigating four separate injuries that involved employees having their fingers severed while working.
One worker reported that the company had canceled her health insurance benefits while still taking her payments for her premiums during the time that she was out and covered by Worker's Compensation which won her $350,000.
It was announced by the Director of the United Steelworkers of America that based on what their union had discovered at one of the plants they were calling for a corporate-wide investigation of the company. This particular manufacturer has four other plants in operation in both Indiana and Illinois.
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