Call Us 919-240-4054Last month, the North Carolina legislature passed a bill aimed at workers’ compensation reform. One controversial part to the bill had media leaders and open records activists calling for Gov. Perdue to veto it. According to the Charlotte Observer, the bill restricts public access to the information provided to the Industrial Commission by the Rate Bureau. […]
Workers' Compensation
Valerie Johnson is named Vice Chair of NCAJ Workers’ Compensation Section
North Carolina Advocates for Justice (NCAJ) is an organization of attorneys advocating for people and their rights. At its annual convention in June 2012, Valerie Johnson was named the Vice Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Committee. The Workers’ Compensation Committee focuses on the betterment of the law for injured workers and advocacy in the state […]
Employers who don’t carry workers’ compensation insurance: a North Carolina problem
The Raleigh News and Observer this past weekend highlighted the plight of injured workers whose employers knowingly refuse to carry workers’ compensation insurance. These businesses pocket the insurance money, and get a competitive advantage over businesses that do not carry the insurance. When their employees are injured and there is no insurance company to pay […]
Anniversary of the Hamlet Chicken Processing Plant fire remembered
On Tuesday, September 3, 1991, a 25-foot long fryer vat ignited at Imperial Foood Product’s chicken processing plant in Hamlet, NC. Workers were unable to get out of the plant because management had locked all exits except the main entrance in order to prevent employee theft. The plant had no windows, no fire alarm, no sprinkler system, and […]
Court of Appeals decides two new workers’ compensation cases
On August 2, 2011, the NC Court of Appeals decided the case of Capps v. Southeastern Cable, in which it held that an installer of cable TV and internet services was an employee, and not an independent contractor. The Court based its decision on the conditions of the employment, and gave no weight to the […]
Valerie to serve as secretary-treasurer of NCAJ’s Workers’ Compensation Committee
Valerie has accepted the position of secretary-treasurer of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice’s Workers’ Compensation Section. The Workers’ Comp Section is focused on the rights of injured workers in North Carolina and seeks to educate and assist attorneys in their practices.