Have you ever gotten the feeling that the people within the system have stacked the cards against you? Did you ever wish that you had someone on the inside willing to defend your rights and level the playing field?
Larry Frieman, a director in our law firm, was recently elected as State Representative of Louisiana District 74. Larry has a working understanding of the inequities in the law that employers face on a daily basis and is working to fix these problems.
The link below will bring you to a video clip of a recent House Labor Committee hearing wherein Larry proposed 2 bills to correct inequities in the system. Watch the video as Larry defends his position against both the plaintiff attorneys and the Director of the OWC herself. Not only does this afford you a peek on the inside, but a defender on the inside as well.
HB 217 overturns case law that had required employers to pay for the initial examination by the employee’s choice of physician even though the claim was denied by the employer as not compensable. The proposed law would require that the court must first make a finding that the claim is compensable before the employer can be ordered to pay for the evaluation.
HB 218 overturns the practice by some OWC judges to cancel an employer’s request for an Independent Medical Examination. Under the proposed law if a party has timely requested an IME to be selected by the Office of Workers’ Compensation the request shall not be cancelled by the WC judge unless there is a showing, by clear and convincing evidence, that the criteria for a medical examination has not been met.
Please call us if you have any questions about these bills or any workers’ compensation issues.