top
California
California
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Injured Workers' RICO Claim to Proceed Against Employer and Insurance Company

by Repost
In a landmark decision of immense national significance, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a RICO claim brought by injured workers against their employer, insurance carrier and employer medical expert could proceed. Several injured workers brought the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)
http://www.gelmans.com/FrontEnd/ReadingRoom/vwArticle.asp?ArticleId=479

Injured Workers' RICO Claim to Proceed Against Employer and Insurance Company


In a landmark decision of immense national significance, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a RICO claim brought by injured workers against their employer, insurance carrier and employer medical expert could proceed. Several injured workers brought the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and their employer, Crawford & Company and Dr. Saul Margules.

The allegations included that, ".....Cassens and Crawford deliberately selected and paid unqualified doctors, including Margules, to give fraudulent medical opinions that would support the denial of worker’s compensation benefits, and that defendants ignored other medical evidence in denying them benefits. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants made fraudulent communications amongst themselves and to the plaintiffs by mail and wire in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, which serve as the predicate acts for their RICO claims."

The decision authored by Judge Karen Nelson Moore held "...that plaintiffs’ RICO claims because the WDCA [Michigan Workers' Compensation Disability Act] does not preempt their RICO claims and because plaintiffs have sufficiently pleaded a pattern of racketeering activity given that reliance is not an element of a civil RICO fraud claim."

The Court concluded, "...Our conclusion that worker’s compensation benefits are not insurance and our conclusion that the WDCA was not "enacted . . . for the purpose of regulating the business of insurance," each independently foreclose the defendants’ argument that the WDCA reverse preempts RICO under the McCarran-Ferguson Act.

Of additional signifiance is that sitting by designation on the panel with Judge Moore and Judge Gibbons, was The Honorable Harold A. Ackerman, US District Court Judge for the District of NJ. Judge Ackerman has long and knowledge history of RICO actions was a former NJ Workers' Compensation Judge.

Brown, et al. v. Casses Transport Co., et al., 5th Cir. 2008, Decided October 23, 2008
http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/08a0385p-06.pdf

Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network