Session 1 - Big Brother is Watching – Surveillance Cameras to Manage Risk, Prevent Work Place Injuries, Protect Property and Defend Litigation in the Era of COVID-19

• Speakers:

• Wayne Apfeld, Fluidra

• Seymour Everett, Everett Dorey, LLP

• Cathy Lara, Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc.

Insurance carriers, corporations, and businesses alike have been working to manage risk and anticipate potential litigation. Video surveillance ranging from business entrances to dash cam videos dominate every aspect of society. Surveillance cameras and video footage have become effective tools for managing risk, protecting property and successfully defending or preventing litigation. This cutting edge topic makes this a must attend session for risk managers, claim professionals, insurance professionals, in-house counsel and attorneys. 

Session 1 - Changing the Employee Safety and Wellness Mindset to Reduce Workers’ Compensation Costs and Avoid Liability

• Speakers:

• Anas Al-Hamwi, Walgreen Co.

• Jay Branderbit, Kent & McBride, P.C.

• Susan DeCaro, Entrusted Administrators & Subrogation

• Michele Punturi, Marshall Dennehey

Employees’ high-risk health issues often result in workers’ compensation claims and may expose employers to additional liability. This session will focus on changing the claims management mindset surrounding employee safety and wellness to drive down workers’ compensation costs and avoid liability exposure. Employers understand that employee safety and wellness programs can help reduce absenteeism, expedite return to work, reduce medical costs, mitigate claims, and lessen overall litigation. Today’s litigious environment, particularly considering COVID-19, calls for an innovative approach that might include self-reporting programs and dedicated medical case management teams to help employers spot issues before they become costly claims. Extending that mindset to also consider compliance issues involving the ADA, EEOC, GINA, HIPAA and ACA will go a long way toward mitigating liability and preventing claims.

Session 1 - Experts: The Impact that Your Choice Can Have On Your Worker’s Compensation Claim

• Speakers:

• Fernando Branco, MD., FAAPM&R, Midwest Employers Casualty Company

• Aubrey Kuchar Noltemeyer, Kightlinger & Gray LLP

• Robert A. Luskin, Chartwell Law Offices

• Mary Miller, ArlingtonRoe

Experts: the impact that your choice can have on your worker’s compensation claim – picking the right experts for your claim. The who and how of an expert’s opinion making a big impact on the outcome of your work comp claim.
 

2021 CLM Virtual Workers Compensation and Retail, Restaurant & Hospitality Conference

Session 2 - Effective Alternative Dispute Resolution Strategies in Employment Litigation Matters

• Speakers:

• Robert Bernstein, Laner Muchin, Ltd.

• Cindy Braun, Great American Insurance Group

• Carrie Graziani, Hanover Insurance

In this session, experienced Employment Practices Liability insurance executives and experienced employment defense counsel (the panelists will also add a seasoned in-house employment law counsel to their panel) will discuss their vast experiences as it relates to alternative dispute resolution proceedings (mediations, settlement conferences, etc.) in the context of employment litigation matters.  The panelists will discuss real life case examples to illustrate effective strategies they have employed in these proceedings to achieve the best results for insureds/clients, as well as tactics they have learned through their experiences over the years to most effectively deal with difficult or challenging parties to the litigation.  The panelists will also discuss from a threshold standpoint, the considerations they look to in evaluating whether mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution is appropriate for the particular matter at hand and the timing of engaging in such a proceeding.  

Session 2 - PTSD from First Responders to Front Line Workers

• Speakers:

• Brad Gronke, Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc.

• Lindsay Huffman, Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company

• Nikoleta Lamprinakos, Robbins Schwartz

• Jennifer Rizk-O'Lynnger, Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C.

PTSD is not just something that can affect those that have experienced battle.  Originally known as terms like Shell Shocked in recent years PTSD has been discussed and legislation passed impacting it's compensability for First Responders.  This session will use lessons learned in the First Responder Risk Management space.  This session will show ways to apply those lessons to the PTSD claims being filed by other Front Line Workers that have been impacted by COVID-19.  

Session 2 - Telemedicine’s Role in Workers’ Compensation post COVID-19

• Speakers:

• Dena Abdallah, Marsh

• Candace McPherson Hodge, The Parking Spot

• David Willis, Vernis and Bowling

Health care will be forever changed by the pandemic.  Although telemedicine was becoming more widely accepted in the WC arena prior to 2020, COVID-19 has made it more of a required offering.  This course will discuss the recent increase in adoption of telemedicine since COVID-19, how employers and employees are responding to telemedicine treatment, the cost/benefit analysis of telemedicine and the legal ramifications of that adoption.

Session 3 - Premier Session: Compensability Now and Claims Handling Post COVID-19 Vaccine

• Speakers:

• Kristian Cross, Self Employed

• Jay Gates CPCU,ARM, AIC , Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

• Melissa Icban, ARM, Sedgwick

• Patrick Sodoro, Sodoro Law Group

Work from home, telemedicine and other things are here to stay.  This session will address many of the questions which may become common, such as:

• Can you mandate your employees be vaccinated?
• How do you set your employees up for success while working from home?
• How are states viewing COVID-19 compensability, from the reporting aspect through the legal nuances involved with causation and treatment?

Session 4 - COVID-19 Legal Concerns: What’s Top of Mind for the Retail, Restaurant & Hospitality Industry?

• Speakers:

• Jennifer Brooks, Hamilton, Miller & Birthisel LLP

• Karen Campbell, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP

• Melisha Zeigler, Liberty Mutual

Hotel owner/operator have a common-law duty to warn customers, vendors, 3rd parties, such as professional/personal contacts of employees, if employee tests positive for COVID-19, is experiencing symptoms or may have come into close contact with someone who tested positive, and does any such duty depend upon whether the 3rd party may have come into contact with affected employees? Companies liable if an employee infects others? Have a common-law duty to take measures to protect/prevent employees from spreading to customers, vendors or other 3rd parties? Scope of duty change if customers include especially vulnerable populations?  Measures can companies take to reduce risk of tort liability during phased re-openings? Compliance with federal, state, or local re-opening guidelines provide a defense to such suits?  Common-law duty to take measures to protect employees from coming into contact with or being infected while on the job? Scope of duty change if employees perform essential services for the public? Institute a COVID-19 and/or antibody testing program for employees returning to work, could face suits from employees or 3rd parties alleging that the program or testing itself was inadequate or inaccurate?  Scope of federal preemption and immunity from suits under Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act.

Session 4 - Creative Claim Strategies: That Settles It

• Speakers:

• Scotty Benton, Sedgwick

• John Kamin, Bradford & Barthel, LLP

• Jim Roach, Hennessy & Roach P.C.

• Nina Rose, Builders FirstSource, Inc.

Every day employees head off to work and have something unexpected happen.  One thing job-related accidents have in common is they create a disruption in someone’s life.  Slower than anticipate healing, uncertain job security, or ongoing financial obligations can be magnified by a convoluted and complex claims process. An employer’s response to a workplace accident and injury can have a significant impact on employee experience, corporate reputation, and marketplace performance. A claims approach with a strong customer focus is of paramount importance. Impressions are formed at the time an incident is reported and continue throughout the recovery and rebuilding process. Employers should always be looking for creative ways to settle workers’ compensation claims.  Settlement is a way for injured employees to move on with their lives, return to work in some productive capacity, and resume the joys of everyday living.  It is important that everyone on the employer’s claims team including the claims adjuster and defense attorney understand the company’s claims philosophy and objectives heading into settlement discussions.   Using practical examples and illustrations, this session will identify and describe valuable tools and strategies that can be used to elevate the claims experience and share creative claim strategies designed for settlement.

Session 4 - How Cyber and Crypto Currencies are Financing the Exploding Gig Economy. What it Means to Your Workers Comp Insurance Defense

• Speakers:

• Wayne Brinkman, Aon

• Curtis DeVries, Fraudsniffr

• Rebecca Kassel, PMA Companies

• Patrice A. Toland, Post & Schell

Value transfer apps such as Venmo, Zelle, and Cashapp have all removed most of the questions (specifically the purpose of the transaction) regarding value transfers that were included when these apps first launched.  Currently these apps only record “on this date, x transferred a specified amount of value to Y.”  There is no documentation as to the purpose of the transaction.  The challenges involved with this new method of transfer are daunting.  This panel will address issues that revolve around the challenge workers compensation income claims face in the absence of any paper trail or tax records to support the claimant submissions. 

Networking