A proposal to limit financial damages in cases where injured workers can prove deliberate intent by employers who cut corners on safety drew emotional testimony during a public hearing Monday, during which about 20 people spoke.
“The $250,000 cap, that don’t even cut it,” said Ronnie Williams, a former saw mill employee whose arm was amputated in a belt head.
Williams said his projected life span is still more than 30 years. At that, he said, the compensation would amount to a little more than $7,000 a year.
“That’s it,” he said. “And I know that don’t cover anything.”
On the other side were businesses that contend West Virginia’s current policies mean insurance costs are growing at unsustainable rates, even for responsible employers.
West Virginia’s Workers’ Compensation policies were established to cover liability for workplace injuries.
But if injured workers can meet a burden of proof that their employers acted with “deliberate intent,” then they may be eligible for financial support beyond what workers’ comp provides.
House Bill 3270 would amend state code to limit noneconomic damages in those cases to $250,000. The bill also removes occupational pneumoconiosis — lung disease from dust particles in the workplace — as a covered injury. And the bill sets a limit on fees and costs recoverable by plaintiffs’ attorneys in the cases.
“This bill does two things. It helps our economy by helping employers keep and grow good-paying jobs right here in West Virginia,” said Phyllis Cole, representing Allegheny Wood Products, which employs 865 people.
“And, two, if someone is injured and brings a lawsuit, this bill ensures the injured worker gets more money in his own pocket, not their lawyer’s.”
Last year, the Legislature considered a similar bill that would have eliminated deliberate intent cases entirely. That bill went on a backburner after a public hearing drew testimony from injured workers from their families, and it never re-emerged.
This year’s bill is assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, which hasn’t brought it up yet. A public hearing went ahead in the House Chamber Monday morning.
Many of the business representatives who spoke at the hearing were associated with the timber industry.
Eric Carlson, executive director of the West Virginia Forestry Association, acknowledged the tragedies described in the House chamber. But he said small businesses with just a few employees face spiraling insurance costs.
“House Bill 3270 really provides the balance that allows this to be an affordable type of risk management while at the same time providing for the cause of action for deliberately, intentionally hurting people,” he said.
“We take it very seriously to make sure our workers are protected. And should that inevitable accident happen, we need that risk management to protect them. It has to be affordable.”
Injured worker Melissa May appeared alongside her lawyer, Dave Duffield of Huntington. Together, they described a workplace accident where her hair got stuck in a lathe and a safety switch had been disconnected. Slowly, the machine pulled in her hair and then the top of her head.
The result, they said, resulted in a medically induced coma and 16 surgeries.
“I went to work and woke up three weeks later,” May said, describing a lifetime of effects that included opioid addiction.
“If it wouldn’t have been for this law, I’d have been living on welfare. Who knows what it would have been like,” May said. “So please don’t change this law.”
