Appellate court overturns Kickapoo conviction
Headline Legal News
A federal appellate court has overturned the conviction of a former tribal casino manager and his family for allegedly stealing from a tribal casino near the Texas-Mexico border.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the embezzlement convictions of Isidro Garza Jr., his wife and one of his sons. The trio had been among so-called the "Kickapoo Seven" — a group of tribal and casino employees from the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas accused of stealing from the tribe's small casino near Eagle Pass.
The appellate court overturned the convictions because it said that U.S. District Judge Alia Ludlum erred in transferring the case to Waco, about 300 miles from where the defendants, attorneys and witnesses lived.
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.