US judge OKs $116M ruling in deadly terror attack
Headline Legal News
A federal judge in Rhode Island has upheld a $116 million verdict against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority over a 1996 terror attack that killed a U.S. citizen and his wife.
U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lagueux (LAH'-guh) ruled Wednesday the defendants cannot set aside the judgment against them because they didn't respond to the accusations from the victims' family.
The lawsuit was filed in Providence by relatives of Yaron Ungar (YAH'-rohn UNG'-er) and his wife, Efrat. The Ungars were killed by Hamas gunmen near the West Bank in June 1996. Yaron Ungar also held Israeli citizenship.
The lawsuit said the Palestinian Authority and the PLO offered a safe haven to members of Hamas.
The defendants have denied responsibility.
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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.