Former Miss California Sues For Religious Discrimination
National News
The Courthouse News Service is reporting that Former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean sued pageant officials for libel and religious discrimination, claiming she was told to not mention God long before she made her controversial remarks against gay marriage on national TV last April.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims California pageant Executive Director Keith Lewis and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler told Prejean not to mention God on her application or in speeches at least two months before the Miss USA contest, in which Prejean was the first runner-up.
Prejean was stripped of her crown in June for allegedly failing to make required appearances and for making unapproved appearances.
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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.