Latinos Lose Bid to Redraw Ward Map in Aurora, Ill.
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Latino citizens in Aurora, Ill., are not entitled to have the city ward map redrawn to favor Latino candidates, the 7th Circuit ruled.
Judge Easterbrook upheld the district court's ruling that Latino voters are not deprived of proper voting representation. Two of the 12 city aldermen are Latino, and the city's population is 33 percent Latino. However, only 16 percent of citizens of voting age are Hispanic.
Sam Gonzalez, Maria Crosby, and Mariana Correia asked for the wards to be redrawn so three of them would have predominant Latino populations. Easterbrook ruled that is not the only way for Latino residents to gain representation.
"The (plaintiffs) ignore the fact that several wards contain enough Latino citizens to produce substantial influence," Easterbrook wrote.
The judge also ruled that redrawing the map to favor one ethnic group is not fair, "as surely as a map drawn to maximize the influence of those groups at the expense of Latinos.
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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.