Attorney General Spitzer Protects Disabled Workers

For those who needed more convincing that New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer is a friend of disabled workers, here is another example of his willingness to prosecute the powerful who prey on the vulnerable workers. Last November, Spitzer played an important role in forcing the Unum Provident Corporation to change their unfair case handling practices in long term disability claims.
Spitzer is now combating one of the largest causes of workers compensation premium increases for small business – EMPLOYER PREMIUM FRAUD! An upstate bridge painting company defrauded the New York State Insurance Fund out of over $145,000 in premiums by misclassifying their employees – one of the oldest employer tricks in the books. This all comes on the heals of Spitzer exposing bid rigging and price fixing by Marsh & McLennan in the workers compensation insurance market. The public must be made aware that one of the main drivers of increased workers compensation costs is the the unethical behavior of some employers and insurance carriers in a very profitable segment of the market.