The owner of a small import-export company contacted me because the Worker’s Compensation Board was penalizing him nearly $500,000.00, because the state claimed that the employer did not have workers’ compensation insurance, even though he ran a safe workplace that had never had an accident. I appealed that penalty, and after several conversations with the uninsured employers unit, I am very gratified to say that the penalty was entirely rescinded.
Working men and women in New York deserve a safe workplace and deserve full workers’ compensation benefits when they are injured, but the state should never attempt to put small business owners with safe workplaces out of business by hitting them with overwhelming penalties that they cannot hope to pay.
This decision saving my client nearly $500,000.00 is a great result for this hard-working small employer.