Good News for American Workers, Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee Will Be Re-established

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez recently announced that the charter of the Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee (“WPAC”) will be re-established.   WPAC advises the Department of Occupational Safety & Health Administration (“OSHA”) on ways to ensure the effectiveness, transparency, and protection of whistleblowers.  By continuing to obtain advice from worker advocates, labor experts, attorneys, and workers, WPAC will be able to further improve the regulations governing whistleblowing and the cooperative activities between OSHA and other government agencies. 

As a firm specializing in workers’ compensation, Pond Lehocky sees the effects of dangerous, unreported work hazards every day.  We hope the renewal of the activities and powers of WPAC will help to decrease accidents in dangerous workplaces. 

To read the full news release, please click here.

Social Security Updates Policy on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in New Social Security Ruling

Earlier this month, the Social Security Administration released a new Social Security Ruling (“SSR”) updating its evaluation criteria for disability cases involving Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (“CFS”).  As the etiology of this debilitating illness is unclear and it is more subjective than some other physical conditions, proving CFS in disability claims was sometimes more difficult than other conditions.  The new ruling, SSR 14-1p, primarily adopts the Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) definition of CFS and specifies the medical signs, laboratory findings, and additional criteria for diagnosis.   Additionally, the ruling lays out the documentation required for a disability claim involving CFS, how CFS is considered in the five-step sequential evaluation process every disability claim goes through, and how a person with CFS is found disabled.   

Pond Lehocky believes that this additional, clarifying information will help applicants for disability benefits suffering from CFS.   By removing some ambiguities within the law that provided opportunities for these claims being denied, SSR 14-1p provides the framework for these claims to be argued more successfully. 

You can read the full ruling, which replaces SSR 99-2p, here.