Blog — Family Law

Effective August 9, 2010 Pegnim & Ivancich will be moving to a new location  5 miles down the road at:
3440 Hillcrest Ave, Suite 175
Antioch, Ca 94531

We can still be reached at the same phone number and facsimile.

The Health Care Reform Legislation recently passed in Washington DC will significantly impact our clients.  By October 1, 2010, Insurance Carriers will be required to offer insurance coverage for dependents up to age 26.  So, your children will now be eligible to stay on your insurance until they are 26.  No longer do your children need to stay in school to be covered. Coverage now is based upon solely on age. It is also important to note that marriage is not a factor that would exclude your children from your policy. As long as your child is under age 26, they can be covered on your health plan, whether they are married or not. The spouse of your child would not be eligible for coverage.

For our younger clients who do not have health insurance, it is important to discuss coverage options with your parents. Changes to the Workers’ Compensation Laws have made it difficult to get much needed medical care on a timely basis. Sometimes coverage through private health insurance is necessary to obtain treatment. The Health Care Reform Legislation may make a difference.

Lisa E. Ivancich

The Pegnim and Ivancich Foundation is a not-for-profit charity founded by Thomas M. Pegnim and Lisa E. Ivancich to provide a method to give back to the Eastern Contra Costa County community.

Though there are many well-developed and organized charities in Central Contra Costa County, there are very few in Eastern Contra Costa County despite the fact that it is the home to 300,000 people.  This is most likely because the community has grown so quickly that charitable resources have not had time to catch up.

The Pegnim and Ivancich Foundation will focus its attention on the needs of the teenage and preteen youth in the Pittsburgh, Antioch, and Brentwood area.  We hope to be able to support individual scholarship needs, extracurricular activities which are in danger of being eliminated, and provide individual support to high achieving scholars, artists, and athletes who lack the financial ability to meet their potential.

We are committed to providing all of the volunteer and administrative needs of the charity without any charge to the charity itself.  Therefore we can state that it is our intention to use 100% of the foundation’s funds in support of the Foundation’s purpose.

We are honored to work with the Lend A Hand Foundation of Oakland in putting on our first charitable golf tournament. One hundred percent of the net proceeds from the tournament will be divided between Lend A Hand Foundation and scholarships for the youth in East Contra Costa County.

Crow Canyon Country Club, a private Country Club in Danville, California, has provided us with the facility at a reduced rate.  We intend this to be a first-class golf tournament, with lunch and dinner provided, multiple prizes included, a raffle, two hole-in-one competitions for $10,000 each, as well as cash prizes and merchandise in the pro shop for the winners of the tournament.

The tournament will be a four man scramble.  Indexes will be factored into the scoring.  Mulligans will be sold.

Since this is our first tournament we do not know whether a “horse race” will receive sufficient support to allow it to be conducted at the end of a tournament.  In the event we have sufficient players sign up for the horse race, we will conduct the horse race at the conclusion of the tournament with pari-mutuel betting.

There will be door prizes, a hosted beverage cart and items up for a silent auction (depending on support).

We are hoping for the support of the workers compensation community in sponsoring holes, prizes, and items for a silent auction.

Any questions can be e-mailed to PegnimandIvancichgolf@gmail.com

Surveillance videos are not the only thing to keep in mind these days in regards to your industrial injury.  When twittering and facebooking, be careful as to what you publish on your profile.  Remember these pages are public and insurance companies can simply type in your name and find you on the internet.

Below is an article from workcompcentral.com regarding a few cases where defense firms used twitter, facebook, and myspace to discover fraud.

Makes you think twice about what you publish on the internet.

Twitter About Mardi Gras Supports Petition for Removal: Top [02/12/10] By John Kamin, Legal Editor
johnkamin@workcompcentral.com

Get CEs for reading this column, click here!

“Linda Wenneker’s back injury apparently didn’t prevent her from enjoying Mardi Gras, which she allegedly described as a “bangin’, bared butts, boobalicious blast” on a Twitter post.

Defense attorneys say the former secretary also tweeted about the good time she had in Los Angeles for some “pre-Oscars festivities” a few weeks before asserting at trial that she was totally and permanently disabled by a workplace injury.

Although Wenneker’s claim has not been concluded, those online posts helped persuade the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board to grant a petition for removal. The decision remanded the case so the workers’ compensation judge may consider whether to enter alleged online tweets, blogs, and surveillance into evidence.

The Dec. 17 panel decision by the WCAB appears to be one of the first to mention a social networking site by name. The full commission ordered the administrative law judge in the case to rescind his Oct. 23, 2009 order denying a petition by Wenneker’s employer, Contra Costa County, to augment the record.

Although the issue appears to be only now emerging before the full WCAB commission, online snooping is becoming an increasingly important tool in the workers’ compensation investigator’s arsenal. Defense Attorney Donald Barthel wrote in a professional column posted on WorkCompCentral late last month that Internet searches are an easy, effective, and inexpensive way of researching applicants’ backgrounds and verifying their credibility. (See “I Spy for Free” in the Professional Columns section.)

As reported in another article in today’s WorkCompCentral report, New York state skydiver Jacob Bancroft was sentenced on a workers’ compensation fraud charge Thursday after he was convicted on evidence that included a MySpace video of him hiking with a backpack. (See “Skydiver Convicted of Comp Fraud.”)

Contra Costa County sought to augment the record with Wenneker’s alleged online posts on Twitter and other sites about how she visited New Orleans for a “wicked and wild Mardi Gras vacation” and continued on to Los Angeles for the Academy Awards. These posts allegedly occurred in late February and March 2009. The trial in Wenneker’s workers’ comp claim was held on April 22, 2009.

The defense also cited evidence from a four-day trip to Disneyland in October 2009, where surveillance evidence showed Wenneker riding the Mulholland Madness roller coaster, the Space Mountain roller coaster, and the Star Tours ride. While the defense acknowledged that she used a scooter and wore a soft collar part of the time, she did not always do this and exhibited behavior different from the pain-related behavior documented at trial.

The WCAB described her testimony as follows:

“She testified that she does not leave her room for weeks at a time, does not want to see anyone, and does not socialize. She said that she does not drive much, because among other things, the vibration of the car affects her neck and upper extremities. She gets panic attacks around people or noise.”

News of the panel decision’s mention of Twitter and social networking sites did not surprise a private investigations expert who is unaffiliated with the case.

Dalene Bartholomew, vice president of the special investigations unit for Probe Information Services, said that the firm frequently uses social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to find information that it can use to obtain more substantive evidence.

“We don’t typically try to let the information we find online stand alone as evidence,” she said. “So we might find something saying that they posted their golf scores, or they posted the big fish they caught, or they posted that they are into cage fighting. Then we go out and try to find evidence of that, whether its documentation, or surveillance evidence, or witness statements, or maybe we subpoena their credit card statements. It’s a tool to point us in the right direction.”

Bartholomew explained that some of the firm’s more colorful investigations have found online evidence of claimants that enjoyed cage fighting, roller derby and political campaigning. These online tidbits allowed investigators to collect evidence proving that the injured workers were participating in those activities.

Probe’s investigators also sidestep workers’ use of various aliases to hide their online personalities by searching a number of databases to generate lists of all names affiliated with that person, Bartholomew said. Next, investigators peruse social networking sites for the injured worker, as well as the worker’s spouse, roommates, and associations or leagues who may have some new information to reveal. With applicants who are active in sports, this information often comes in the form of tournament photos that name the participants, she said.

However, Bartholomew acknowledged that investigators will always have to constantly adjust their search techniques, as social networking claimants become more savvy with their websites. Bartholomew also noted that the age of the person tends to play a large role in how much information might be available online.

In Wenneker’s case, the defense knew that Wenneker was computer-savvy, as the WCAB opinion noted that she had made several hundred posts on a blog titled LAStarz, which detailed celebrity news.

The defense tried to use the newly-discovered Twitter posts about Mardi Gras and the Disneyland surveillance to augment the record, but the workers’ compensation judge was not persuaded.

The judge denied the petitions to augment the record shortly after the Disneyland trip, determining that the defense did not demonstrate that it could not have obtained the new evidence prior to trial or before discovery closed. In other words, the judge ruled that the defense failed to show that it acted with “due diligence” prior to the closure of discovery.

The defense filed a petition for removal with the WCAB, and the workers’ compensation judge recommended a denial of the petition. The applicants’ attorney stated in a verified answer that “defendant has not explained why it could not have obtained surveillance evidence until 11 years after applicant’s most recent injury, 4 1/2 years after she became permanent and stationary, and seven months after discovery closed.”

Wenneker’s attorney also did not deny the Disneyland trip, but disagreed with the defense’s characterization of the trip, as she was on pain medication at the time and took frequent breaks to lay down.

The WCAB granted the petition and remanded, with instructions for the defense to give Wenneker’s attorney copies of the evidence. The panel decision also explained that a judge may admit post-trial surveillance evidence when it rebuts or impeaches an applicant’s trial testimony, as some injured workers “may let their guard down” after trial.

The commissioners clarified that “due diligence” does not require a party to make every possible effort to inquire into a claimant’s life. Instead, “due diligence” requires only a reasonable effort of inquiry, deputy commissioner Neil Sullivan wrote.

Commissioners Alfonso Moresi and James Cuneo concurred with Sullivan’s opinion.

The decision appears to be unique. A brief search of panel decisions from recent years revealed no other panel decisions that included the words, “blog, Facebook, Myspace,” and similar terminology.

The case title is Wenneker v. County of Contra Costa, et al., No. ADJ2954617,”

On Friday, a study was relaeased that medical costs have been on the rise by at least 9% since 2007.  The reforms in 2002 ansd 2004 were intended to decrease the amount of money spent on workers’ compensation claims including medical expenses and permanent disability settlement amounts.  Although these costs remained low for the first few years, there has been a jump specifically in medical costs believed to be caused by hospital services.

https://www.workcompcentral.com/1/news/news_print.htm?token=CE606B93C40AD889C9ED4173E5AC7040B148687E6B23C00CF64E61CB40004553&state=CA&id=fc1dab8efacd558723c09d92b14c1bfag

On December 31,2009 a ruling was made against  Governor Schwarzenegger stating that the state mandated furlough days were considered illegal.  The Governor implemented Furlough days for two fridays a month forcing state employees to not work and not get paid.  He then implemented an additional day later on in 2009.  The furlough days were intended to save money from the general fund; however, the employees forced to take furlough days were not paid from the general fund.

Employees affected by this decision come from the Division of  Workers’ Compensation, the state’s Department of Insurance, the Departmentof Motor Vehicles, the Public Utilities Commission and the Transportation Commission.

Employees are now demanding back pay for forced unpaid time off.  A decision has not been made yet.

So if yo have a Worker’s Compensation case, be on the look out for your court date to possibly fall on a Friday!

For more information go to : http://www.workcompcentral.com/1/news/news_print.htm?token=C8730EC60C04B56D6A642D08717377AC1D3E7CD0585373B5E1DEEAA4BF2CAE8D&state=CA&id=0ff472b118a9665b462bf2320996d3eeg

1. What are your holiday hours?

Our office will be closed December 17, 2009 from 10:30am to the until the end of the day for a holiday function.

We will also be closed on December 24, 25, 31 and January 1, 2010.

2. I am supposed to receive a check in the mail and it has not come.

Keep in mind that December is the busiest month for mail so most times your check has been cut and is at the post office waiting to go out along with thousands of other packages and cards for the holiday season.  Please allow at least 3 to 4 days before you check is supposed to arrive before calling our office.

3. My assistant is not available to speak me and I have an urgent matter, what do I do?

Because it is the holiday season many of our employees are out during these next couple weeks.  If it is an urgent matter anyone in our office will be happy to assist you.  Please be patient with us when we are not familiar with your file.

4. Are there any other offices closed in the next couple of weeks?

Many doctor offices are closed from the 24th through the first week in January so if  you need prescriptions or off work slips make sure to get them ahead of time.

In the 2004 worker’s compensation reform a $500,000 dollar budget was set aside for modifications made for return to work employees  at small businesses. A small business is classified as 50 or fewer employees.  The budget provides up to $2500 to employers who make accommodations for permanently disabled employees and $1250 for temporary disabled employees.  Accommodations that can be reimbursed are items that help employees heal from their injury and prevent a re-injury, for example  ergonomic work stations.

The program has attempted to advertise as  “Bring ‘em Back” but unfortunately only a minute part of the budget has been used because employers  either do not know of the back to work program, are reluctant to participate because of the difficult economic times, or assume there is too much paperwork involved.

The good news is small businesses now have up to 2020 to apply for the program and there more than $400,000 to distribute.

If you are a small business check out this website for more information: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/Returntoworkreimbursementprogram/returntowork.htm

Last Monday, the governor signed a bill that will officially penalize uninsured employers.  The DIR just collected data showing that 12% of California employers are uninsured, and the hope is with the increase in penalty costs, employers will more likely get worker’s comp insurance. The penalty will now be up $1,500 per uninsured employee instead of the $1,000 before.  This will add another $2.2 million to penalties collected.

Last week a bill was passed that will increase the penalties owed by employers who fail to provide worker’s compensation benefits to injured workers. The increase will be from $1,000 to $1,500 and will take effect January 2011. The idea is to discourage employers from not providing benefits with the assumption they will pay a hefty penalty otherwise. All it needs is the governor’s signature.