The South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled that if an employer provides an underage employee with unfettered access to alcoholic beverages, that employer is liable for any damage that occurs as a result. The Court made that ruling in Catherine Rose McGuire v. Dean J. Curry and Park Jefferson Speedway Inc. v. Christopher Eric Mollet, a case that involved an underage employee who got drunk at work and later caused a vehicular accident.

In Montana, if the employer had knowledge of and failed to attempt to stop the employee’s use of alcohol or drugs, the employee may receive benefits even though he was intoxicated at the time of his accident. Case name: Heth v. Montana State Fund, No. DA 08-0285 (Mont. 05/05/09).

A Jefferson County Circuit Court jury has ruled paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams Co. was liable for the illnesses of a Mississippi boy who ate lead-contaminated paint chips. The jury awarded $7 million in damages in the lawsuit filed on behalf of Trellvion Gaines and his mother, Shermeker Pollard of Fayette.

NOAA and NASA officials announced a new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), launched tonight, successfully reached orbit, joining three other GOES spacecraft that help NOAA forecasters track life-threatening weather and solar storms.

A jurisdiction-wide ban on driving while talking on a hand-held cellular phone is in place in 6 states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah, and Washington) and the District of Columbia. Utah has named the offense careless driving. Under the Utah law, no one commits an offense when speaking on a cellphone unless they are also committing some other moving violation other than speeding.

West Virginia’s BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. said it received word this week that it has been approved to write workers’ compensation insurance in Kentucky. The expansion into Kentucky begins a "new phase of open market competition" for the former state fund that went private in 2006, according to Gregory A. Burton, president and CEO.

Siding with domestic insurers, consumer groups and the state insurance regulator, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist today vetoed a bill designed to keep State Farm from leaving and attract other large insurers to the state by deregulating their rates. Crist said the bill (HB1171) to remove state review of rates charged by large insurers would have created "significant and unpredictable" rate increases.

The Supreme Court of Texas has ruled that employers generally do not owe a duty to third parties for the activities of off duty employees that occur away from the work site, even if those activities ultimately lead to a lawsuit. In the Court’s written opinion, Justice Paul W. Green noted that the Court previously has "recognized a limited exception to this rule when an employer exercises control over the injury-causing conduct of its employee, imposing a duty, for example, when an employer sent an obviously intoxicated employee to drive home."

About 44,700 reported in Kansas from March through May, due to storm damage. Destructive weekend weather hit McPherson and on Monday morning, Tom Plamann was driving north to that city. Plamann is operations manager for ServiceMaster of Hutchinson, which performs restoration work for homes and businesses. This spring, business at ServiceMaster has "been fairly steady," Plamann said.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday signed into law bills to restructure the state’s windstorm insurance fund, the only property insurer for homeowners and business in 14 coastal counties, and provide financial help to areas still struggling to recover from hurricanes in 2008.

Montana’s Department of Insurance has decided to take over the operations of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office, beginning July 1. Previously, the Montana Surplus Lines Agent’s Association has been responsible for the operation of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office.

A self-insured employer is not necessarily entitled to reimbursement for workers compensation benefits when those payments subsequently are found to be unwarranted, Ohio’s Supreme Court has ruled.

North Dakota’s top agriculture official is asking the federal government to consider adding another wrinkle to a new insurance program that pays ranchers based on rainfall or the greenness of their pastures. The Risk Management Agency, which oversees crop insurance, already has made radical changes to the fledgling program across the country, and says it will at least consider Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring’s request to give North Dakota producers more options for insuring hay and rangeland.

The Nebraska Supreme Court found the Workers’ Compensation Court erred in determining that the date an employer mails a final benefits payment starts the clock for the statute of limitations.

Minitrucks are sold as off-road vehicles for farms and construction sites and are far smaller than conventional small trucks sold for on-the-road use. These vehicles go by many names, including Japanese minitruck, Kei truck, microtruck, and utility transportation vehicle. Minitrucks have the capacity to reach top speeds of 55 mph or more, but many are sold with governors to limit their speed to 25 mph.