The Buffalo News reports on Royalton's settlement with the County....
Royalton settles workers’ compensation case with county out of court
The Town of Royalton has settled out of court with Niagara County on a six-year-old workers’ compensation case, agreeing to pay the county $210,000. The County Legislature is to vote on the settlement today, as County Attorney Claude A. Joerg and Robert S. Roberson, the attorney representing the town, dispute who got the best deal.
Joerg told the Legislature’s Administration Committee last week that he got Royalton to pay what it owed the county “dollar for dollar,” while Roberson crowed that he talked the county down from a lawsuit that demanded nearly $1 million. The two attorneys were last heard ripping each other about three weeks ago, when Roberson sued the county over more than $17,000 he says he is owed for his past work for the county Sewer District, a bill the county has refused to pay.
Roberson charged that the county was wasting money fighting a previous suit he filed over the matter, which was dismissed, while Joerg said he would countersue Roberson to try to force him to repay money the Sewer District approved for him before the county auditor’s office shut off the tap.
This time, referees were needed to bring the two together. Joerg credited Legislator Michael A. Hill of Hartland and Royalton Supervisor Richard Lang for playing that role.
Royalton was one of several municipalities the county sued in early 2007 to try to collect cash the county thought it was owed by former members who pulled out of the county-run Mutual Self-Insurance Plan, a county-wide workers’ compensation insurance plan, in 2001 and 2002.
In the summer of 2007, the Niagara- Wheatfield School District settled out of court for $225,000, and the City of Lockport followed suit in March, paying $278,220 on top of the $219,896 it paid the county in 2004.
Besides Royalton, suits are pending against the towns of Niagara and Wheatfield, while the City of Niagara Falls, which wasn’t sued, has been making payments but still owes about $1.1 million. The county sued to try to collect back premiums for the plan and also to gain reimbursements for money it spent on old claims since the former members left the pool.
The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled Feb. 1 that the county’s suits were legally filed.
Source: http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/niagaracounty/story/397091.html
Royalton settles workers’ compensation case with county out of court
The Town of Royalton has settled out of court with Niagara County on a six-year-old workers’ compensation case, agreeing to pay the county $210,000. The County Legislature is to vote on the settlement today, as County Attorney Claude A. Joerg and Robert S. Roberson, the attorney representing the town, dispute who got the best deal.
Joerg told the Legislature’s Administration Committee last week that he got Royalton to pay what it owed the county “dollar for dollar,” while Roberson crowed that he talked the county down from a lawsuit that demanded nearly $1 million. The two attorneys were last heard ripping each other about three weeks ago, when Roberson sued the county over more than $17,000 he says he is owed for his past work for the county Sewer District, a bill the county has refused to pay.
Roberson charged that the county was wasting money fighting a previous suit he filed over the matter, which was dismissed, while Joerg said he would countersue Roberson to try to force him to repay money the Sewer District approved for him before the county auditor’s office shut off the tap.
This time, referees were needed to bring the two together. Joerg credited Legislator Michael A. Hill of Hartland and Royalton Supervisor Richard Lang for playing that role.
Royalton was one of several municipalities the county sued in early 2007 to try to collect cash the county thought it was owed by former members who pulled out of the county-run Mutual Self-Insurance Plan, a county-wide workers’ compensation insurance plan, in 2001 and 2002.
In the summer of 2007, the Niagara- Wheatfield School District settled out of court for $225,000, and the City of Lockport followed suit in March, paying $278,220 on top of the $219,896 it paid the county in 2004.
Besides Royalton, suits are pending against the towns of Niagara and Wheatfield, while the City of Niagara Falls, which wasn’t sued, has been making payments but still owes about $1.1 million. The county sued to try to collect back premiums for the plan and also to gain reimbursements for money it spent on old claims since the former members left the pool.
The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled Feb. 1 that the county’s suits were legally filed.
Source: http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/niagaracounty/story/397091.html
