Pennsylvania asks court to keep Amazon incentives a secret
Breaking Legal News
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's administration went to court this week to block requests for records of financial incentives it offered Amazon to build its second headquarters in Pennsylvania.
An administration lawyer asked Commonwealth Court to reverse an Office of Open Records decision deeming the records to be public and ordering their release. The Morning Call of Allentown requested the records.
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were among 20 finalists for a facility that the online retailer promises will bring 50,000 new jobs and construction spending topping $5 billion.
Rob Wonderling, president of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, last year told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Pennsylvania planned to offer Amazon more than $1 billion in tax incentives if the online retailer built its second headquarters in the state.
City and state officials have otherwise refused to disclose details, and Pennsylvania state officials have long refused to disclose incentives offered to companies until there is a formal agreement.
Amazon's request for proposals before deciding the location of its second headquarters set off a competition among governments across the country, and many said they don't want their competitors to know what they're offering.
More than 15 states and cities, including Philadelphia, refused requests from The Associated Press to release the financial promises they made to try to lure Amazon.
A records request seeking Pittsburgh's bid was denied because the proposal is "exempt from public dissemination."
Amazon has said it will make its decision this year. Nearly a quarter of a million dollars was spent to create and promote Philadelphia's plan, including $160,000 by the quasi-public Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation on a website and the written submission.
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Does a car or truck accident count as a work injury?
If an employee is injured in a car crash while on the job, they are eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. “On the job” injuries are not limited to accidents and injuries that happen inside the workplace, they may also include injuries suffered away from an employee’s place of work while performing a job-related task, such as making a delivery or traveling to a client meeting.
Regular commutes to and from work don’t usually count. If you get into an accident on your way in on a regular workday, it’s probably not considered a work injury for the purposes of workers’ compensation.
If you drive around as part of your job, an injury on the road or loading/unloading accident is likely a work injury. If you don’t typically drive around for work but are required to drive for the benefit of your employer, that would be a work injury in many cases.
If you are out of town for work, pretty much any driving would count as work related. For traveling employees, any accidents or injuries that happen on a work trip, even while not technically working, can be considered a work injury. The reason is because you wouldn’t be in that town in the first place, had you not been on a work trip.
Workers’ compensation claims for truck drivers, traveling employees and work-related injuries that occur away from the job site can be challenging and complex. At Krol, Bongiorno & Given, we understand that many families depend on the income of an injured worker, and we are proud of our record protecting the injured and disabled. We have handled well over 30,000 claims for injured workers throughout the state of Illinois.