Workers Comp Tennesseean Article – Law of Large Numbers
The Article Below Appeared in the Tennesseean. Check my post for tomorrow to see my opinion on what really happened and what happens when you violate the Law of Large Numbers.
The head of the Tennessee Restaurant Association stepped down from his position on Monday, following heated allegations of mismanaging a worker’s compensation fund for restaurants.
Ronnie Hart, the group’s chief executive officer and president, sent a proposal for early retirement to board members who were attending the association’s quarterly meeting on Monday. It was later modified and approved, said Randy Rayburn, a member of the association’s board of directors and local restaurateur, who declined to discuss details of the agreement.
Hart originally was scheduled to complete his term on Dec. 31 and will stay on as a consultant, said Michael King, another board member and owner of Monell’s Dining & Catering. The association’s chairman, Jeff Messinger, will create a transition committee that will determine strategic goals and start looking for job candidates, King added.
“I believe it was appropriate for the Tennessee Restaurant Association to move in a new direction in order to regain the confidence of our members — past, present and future,” Rayburn said.
The state’s Department of Commerce and Insurance sued Hart last year alleging he dipped into the reserves of the workers’ compensation fund without proper approval and his company was paid double the contracted rate for managing the fund.
The state told 500 member restaurants they would have to pay $1.5 million to cover worker insurance liabilities and could be forced to pay as much as an additional $4.8 million. That infuriated some restaurant owners, though Hart said at the time he did nothing wrong while managing the fund.
Rayburn said the litigation against Hart regarding the worker’s compensation trust “cast a shadow upon the restaurant association and its members.”
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