US Senate confirms Menendez as federal judge in Minnesota
Legal Issues
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kate M. Menendez has been confirmed by the Senate to fill Minnesota’s federal court vacancy, the state’s two senators announced over the weekend.
Menendez was nominated by President Joe Biden in September. She appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in early November to take questions and talk about her five-year stint as a magistrate judge, the Star Tribune reported.
Menendez previously served as a federal public defender for more than 18 years. Her experience includes several adjunct law professor roles, including at the University of Minnesota, Hamline University and St. Thomas University.
Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith said in a joint statement Saturday that Menendez was recommended by the judicial selection committee, comprised of prominent members of Minnesota’s legal community.
“Judge Menendez has dedicated her career to making our state a more just place,” Klobuchar said.
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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.