Pacific Workers' Compensation - August 2020
Pacific Post Giving Back During a Time of Need Ways Pacific Workers’ Comp Is Helping Our Communities August 2020
As our community adjusts to a new normal, Pacific Workers’ Comp is working toward bridging the gap for those severely affected by the pandemic. During this time, the entire staff is proactively brainstorming to find ways to provide local support. As we’ve been exploring how we can help, we also understand that the pandemic will have an aftershock that the entire country will feel for years to come. As we recognize this, there are several things we want our audience to be aware of as we prepare for the future. Raising Money If you’re an avid reader of our newsletter, you know how dedicated we are to our community. Even during this difficult time, we’re not stopping those dedicated efforts; our community needs support now more than ever. For instance, as the Best Buddies Friendship Walk was canceled, our marketing director, Carmen Ramirez, sought out other creative ways to support the event and organization. Best Buddies International is a nonprofit organization focused on helping those with intellectual and developmental disabilities who suffer from social, physical, and economic isolation. The walk was turned into a week full of challenges, including lip-sync videos, crazy hair day, pajama day, as well as Zoom background challenges. The funds for the new event actually came from the staffs’ personal finances. What’s more, Pacific Workers’ Comp owners Bilal Kassem and Eric Farber matched the amount raised by participants. We raised $3,000!
optimally. In order for anyone to perform at their peak, they need to have peace of mind that they can focus on the task at hand, which includes knowing their children have the support they need during this unique time. In an effort to ensure our staffs’ children continue to excel, we’re partnering with UkuOnlineTutors.com and offering the first round of tutoring for free. If any of the kids want to continue their tutoring, Pacific Workers’ Comp is providing a discount for team members, which makes tutoring more affordable for their children going forward. Expanding to Sacramento and Stockton Communities While we’re based in Oakland, with offices in Concord and San Jose, we’re seeing an increase in demand for our services in the Sacramento and Stockton areas. This is due to Governor Gavin Newsom expanding the protected rights of essential workers. Bilal Kassem touched on this on our blog: “We were seeing more and more calls from essential injured workers throughout both of these areas. We simply want to better serve our clients and their families with a physical presence in these areas.”We currently have temporary offices in Stockton in Sacramento while we look for permanent offices. Supplying the Community With Face Masks Nonprofit organizations across the Bay Area are in great need of proper protection against COVID-19. In an effort to keep our neighborhoods safe, the Pacific Workers’ Gives Foundation, is supplying masks to those in need. Our goal is to send at least 5,000 masks to
“Nonprofit organizations across the Bay Area are in great need of proper COVID-19 protection. In an effort to keep our neighborhoods safe, the Pacific Workers’ Gives Foundation, is supplying masks to those in need.”
the areas we serve. We’re calling this program #5000masks.
If you are in need of a mask or help with a worker’s compensation case, or you know someone who is, reach out anytime at 800 606 6999.
Paying for Employees’ Children’s Tutoring
510-240-8710 • 1 – The Lawyers For Injured Workers
In order to best serve our neighborhood, we know that our staff need to be able to perform
SeeWhat Our Cli
As attorneys, we work tirelessly to serve our community, and we’re proud to showcase the actions we take to help those in need. But we can only convey that so many times until you need to hear it from the individuals we work with. The great thing
though is that we’re fortunate enough to work with amazing people who have taken the time to share their experience with us! “If you got injured on the job, Pacific Workers’ Compensation Law Center is the ace team to have on your side.
The Incredible Story of Zen Buddhist Chef Jeong Kwan Food forThought
They keep the fight going to get you the medical treatment and compensation you deserve. People are very professional and, as always, busy, but a special thanks to Natalie, Kiki, Rigoberto, and Maria Gaitan for taking me meticulously through the internal transition. Thank you to my attorney, Mr. Zachary Kweller, for his attention and my doctor’s patience in handling my case. Insurance companies are out for their own interests, not yours!” –Balaji Kangadaran
One of the world’s greatest chefs can’t be found in a restaurant. Instead, she serves fellow nuns and occasional visitors in a Zen Buddhist monastery in Korea. To fully describe the incredible success of Jeong Kwan, you must first consider a factor that Western cuisine has ignored for millennia. While most people would assume Korean food is all about its famed barbecue, another pillar of the culture goes largely unacknowledged: Korean temple cuisine, which originated in the country’s Buddhist monasteries. A philosophy of Zen Buddhism is to not crave food and satisfy yourself only enough to be prepared for meditation, so you might think that flavor would be of little consequence in a monastery’s kitchen. However, you’d be wrong. The West’s perception of Korean temple cuisine was challenged shortly after Eric Ripert visited Kwan’s monastery and experienced her cooking during a trip to Korea. Ripert invited Kwan to NewYork City to prepare food in a private room at Le Bernardin, where she sent global shockwaves through the entire fine cuisine community. NewYork Times writer Jeff Gordinier described her plates as “so elegant, they could’ve slipped into a tasting menu at Benu or Blanca” and her flavors as “assertive,” all while being vegan. More and more critics realized that Kwan’s combination of foraging, fermenting, dehydrating, and cooking by season was not a modern practice. In fact, Zen Buddhist monks like Kwan mastered cooking in this tradition hundreds of years ago. “With food, we can share and communicate our emotions. It’s that mindset of sharing that is really what you’re eating,” Kwan says at the start of her titular episode of Netflix’s documentary series “Chef ’s Table.” She continues, “There is no difference between cooking and pursuing Buddha’s way.” Whether for enlightenment or simply connecting with friends and family, sharing home-cooked meals can be an emotionally restorative experience as much as it is nourishing. This month, indulge in something special and homemade or try your hand at Korean temple cuisine by Googling some of Jeong Kwan’s recipes.
Peach and Arug
Nothing says summer like a pasta salad filled with your favorite fresh fruits and vegetables, and this combination is the perfect way to cap off a warm summer day!
Ingredients •
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2 large fresh peaches, diced or sliced 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced 1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz penne or fusilli pasta
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2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
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1/2 tsp sea salt Pepper, to taste
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1 cup corn
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2 tbsp lemon juice 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
6 cups arugula, packed
Directions 1.
In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta for approximately 9 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta and place in a separate bowl. 2. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Drizzle the dressing over the pasta and toss with the feta cheese. 3. Add peaches, red onions, tomatoes, corn, and arugula to the pasta mixture. Lightly toss to mix well. Add more olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.
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ients Are Saying
“They are the best! Pacific Workers’ Comp offers professionals who assist you every step of the way and respond to your questions, concerns,
and doubts in a timely manner. These people know what they are doing and have your back.” –Iris Savage
How Temporary Disability Is Helping Our Community Benefits for Essential Workers during COVID-19 If you’re a regular newsletter reader, you know how much we’ve been covering the pandemic and the resources essential workers need during this time. This is, in part, a response to the sheer amount of misinformation and confusion around COVID-19. Here we want to address some of the support available for essential workers. On May 6, the governor issued an executive order to create a rebuttable presumption in workers’ comp cases relating to COVID-19. In a typical workers’ comp claim, the burden of proof falls on the injured part to prove their injury happened at work. But this executive order shifts the burden of proof to the insurance company for claims related to COVID-19. Before this order, the injured worker would have had to go to the hospital for treatment of COVID-19, then present the claim to their carrier. Under the old rules, the claim process would have been lengthy and such claims would have likely been denied. The governor’s order was issued to protect essential workers and provide access to care and support in the event that they catch COVID-19. This support includes temporary disability benefits — a benefit support package that provides workers with roughly 66% or 2/3 of their normal earnings while they are unable to work. However, the executive order contains a clause stating that COVID-19 victims have to use their sick leave before they are eligible for temporary disability benefits. To qualify for disability benefits, workers must take several steps. They must test positive for COVID-19 and be diagnosed within 14 days of being at work or performing work-related duties. Only a physician licensed by the Medical Board of California can provide a valid diagnosis. Those working remotely may not qualify for benefits. Finally, the diagnosis needs to be confirmed 30 days later. With information changing every day, there is a lot of misinformation and confusion surrounding the pandemic and what kinds of benefits workers affected by COVID-19 may qualify for. If you have any concerns regarding benefits for essential workers affected by COVID-19, reach out to us for a free consultation.
“When all other lawyers just ask for what doctor’s slips you have so they can just work on the money, Karla Ortega took seven months guiding me without me committing to their firm. She was always by my side to answer ANY and ALL questions I had. She earned my business. I literally teared up when I met her in person. Good people do good business. Thank you to everyone, including Bilal. Ms. Ortega, you were my light at the end of the tunnel that I followed out of a dark place. THANK YOU!” –Wendell Escolano
gula Pasta Salad
Solution on Page 4
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333 Hegenberger Rd., Suite 504 Oakland, CA 94621 www.PacificWorkers.com 510-240-8710
Inside This Issue
Every Action Matters
The Story of Zen Buddhist Chef Jeong Kwan
See What Our Clients Are Saying
Peach and Arugula Pasta Salad
Benefits for Essential Workers During COVID-19
Meet the Man Who Stole the ‘Mona Lisa’
Meet the Man Who Stole the ‘Mona Lisa’ The Most Famous Art Heist You’ve Never Heard Of
One hundred and nine years ago this month, one man — or was it three? — fled
Either way, we know that Peruggia successfully spirited the painting back to his one-bedroom apartment. There it lay concealed in a false-bottomed trunk for more than two years. This period of mysterious
from the Louvre Museum in Paris, carrying what would quickly become the world’s most famous painting: Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” Historical accounts of the theft agree only on who was the ringleader: 30-year-old Louvre handyman Vincenzo Peruggia. He was a house painter, an immigrant, the bearer of a glorious Monopoly Man mustache, and a vehement Italian patriot. At some point on the morning of Aug. 21, 1911, Peruggia lifted the glass case he himself had constructed to house the “Mona Lisa” and smuggled the painting from the building.
absence (during which police grilled and dismissed Peruggia as a suspect in favor of J.P. Morgan, Pablo Picasso, and playwright Guillaume Apollinaire) is what made the “Mona Lisa”world famous.
Peruggia was eventually caught attempting to sell the painting in Italy. He pleaded guilty and spent eight months in jail. After his release, he enlisted in the Italian army to fight in World War I, surviving the war only to die of a heart attack on his 44th birthday.
Though Peruggia married after the war, some suspect that the true love of his life was the “Mona Lisa” herself. In a CNN article, author and art history professor Noah Charney speculates that over his two years with her, Peruggia developed romantic feelings for the portrait. Perhaps he fell victim to a kind of “reverse Stockholm syndrome,” Charney suggests, the captor falling in love with his hostage. “In this case,” he says, “the hostage was a work of art.”
Some versions of the story say Peruggia was assisted by two brothers, fellow Italian handymen Vincenzo and Michele Lancelotti. NPR reports the trio spent the night preceding the theft huddled in one of the Louvre’s supply closets, lying in wait to steal the portrait. In his documentary about the theft, director Joe Medeiros claims Peruggia acted alone, driven by an obsession with the work and a dream of returning the painting to Italy.
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