Welcome to the website of the Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission. LIRC is an independent administrative agency which decides appeals in cases involving Unemployment  Insurance (UI),  Worker's Compensation (WC), and  Equal Rights (ER). Information available at this website includes:			In Brief -  ER decisions uploaded 06/17 UI decisions uploaded 06/04 New Commissioner ER Decision Digest updated WC decisions  uploaded 04/15 Ct. App. rules on Health Care Worker Protection Act
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What's New at LIRC and the LIRC website

April 22, 2013 -- The Labor and Industry Review Commission has a new member, Bill Jordahl.   Having been appointed by Governor Walker and confirmed by the Senate, Bill began serving as a commissioner on April 18, 2013.

Jordahl has a variety of experience with state government.  He served as Governor Tommy Thompson's Policy Director and legislative liaison to the Senate during the Governor's first term in office.  He was a special assistant to two secretaries of the Department of Transportation, Ron Fiedler and Chuck Thompson.  During this time (1990-1995) he also attended law school at the University of Wisconsin, receiving a J.D. in 1995.  He then went to work for Wisconsin Power and Light, which became Alliant Energy two years later when it merged with several Iowa-based utilities.  At WP&L-Alliant he at varying times was manager of Federal Government Affairs, led special team projects developing regulatory filings for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dockets, and for the last 12 years was Alliant Energy's Manager of Government Affairs in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  In this role he represented Alliant Energy's interests before the state legislatures and executive agencies of the two states.

Jordahl fills the seat of former Commissioner Ann Crump, whose term recently expired.

In addition to having a new member join it, the commission voted today to make Laurie R. McCallum the Chairperson of the commission.

April 19, 2013 -- The 2013 Edition of the Equal Rights Decision Digest is now available on-line. This edition has been updated with summaries of relevant LIRC and court decisions which were issued during calendar year 2012.

April 2, 2013 -- In a decision issued today, the Court of Appeals affirmed a LIRC decision that the Health Care Worker Protection Act, Wis. Stat. § 146.997, provides protections against retaliation only to "employees," and that complainant Asma Masri, who was working at the Medical College of Wisconsin as an unpaid intern, was not an "employee" and thus could not pursue her complaint that her internship was terminated because of her reporting of alleged medical ethics violations.  Finding "due weight" deference to be appropriate, the court upheld LIRC's interpretation of the statute, stating that "[g]iven the text of the entire statute, it is clear that the legislature only intended to protect employees from retaliatory behavior for filing a protected report." The court also agreed that Masri could not be considered an employee because she received no tangible benefit from her services.  The court's decision, from which Judge Ralph Adam Fine filed a dissent, has been recommended for publication.   Asma Masri v. LIRC and Medical College of Wisconsin, 2013 WI App_,_Wis.2d _, _ N.W.2d _ .

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This page was last updated June 17, 2013.