The Texas Supreme Court in
Ruttiger based its decision to eliminate the common law cause of action for “bad faith” claim handling in workers’ compensation partly on the detailed enforcement process provided to DWC in the new workers’ compensation law.
DWC takes that responsibility seriously as we can see from a review of this month’s disciplinary orders. DWC issued 17 disciplinary orders in July with all but one against an insurance carrier. The largest fine against a carrier in July was $51,000 (
Disciplinary Order 2025-9389).
To determine the fine amount, DWC considers a number of aggravating factors. For example, in
Disciplinary Order 2025-9393 DWC found the following factors to be aggravating:
- The violations are serious, involving $ in late medical benefits, income benefits, travel reimbursement, and attorney fees. Further, Respondent did not comply with the interest payment obligation in File No. 36758 until it received notice of enforcement action. Also, Respondent’s failure to comply with six DWC orders is a priority investigation under Tex. Lab. Code § 402.0235;
- Respondent has a history of 195 administrative violations since , including 54 violations involving attorney fees, medical bill payment,• and travel reimbursement;
- A penalty is necessary to deter future violations considering Respondent has had 195 administrative violations since ;
- Respondent received an economic benefit from the prohibited acts to the detriment of multiple system participants; and Respondent is the 11th largest workers’ compensation insurance carrier in Texas and has a heightened awareness of the legal duty to comply with the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act and DWC rules.
