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S.C. commission rejects Sanford’s workers’ comp order on standards

The South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission unanimously rejected Gov. Mark Sanford’s order to begin using uniform medical standards in deciding how much should be paid to injured workers with long-term disabilities, according to an order released last week.

The Republican governor issued an executive order last month to force the new standards and won praise from business leaders. But the order proved controversial and prompted outcries from the Legislature and lawyers that Sanford had overstepped his authority.

“Awards should be more closely tied to objective standards than they have in the past in some cases,” Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said.

In an order signed Oct. 25, all seven commissioners, who are appointed by the governor, said they would follow the law as written and not Sanford’s order.

The commission’s order noted that lawmakers had previously rejected Sanford’s call for using the medical guidelines in workers’ compensation cases.

The commission “is bound by the statutory laws of South Carolina, state Constitution, Code of Judicial Conduct and commissioners’ oath of office to uphold and be faithful to these laws,” the order says.

Sanford issued a second order last week that he says clarified the first one on the standards. But the commission did not address that second order.