Introduction
The Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Hall of Fame was established to honor those who have made significant contributions to Kentucky’s Workers’ Compensation system during their distinguished careers.
The 2025 Inductees to the Hall of Fame are:
Rosalie Faris, Michal Fleet Johnson, Robert Swisher, Douglas A. U’Sellis, Tim Wilson
KENTUCKY WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
HALL OF FAME
April 10, 2025
Dinner And Recognition of the Class of 2025
Honoring Those Who Have Made a Difference
5:30 - Reception
6:30 - Welcome: Peter J. Glauber: 2019 Hall of Fame
Invocation: Larry Clevinger, 2019 Hall of Fame
Dinner and Fellowship
Remarks from the Department of Workers’ Claims
Scott Wilhoit, Commissioner
Recognition of 2025 Inductees:
Michael Alvey and Bonnie Hoskins
Closing Remarks: Denise M. Davidson
Special Thanks to Our Sponsors
Denise M. Davidson & Associates PSC
Doug U’Sellis on behalf of U’Sellis Mayer and Associates
Hoskins Law Offices, PLLC
J. Landon Overfield
James D. Holliday
John Anderson
KEMI
McKinnley Morgan of Morgan, Collins, Yeast, and Salyer
Tamara Todd Cotton & Associates
Wilson and McQueen
All net proceeds received from the Hall of Fame Dinner are donated to Kid’s Chance of Kentucky and are tax deductible. Kid’s Chance was founded by a group of workers’ compensation professionals and is devoted to providing scholarships to children of Kentucky workers who have been killed or suffered catastrophic injuries in work-related accidents. Your continued support of this charity is appreciated.
Class of 2026
Now accepting nominations at twilson@wmkylaw.com. Please e mail the name of the workers’ compensation professional who should be considered and a brief statement of the contributions they have made. All recommendations will remain anonymous.
2025 Inductees
Rosalie Faris
Rosalie Faris is President & Chief Executive Officer of Occupational Managed Care Alliance (OMCA). In addition to being a Registered Nurse, Rosalie is a Certified Case Manager and a Certified Occupational Health Nurse-Specialist. She has 20 years of hospital experience, having developed and managed an outpatient surgery center and a hospital-based occupational medicine program, and she has broad experience in ADA consulting. Rosalie designs, implements and manages multi-state case management and utilization review programs for workers’ compensation and group health applications. Additionally, she consults with hospitals and physician practices on a variety of clinical and administrative issues. Rosalie serves as Co-Chair of the Medical Rehabilitation Committee for the Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA).
Douglas A. U’Sellis
Doug has practiced workers compensation defense in Kentucky for more years than he likes to think about. He is a native of Louisville, Kentucky and graduated from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1980. Out of law school, he worked 4 years at the Special Fund, as a staff attorney and then in the Appellate division.
Doug began his career in private practice, with the workers’ compensation section of Boehl, Stopher & Graves in Louisville, where he stayed for 17 years. In 2002, Doug started his own firm, concentrating on defense of Kentucky workers’ compensation claims on behalf of a wide variety of insurance carriers, TPAs, and self-insured employers. Doug has the good fortune of still being the managing partner of U’Sellis Mayer & Associates today.
Michael Fleet Johnson
Michael Fleet Johnson is a 1974 graduate of Dorton High School, now known as Shelby Valley High School. He is a member of the Shelby Valley High School Athletic Hall of Fame and attended the University of Pikeville on an athletic scholarship, graduating in 1978. He received his Juris Doctor from Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 1981 and began his legal career with the Hon. Dan Jack Combs until Mr. Combs’ election to the Court of Appeals. In 1984, he joined Webster and Clark Law Firm; creating Webster, Clark, and Johnson along with Larry Webster and Randy Clark until 1988. The Law Office of Clark and Johnson was formed in 1988 and continued until Randy’s retirement in 2019. He continued private practice as the Michael Fleet Johnson Law Office while working toward retirement. From 1988, his practice was dedicated to personal injury litigation and worker’s compensation, with an emphasis on coal miners. Representing those families affected by catastrophic mining accidents has been very fulfilling as he lost his grandfather in a coal mining accident when he was young. Since opening his own firm in 1988, he has opened and closed well over 5,000 cases. He would like to thank his parents Fleetwood Johnson and Dorothy Johnson, without whose support this would not have been possible. Since 1987, he has had the unwavering support and influence of his wife, Lisa, as they were raising their four children in Pikeville. Throughout the years he has had the privilege of serving on the Worker’s Compensation Nominating Committee and the honor of being a speaker or presenter at numerous conventions and seminars. The next chapter of life now begins with him spending more time at his home in Florida with his wife, Lisa, as well as spending more time with their four children and six grandchildren.
Tim Wilson
Tim received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Morehead State University and his law degree from the University of Kentucky in 1982. He is the senior and managing partner of Wilson & McQueen, a firm that Mr. Wilson started in 1987. The firm engages in the practice of workers’ compensation and personal injury law, and is noted to be one of the state’s leading firms in claims litigated. For over 36 years, Mr. Wilson has practiced exclusively in the field of workers’ compensation and has participated at various levels of the workers’ compensation system, including his assistance in writing proposed legislation and administrative regulations and has presented in numerous seminars over the years. The firm of Wilson & McQueen has been recognized as a Tier 1 “Best Law Firm” by US News and World Report. Mr. Wilson has been recognized by Super Lawyers in both the field of workers’ compensation as well as in the corporate counsel edition. He has litigated 4800 cases through the Workers’ Compensation system including many appeals at the Kentucky Court of Appeals and Kentucky Supreme Court.
Robert Swisher
Bob was born in Columbus, Ohio and moved to Lexington in 1957. He graduated from Henry Clay High School (1972) and followed in his father’s footsteps when he enrolled in the University of Notre Dame, graduating in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in English. He graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1979. Upon graduation, he joined a general practice firm in Versailles, Kentucky. In 1991, he joined the Lexington firm of Geralds, Moloney and Jones and concentrated his practice on civil litigation, workers’ compensation, and probate law. From 2007 through 2009, Bob practiced with the workers’ compensation defense firm Jones, Dietz and Swisher.
On January 1, 2010, he was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge in the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims by Governor Steve Beshear. In 2013 Bob was one of two ALJs selected to participate in the DWC’s new medical dispute resolution program. He was appointed Chief Administrative Law Judge in 2014.
In 2017, Bob was appointed Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims by Governor Matt Bevin. During his tenure as Commissioner, Bob led the agency through full implementation of the Litigation Management System, the online filing and case management system created by former Commissioner Dwight T. Lovan. Responding to legislative mandates in House Bill 2 (2018), Bob promulgated numerous regulations including the adoption of workers’ compensation medical treatment guidelines and a pharmacy formulary, creation of the process by which injured workers may apply for a continuation of medical benefits past 780 weeks, and the creation of an on-line portal through which coal miners awarded Retraining Incentive Benefits locate and select an institution to provide their retraining.
In 2021, he joined Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance as Director of Claims-legal, and in that capacity, he oversees KEMI’s in-house legal manger, the Special Investigations Unit, the Medical Bill audit unit, and KEMI’s vendor relations analyst.
He is a member of the Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (Adjudication Committee) and was selected as a Fellow in the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers (2018). Bob was a finalist for the 2019 Comp Laude award as a national industry leader.
Bob and his wife Debbie live in Lexington and have two adult children, Will and Anne Marie.