Posts Tagged ‘Illinois’

News roundup: risk, happiness, state fund in Illinois, new hire compliance & more

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

Risk Roundup – Check out this week’s Cavalcade of Risk #179 – March 20th, 2013 Edition posted at My Personal Finance Journey
Taking care of business – At WorkCompWire, Joe Paduda poses the question What business are you in?” He hazards a guess that most of us would say “the insurance business” but he argues that we are really in “the medical and disability management business – with medical listed first in order of priority.” He suggests that, “Senior management misunderstands their core deliverable – they think it is providing financial protection from industrial accidents, when in reality it is preventing losses and delivering quality medical care designed to return injured workers to maximum functionality.” We could quote the whole thing, he makes a compelling argument so be sure to check it out. It echoes one of the Lynch Ryan founding tenets. When many of us got into this business, we did not come with insurance backgrounds. We felt at its core, managing injuries required a focus on the human event and not the dollars. We believed then and still believe now that if you took excellent care of the injured worker, got them quality medical care and helped them get well and back to work, the dollars would follow.
Smile – it’s March 20 – Did you know that March 20 is International Day of Happiness? Now you do. It’s also the first day or Spring, and if, like us, you wondered why Spring isn’t commencing on the usual March 21 date, Joe Rao at SPACE.com explains Why Spring Begins Early This Year.
New State Fund in Illinois?Illinois Bucks Trend in Other States; Looks to Establish Competitive Workers’ Comp State Fund – “Illinois state legislators are running counter to a national trend by proposing creation of a state workers’ compensation insurance fund that would compete with the private system. The development is generating deep angst amongst Illinois insurers and industry trade groups.”
Other state news

New Citizenship Verification form – As of 3-8-13, a revised US Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) Verification Form I-9 has been issued. There is a 60-day grace period to come into compliance – new USCIS I-9 Formsforms must be in use by May 7, 2013.
When healthcare workers are unsafe, patient quality suffers – “Many medical work environments are unsafe for health professionals, adding stress and distraction that can expose patients to harm,” according Kevin B. O’Reilly who writes about a recent report by the National Patient Safety Foundation’s Lucian Leape Institute. In an article in amednews.com entitled Warning sounded on demoralized health care work force, he cites a high injury rate that is 33% higher than private industry as one factor, as well as “the lingering problem of disruptive behavior in health care, which can create a culture of fear and intimidation that inhibits safe, high-quality care.”
Fatalities Report – The March Monthly Labor Review has a report on Hispanic/Latino fatal occupational injury rates (PDF). The fatality rate for Hispanic/Latino workers is much higher than that of other demographic groups. Studies also show that, “… foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers have higher rates than native-born Hispanic/Latino workers in certain occupations, a statistic that is explainable by differentials in employment between the two groups.”
Worker Costs – According to the latest Department of Labor report, the Northeast leads the U.S. in worker costs. “Hourly costs per employee in the Northeast – which includes the New England states, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania – averaged $33.10 in December, higher than the national average of $28.89. The next costliest region was the West, which consists of the mountain and Pacific coast states, at $30.29. The average hourly wage in the Northeast was $22.85, while the average per-hour employer cost in benefits was $10.25, both the highest in the U.S.”
More news of note

Medicare Set-Aside as Marital Asset?

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Here is a truly bizarre case from Illinois that will likely send our many attorney readers scrambling for their statute books.
Christopher Washkowiak worked as a pipefitter. He suffered a serious work-related injury in 2009. The following year, his marriage broke up (dissolved as of August) and he settled his workers comp case in December. The settlement totalled $365K, plus a Medicare Set Aside (MSA) for an additional $70K. Washkowiak’s wife, Rosana, was entitled to 17.5% of the marital assets. She claimed not just 17.5% of the $365K lump sum settlement, but the same percentage of the MSA.
The initial trial court and the Illinois Appellate Court, 3rd District, ruled that Rosana was entitled to the money. Here is the Appeals Court ruling:

Unless there is something about an MSA that removes the MSA funds from the definition of “net proceeds,” the funds fall squarely within the dissolution decrees’s definition of “net proceeds” (paragraph 10).

The court goes on to say that “there is no question that the money is his [Christopher”s] and further that “it is not Medicare’s or [the employer’s] money” (paragraph 15).
Finally, the ruling goes on to state that “if he incurs no such [medical] bills, he gets the money back” (paragraph 17).
It is worth noting that Rosana apparently does not have to wait to see if the funds are needed for future medical expenses. The court has foreshortened this process to the point where she gets the money now, as part of the divorce settlement.
Attention All Attorneys!
There are a number of parties who will be alarmed by this ruling:
The Federal Government: Medicare will surely object to the expenditure of MSA funds for non-medical purposes, diluting what is available for future expenses (and thereby defeating the purpose of the MSA).
Insurers and self-insureds: will be shocked to see funds set aside for future medical expenses being used for other purposes; this will inevitably lead to further inflation of future MSAs. (Indeed, Medicare might hesitate to sign off on any settlement prior to determining the relative strength of the marriage – and we all know how much stress disability puts on a marriage…Yikes!)
What if this divorce entailed the conventional 50/50 division of assets? Half the money in the MSA could be spent before the account even got started.
I have never heard MSAs referred to as claimant assets. In my limited understanding, the amount awarded to the claimant is separate and distinct from the MSA. Funds in an MSA can be used only to pay medical bills. In addition, I have never heard of a situation where unspent MSA funds reverted directly to claimants; they would likely revert to the insurer or the self-insured, whoever set aside the money. (If any of our attorney readers have any knowledge to the contrary, please let us know!)
MSAs carry a lot of baggage already: the MSA process slows down settlements while stakeholders wait for federal bureaucrats to check the numbers; MSAs seriously inflate the current cost of settlements, complicating an already complicated process. If this ruling in Illinois is upheld, if MSAs are truly marital assets, then, as the saying goes, “we ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Risk roundup, substance abuse, changing workforce, cool tool, & more

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Cavalcade of Risk – Emily Holbrook hosts this week’s Cavalcade of Risk at Risk Management Monitor – go check it out. If you are interested in risk and insurance – and presumably so if you are reading this blog — then RMM should be on your must-read blog list. If you aren’t familiar with it yet, take a few minutes to poke around the archives Emily and Jared consistently do a terrific job on an array of risk related matters. It covers everything from bedbugs to earthquake hotspots.
Substance abuse & WC – Roberto Ceniceros posts about a controversy over stats citing the prevalence of drug and alcohol use in workers comp accidents and claims. Merchants Information Solutions says they are a factor in 65% of all accidents and 50% of all claims. Peter Rousmaniere disputes this and puts his money where his mouth is. “And here is why Rousmaniere thinks potentially exaggerated claims about the prevalence of alcohol and drugs in workers comp claims is dangerous: he says it “perpetuates an unhealthy tendency to shift attention away from safe worksite policies and towards blaming the worker.”
Prescription drugs – Joe Paduda talks about the recent WCRI benchmark report on prescription drugs in Washington and explains why what works in Washington likely won’t work elsewhere.
Spinal Cord Injuries – Kelly Scott posts about spinal cord injuries, noting that September is spinal cord injury awareness month.
Changing workforce – Lots of good reading in The Atlantic recently. Well, more than recently, but a few caught our eye over Labor Day. Sara Horowitz makes the case that the freelance surge is the industrial revolution of our time, with a follow-on article about a jobs plan for the post-cubicle economy. And, also of note, a slide show on 7 Jobs that are making thousands of workers sick
Illinois – Ameet Sachdev of The Chicago Tribune charts changes to the workers compensation law.
Cool Tool – We just discovered OSHA’s $afety Pays Cost Estimator, an interactive expert system to assist employers in estimating the costs of occupational injuries and illnesses and the impact on a company’s profitability. Hat tip to the post at Safety Daily Advisor, which talks more about the tool.
bi-conference.JPGReminder: September 22 – If you haven’t signed up yet, head on over to Business Insurance and register for Virtual Advantage 2011 – Workers Comp Trends & Cost Control Strategies. We’re very pleased that our own Tom Lynch will be participating on a blogger panel with three other blog luminaries: Roberto Ceniceros, Joe Paduda, and Mark Walls. There will also be a keynote by NCCI’s Harry Shuford, an expert panel on pharmaceutical cost controls for worker’s comp – and more. It’s a one-day virtual conference – and best of all – there is no charge to attend.

Health Wonk Review’s Health Policy Heat Wave and assorted work comp news briefs

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Joe Paduda has posted a steamy Health Policy Heat Wave edition of Health Wonk Review over at Managed Care Matters. He notes that “Far from the summer doldrums, activity related to the debt limit, IPAB, Medicare reform and Health Exchanges is at a late-September pace.” Get in on the action, Joe always hosts a lively and informed edition.
Coming & Going – Roberto Ceniceros discusses the compensability case of a NC public school principal who was shot while driving to work. This is an interesting case because the principal was conducting phone business on a school-issued phone while commuting and he was also paid for travel expenses. He was awarded benefits, but the case is headed for appeals court. Ceniceros notes that injuries that occur during a commute generally are not compensable. He also notes that this might be some of the earliest case law on this issue. And with the brave new world of ubiquitous work enabled by mobile devices, it surely won’t be the last.
Radical change – Peter Rousmaniere talks about the recent Illinois workers’ comp reform and the radical change that the reform signified for workers’ comp, change that he notes has largely gone unnoticed. He discusses two significant issues that surfaced in the reform: the “nuclear option,” which Rousmaniere noted “freaked out almost everyone” – yet despite the dramatic language, an opt-out or non-subscribe program has long existed in Texas. The second issue that he notes is “an easy-to-overlook provision” that allows for union carve outs, which he discusses in greater detail. Peter’s take on all things workers’ comp is always well worth reading.
FL CFO tackles check-cashing fraudWorkCompWire reports that the Florida CFO will be reviewing check cashing services for collusion in workers’ comp fraud, which is said to be diverting more than a billion dollars from Florida’s economy. According to CFO Jeff Atwater, this latest workers’ compensation premium scheme is highly organized and orchestrated by individuals who know the construction and subcontracting industry and are intent on evading payment of workers’ compensation premiums.
MA AG recoups millions in drug overcharges – In the latest of a series of settlements, Rite-Aid will pay $2.1 Million to resolve allegations of prescription drug overcharges. The settlement is the 5th in a series of similar settlements, the result of an investigation by Attorney General Coakley’s office into prescription drug overcharges by pharmacies to public entities under the workers compensation insurance system. Settlements now total $7.9 million. Walgreens recently settled for for $2.8 million. Other pharmacies with settlements include CVS, Shaws Supermarkets, and Stop & Shop. Recouped money will be returned to cities and towns.
OH BWC publishes Facebook fraud page – If you commit workers comp fraud in Ohio, you may find your photo on Facebook. Yesterday, we posted about workers’ comp and social media, so we were interested to see that the Ohio Bureau of Workers Comp has launched a special investigations Facebook page. It will include news on recent investigatory action, a most-wanted section and a link to report fraud. The page can be found at www.facebook.com/ohiobwcfraud
World’s scariest job? – If not the scariest, it certainly is a contender: Chinese Road Workers. For other scary jobs, see our post on the workers on the cruise from Hell and the untethered tower workers. I’ll stick with blogging, thanks.
Quick takes

Health Wonk Review, Illinois reform, Missouri SIF, mobile risks & more news notes

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Health Wonk Review – John Irvine & Matthew Holt host a hefty edition of Health Wonk Review over at The Health Care Blog – lots of good health wonkery there!
Illinois work comp reform – After all the sturm und drang in the Illinois reform process, we’ve had a breakthrough … a reform bill finally passed on the last day of the legislative session. In a Tale of Persuasion, AP’s Zachary Colman takes you step by step through the painful process. And at Managed Care Matters, Joe Paduda offers an excellent rundown of some of the key provisions in the Illinois work comp reform bill.
In other Illinois news, the matter of $10 million in repetitive stress claims filed by Menard County prison guards has taken some new twists. The Illinois house recently passed a bill requiring the release of the related workers’ comp test records in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. A report obtained through the FOIA shows that locking and unlocking prison cells didn’t injure the guards.
Missouri’s second injury fund woesInjured workers in Missouri are being left in the lurch, according to a story in stltoday.com. about the state’s troubled Second Injury Fund Roberto Ceniceros posts more about Missouri’s financially-ill second injury fund.
Mobile risks – Andrew Simpson writes about the increased workers comp exposure as more workers go mobile in Insurane Journal. In the past, the workplace was a clearly defined place and the hours of operation were also clearly defined, but as more and more workers go mobile, things are much less clearly defined – the lines between professional and personal life are blurring. Plus, employers are often supplying the mobile devices to workers, increasing their exposure to claims that occur when off site or off the clock. “Insurance claims professionals say claims made by workers injured while doing things where the relation to their employment is unclear are on the rise and the increasing use of mobile devices is challenging traditional notions of work-related injuries.”
Workplace violence factorsThe Workplace Violence Blog posts about the prevalence of workplace violence as evidenced by a Society of Human Resource Management survey, and states that “Approximately $55 billion a year is lost to litigation awards, property damage and lost productivity from workplace violence. It is estimated that productivity can drop as much as 50% in the six to eight weeks following a workplace violence incident.” The post includes seven common organizational factors that contribute tow workplace violence.
Industry growth – Insurance is one industry that is poised for growth. According to a recent research report issued by IBISWorld, employment in TPAs and and claims adjusting is set to grow 5.7% annually between now and 2016. “Other industries in the IBISWorld top 10 fastest-growing for the next few years include sustainable building material manufacturers, multi-family home builders, used car dealers, remediation and environmental cleanup services.”
MRSA facts from the CDC – From the CDC, MRSA and the workplace, including a list of frequently asked questions. Staph infections, including antibiotic resistant MRSA, MRSA skin infections can occur anywhere. However, the CDC notes that some settings have factors that make it easier for MRSA to be transmitted. These factors, referred to as the 5 C’s, are as follows: Crowding, frequent skin-to-skin Contact, Compromised skin (i.e., cuts or abrasions), Contaminated items and surfaces, and lack of Cleanliness. Locations where the 5 C’s are common include schools, dormitories, military barracks, households, correctional facilities, and daycare centers.

Annals of Disability: A Bridgeworker with a Fear of Heights

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Darrell Miller worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) as part of a crew that maintained bridges. He worked without any problems for five years, but then encountered some difficulty with the job related to a fear of heights. In the most dramatic event, he and another crew member had to “go over the edge” of a bridge over the Mississippi River to change the navigation light bulbs directly above the river. The court describes the incident:

Miller had to climb down a ladder on the side of the bridge to reach the station that held the light fixtures. Some of the stations would have required him to stand on a bridge beam while wearing a lifeline. When Miller attempted to change a bulb that would have required him to stand on a bridge beam, he was unable to complete the task. He suffered a panic attack and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. That was the first, last, and only time Miller was unable to complete an assigned task because of his fear of heights.

Subsequent to treatment for this panic attack, Miller was diagnosed with acrophobia, a fear of heights. Following a series of incidents where his requests for accommodation were rejected, he was fired.
Given the bare outline of what took place, it would appear that the employer was within its rights to terminate Miller. He could not perform some “essential” job functions. In fact, a lower court dismissed Miller’s claim of discrimination, granting summary judgment for the IDOT. However, the 7th Federal District Court took the time to examine not just Darrell Miller, but the crew of which he was part. Their thoughtful and detailed ruling, from which we quote at some length, leads to an interesting and perhaps counter-intuitive conclusion.
The Devil in the Details
The Court noted that not all of the tasks associated with the job involved heights:

As a highway maintainer assigned to a bridge crew, Miller was responsible for a variety of tasks, many of which could be performed from the ground. Those tasks included operating and repairing maintenance vehicles and equipment, including trucks, pavement marking equipment, tractors, mowers, snow plows, and jack hammers; maintaining large culverts, abutments, guardrails, and drainage installations; spreading salt, sand, gravel, and asphalt; directing traffic during maintenance operations; cutting grass, weeds, and brush; repairing signs and digging post holes; cleaning and maintaining the crew’s headquarters; disposing of trash and highway debris; and record-keeping.

In addition, Miller was able to perform most, if not all, of the job:

From the outset of his employment, Miller had occasional difficulty working from heights, particularly when he worked in an unsecured environment. When he began work he had not been formally diagnosed with acrophobia, but Miller informed IDOT and the lead worker of his bridge team, Steve Maurizio, that he had a fear of some heights and that there were a few tasks that he would not be able to do. Specifically, he informed Maurizio that he would not be able to “walk a bridge beam.” In spite of his fear, Miller was able to perform work in an elevated, hydraulically lifted “snooper bucket” at heights of up to 80 feet, and he was able to crawl on the arch of a bridge on a catwalk. He estimated that his fear would be triggered and he would have problems with less than three percent of his job description, but even then he was able to complete his assigned tasks on all but one occasion.

Finally, the court observed that there were a variety of “reasonable accommodations” afforded different members of the crew:

Until early 2006, IDOT informally accommodated Miller by allowing other members of his team to handle those tasks for him, just as other team members’ conditions or limitations were accommodated. For example, Maurizio was unable to weld. Another co-worker refused to ride in the snooper bucket, was not required to climb the arches of an interstate bridge linking Illinois to Kentucky, was unable to spray bridges because of his allergies, was not required to mow the yard, and was not required to rake patching debris. Other crew members would swap assignments as needed to enable the crew to complete those tasks. In short, the evidence would allow a jury to find that the team worked effectively as a team, taking advantage of each member’s abilities and accommodating each member’s limitations.

Essential Functions, Reasonable Accommodations
Then the court examined the crux of the case: was Miller able to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without accommodation:

We are confident that some high work in exposed or extreme positions is an essential function of the bridge crew as a whole. IDOT would have us take that point a step further to find that any individual assigned to the bridge crew had to be able to perform each and every task of the entire bridge crew. That would require finding that every task required of the bridge crew as a whole was an essential task of each bridge crew member. On this record, we cannot make that finding as a matter of law. Plaintiff has come forward with substantial evidence showing that his bridge crew did not actually work that way. The bridge crew worked as a team. No one person was assigned permanently to any one task. Although individual members of the team did various tasks as needed, there was no requirement that the bridge crew members rotate from task to task in an organized, routine fashion, such that it was necessary for any one member of the bridge crew to be able to do every task of the bridge crew as a whole.

In a footnote, the court tackles the unlikely possibility that an entire crew might suffer from acrophobia:

We recognize that if most or all members of a bridge crew had acrophobia like Miller’s, the crew could not perform all of its essential duties. If and when such an extreme case might arise, we are confident that the law would accommodate an employer’s need to get its work done. In this case, however, the evidence showing that plaintiff had actually been accommodated as he requested shows that the employer is not entitled to summary judgment on this theory.

The 7th District Court’s reasoning is at once both compelling and intriguing. Miller, as a member of the crew, was able to do enough of the job to allow the team to proceed unhindered and unimpeded. They accommodated Miller – and his co-workers – routinely in the course of determining which crew members were assigned to specific tasks. Reasonable accommodation for everyone was an ongoing part of the job. Thus, when confronted with a diagnosis that appears to preclude bridge work, the court concluded that accommodating Miller was not only reasonable, but that IDOT had been doing it all along.
The purpose of the ADA is to welcome and sustain people with disabilities in the workplace. Conventional thinking all too often concludes that people who appear to be disabled, or who actually are disabled, cannot do the job. Can a person with a fear of heights work on bridges? In these specific circumstances, yes, he can.

Illinois Reforms: Who Blinks First?

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

The brinksmanship continues in Illinois. A moderately effective reform bill passed the senate but has been defeated in the house by Republicans, who seek stronger ways to limit compensability. As a result, the Dems are moving forward with the Doomsday option: a bill to abolish workers comp and send each and every claim into the court system. Wow, that’s one way to make everyone miserable, above all, injured workers looking for a reliable safety net.
Among other things, the defeated reform bill would have reduced the medical fee schedule by 30 percent, thereby saving (theoretically) $500m to $700m per year. The reduction sounds harsh, but in practice, fee schedules are fluid. For top specialists, the fees are almost always negotiated upward; for run-of-the-mill practitioners – or the Dr. Feelgoods with their pockets full of pills – they can take it or leave it. Lowered fee schedules provide payers with leverage to find the best available doctors – not necessarily a bad thing.
Who Blinks?
At the moment, legislators are playing a classic game of chicken: if we can’t reach agreement on reforms, we’ll blow the whole thing up. Given that Democrats are behind the Doomsday option, I doubt they will allow things to reach that point, as it would be a disaster for workers. But they are running out of time.
The potential good news for Illinois employers (and there isn’t much when it comes to comp) is that even the modest changes in the reform bill will begin to reduce the cost of workers comp, currently the third highest in the nation. The bad news is that further reforms will be needed, most of all, perhaps, involving the de-politicizing of comp in a hyper-political state. My advice to the legislators is simple: take it incrementally. Pass the reform bill pretty much as is and revisit the issue in the next session. In this precarious situation, half a loaf is better than none.

Illinois Comp: The Nuclear Option?

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Illinois is struggling mightily with its bloated workers comp system. Currently ranked 3rd highest for overall cost in the Oregon study, the governor and legislature are under intense pressure from the business community to lower the cost of comp insurance. Aiming its powerful bulldozers at the state capital, the Caterpiller Company has threatened to move their business somewhere else if reforms are not implemented immediately. In exploring all options, the legislature has gone so far as to think the unthinkable: abolishing workers comp.
In looking for ways to save money, Illinois does what all states do: first, identify the cost drivers and then try to change the statute to bring down costs. Among the hot issues on the table are the medical fee schedule (too generous), employee choice of doctor (too flexible), duration of benefits (too long), causation (too vague). Ah, behind every cost driver is a vested interest (perhaps literally vested, with many of the lobbyists wearing three piece suits). The common denominator among all states struggling with high comp costs is the omni-present stakeholder, who is deeply committed to the status quo.
Governor Quinn would like to see a number of reforms, including the capping of carpal tunnel benefits, denying claims where employee intoxication is a significant factor, attacking fraud (see our blog on Illinois’s dubious arbitration services), capping wage differential benefits at age 67 or five years after an injury, and implementing utilization review for physical therapy, chiropractic and occupational therapy services.
Going Nuclear
The Illinois legislature is so frustrated with the slow progress and with stakeholder resistance to change, they are now threatening to blow up the entire system. Interesting to note, this pressure is coming from the Democrats. John Bradley (D-Marion) has filed House 1032, a bill to repeal the workers comp act and send all workplace-injury issues into the court system. Should this happen, Illinois will find itself in the world prior to 1912, when injured workers had to sue their employers and could collect benefits only if their injuries were caused by someone other than themselves. They would collect no benefits while awaiting adjudication of their claims. They would be out of work and out of luck.
In all likelihood, repeal of workers comp is not a serious option in Illinois; it’s a political strategy for getting the attention of inertia-bound legislators. But the prospect of abolition does raise an interesting issue. Workers comp came to America 100 years ago. By the end of the World War II, every state had implemented the program.
What if there were no workers comp programs today? What if each state were starting from the beginning and tackling the issue of protection for injured workers? I find it hard to imagine that state legislatures would be willing to implement a program, totally funded by employers, that provides indemnity for lost wages and 100 percent medical benefits for injured workers. Why so generous? Why so inclusive? It’s too expensive. It will create disincentives for working. The cost will drive employers out of business or out of state.
With today’s acrimonious, ideology-driven debates, workers comp would be a hard sell. That’s too bad, for despite its problems and inequities, despite the wide variations in benefits and costs from state to state, comp is a compelling example of effective social engineering. In Illinois, cooler heads will likely avoid the meltdown option. To be sure, Illinois comp is a mess, but the alternative – a workplace without workers comp – would be far worse.

Reckless, Negligent and Not Compensable

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Last September we blogged the sorry saga of Illinois trooper Matt Mitchell. He was heading toward an accident scene, siren blazing, texting his girlfriend and weaving in and out of traffic at a mind-boggling 126 miles per hour. (There was no urgency, as other troopers were already at the scene.) He crossed the median and slammed into a car coming the other way, killing teenage sisters Kelli and Jessica Uhl. Three days after pleading guilty to criminal charges, he filed for workers comp benefits. We expected that he would be able to collect; after all, comp is no fault and Mitchell was certainly in the “course and scope of employment.”
We guessed wrong. An arbitrator found him ineligible, saying he neglected his duties as a trooper by taking “unjustifiable” risks. He was ineligible, in effect, because he knowingly and willfully put himself and others at risk. Mitchell is appealing the arbitrator’s decision.
Carved in Stone
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John T. Dibble’s Sympathetic Ear

Monday, January 31st, 2011

John T. Dibble is an arbitrator in Illinois. He was very active in the cases for carpal tunnel syndrome filed by 230 guards at the Menard Correctional Center. The guards alleged that their injuries were due primarily to the constant turning of keys in antiquated and rather sticky locks. No diddler, Mr. Dibble approved over half of the repetitive trauma cases filed by the guards, who collected nearly $10 million in a three year period. The repetitive filings for repetitive motion have caught the eye of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, who has appointed a lawyer to investigate. NOTE to lawyer: WD 40 can do wonders for sticky locks.
It turns out that Mr. Dibble’s sympathies run deep. In fact, he has some shared experience with the prison guards who come before him. On November 12, 2009, Mr. Dibble fell on the steps at a hearing office in Herrin. He filed a claim for “post-traumatic carpal tunnel” [whatever that may be], claiming injuries to “both knees, both hands, both elbows and (his) left little finger.” That would be the finger he holds up in the air when partaking of his post-hearing tea, I suppose.
Mr. Dibble settled his case for $48,790. The payment included a 17.5% loss of function for each hand and a 7.5% loss of function in his little finger. The check was cut based upon a form signed by three parties: the office of the attorney general, a Central Management Services official and Dibble himself. Mysteriously, the award was not listed in the comp commisioner’s online data base. The actual case file has disappeared – and I’m guessing that the medical records have disappeared as well. It would be fascinating to read the doctor’s report that resulted in Mr. Dibble’s rather generous loss of function awards.
The job of arbitrator in Illinois is hazardous, indeed. Seven of the state’s 32 arbitrators either filed for or received a workers comp payment, including three for repetitive trauma. You know what happens: you listen, day in and day out, to the prison guards’s tales of woe, and eventually your fingers start to tingle and your wrist aches a bit. It’s the price you pay – and perhaps the reward you reap – for lending a sympathetic ear.
Kudos to reporters George Pawlaczyk and Beth Hundsdorfer of the Belleview News Democrat for their coverage of this story.