CA: Workers' comp judges cash in

Sac Bee ^ | 11/21/04 | John Hill and Dorothy Korber

[NormsRevenge]

A death threat threw workers' compensation Judge Ruby Theophile into such an emotional tailspin that she filed her very own workers' comp claim. Even one of her doctors remarked on the irony. The situation "seems unusual if not unique," psychiatrist Warren Jones wrote in his evaluation of the Pasadena judge.

It was not unique - nor even unusual.

California's 150 workers' compensation judges are six times more likely to file on-the-job injury cases than their judicial counterparts in state government, a Bee investigation has found.

These gatekeepers of cash and medical benefits for injured workers have claimed injuries from rearranging artwork, slipping on a lunchroom puddle, loading a crate in a trunk or tripping over a phone cord. One filed a claim for writer's cramp.

Who judges the judges? Their colleagues on the workers' comp bench. Who represents them in court? Sometimes, the very same lawyers and doctors who bring cases before them.

"Who knows the system better than a workers' comp judge?" asked Samuel M. Gold, executive director of the California Injured Workers Coalition, which advocates for workers' comp applicants. "As workers, yes, they're entitled to it like anyone else. But who better to know the tricks? The judges have to set an example."

Some workers' comp judges suggest the problem is not that they overuse the system, but that others use it too little.

[NormsRevenge]

:-\

[EggsAckley]

Sweet. California continues to crumble.




Hey, Norm! Freezing over here!

[NormsRevenge]

'Entitlement' programs and judges will kill this country, imo.

Sunny here, but gustier than heck and cool,,

[EggsAckley]

Yeah, I got up before sunrise and the wind was almost getting a little unnerving. Calm now.

[steplock]

"judges" are, after all, nothing more than SCUMBAG LAWYERS who care nothing for law - just for their own pockets and power.

This "judge" proved it again.

send them all to a place they can practice their devil worship --- iraq and iran ill do nicely.

[calcowgirl]

But... I thought we reformed Workers Comp and solved all the problems? /s

[farmfriend]

bttt

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Some workers' comp judges suggest the problem is not that they overuse the system, but that others use it too little.

Pure Socialism.....

[NormsRevenge]

Pure socialism..

on our tax dollar .. :-\

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Damn I am freezing down here too, was hoping for a warmup....

I have my sweats and a jacket on at my keyboard here.....

[NormsRevenge]

I'm about ready to sharpen my old hockey skates, I may have a skating rink in the backyard yet , at this rate. :-)

I can't wait to see the PG&E bill (Yes, I can).. supposedly we can expect 11% or more higher rates this winter than last for natural gas.

[Elephino]

Being an insurance agent, I thought I had seen it all, from employees that file claims for carpel tunnel after less than a month on the job to employees that file claims for heart attacks due to work-related stress. Hopefully, after reading about these workers' compensation judges from the land of granola (fruits, nuts and flakes), I now have seen it all. Geesh, what has this world come to?

[spunkets]

"One judge, Ruby Theophile, was awarded $20,737 and lifetime medical care in 1998 after she filed a stress claim. A workers' comp judge decided that she was 30 percent disabled from psychiatric injuries and hypertension brought on by a death threat from a worker's comp applicant and long-term conflict with her supervisor. "

Amazing!

[EggsAckley]

Freezing here too. Sunny California, humpph!

[kaycee21]

It is a sad day in America when people do not take death threats seriously. Need we be reminded of Chicago's Judge Joan Lefkow's who's husband and mother were murdered. What of Atlanta Judge Brian Nichols who was murdered in his courtroom.

Are these Judges not to take death threats seriously? What if you were in a similar situation, would you not have the same feelings of fear and anxiety?

Maybe the author of this article has never had the experience of having their life threatened or someone in their family who was murdered. Instead of criticizing the system, why not come up with some ideas of how to improve it. Would it have been possible to give another view of this situation. Just a thought.