State employees in southern Illinois pile up workers' comp awards.
By JOHN O'CONNOR
The Associated Press
Posted Dec 03, 2011 @ 11:05 PM
Last update Dec 04, 2011 @ 12:11 AM
Workers filing on-the-job injury claims at just a dozen state institutions clustered in southern Illinois collected nearly one-third of the total $127 million awarded in recent years for permanent impairment under Illinois’ troubled workers’ compensation system, The Associated Press has found.
Leading the pack was Menard Correctional Center in Chester, according to an AP analysis of state records. Employees at the prison, now a focus of three fraud investigations into the injury-claim process, collected $19 million in long-term benefits from 2007 through 2010.
But beyond Menard, the AP study found a pattern of large payouts at 11 other state facilities within 80 miles — including prisons and juvenile detention centers, mental health and developmental centers. In all, the dozen state facilities accounted for $40.7 million of the compensation for injured workers’ long-term impairment during those four years.
The AP’s line-by-line review provides the first comprehensive account of the extent of payouts at government facilities, though not private business, under the workers’ comp system before lawmakers revamped it this year. The examination focused on about 7,800 cases obtained from the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission through the Freedom of Information Act.
The AP analyzed paid claims statewide after linking nearly all the employees with cases to one of hundreds of government divisions, including worksites such as prisons. Compared to the $40.7 million paid on 861 claims at the 12 southern work sites, taxpayers put out $24 million on 963 claims at 51 similar facilities elsewhere in Illinois. Hundreds of cases were still pending at the end of the period the data covers.
The AP study also found discrepancies between the total claims and awards granted in specific facilities — for instance, more at a newer prison in Pinckneyville than at the 85-year-old Stateville Correctional Center with double the payroll.
Led to reforms
Why such a high percentage of awards in one area?
The answer could involve an employee culture that encouraged injury claims at the facilities in the vicinity, the awards decisions of several state-employed arbitrators now under scrutiny by federal investigators, and a strapped Illinois government that some say did not strenuously contest the claims.
The torrent of benefits awarded to Menard employees — many for repetitive stress like the nerve disorder carpal tunnel syndrome — was first reported nearly a year ago by the Belleville News-Democrat, fueling legislative reforms last spring and gaining the attention of federal prosecutors and state regulators.
The arbitrators deciding injury compensation were instrumental. Nine in 10 of the claims receiving long-term benefits at the southern Illinois facilities were assigned to just three arbitrators, who oversaw payment of $34 million.
One of them, John Dibble, was responsible for $28 million himself, including $14.8 million at Menard, the AP’s analysis showed.
The three arbitrators were named in subpoenas by two U.S. attorneys seeking e-mail and other computer information. None was reappointed when Gov. Pat Quinn named new arbitrators this fall in response to the legislative overhaul of the system.
State acquiesced
Dibble could not be reached for comment. But one of the other two ex-arbitrators mentioned in the subpoenas said the state made little effort to fight claims by workers who came with medical evidence and good lawyers.
“We’re supposed to hear the facts, decide the facts, and apply the facts based on the law,” said former arbitrator Andrew Nalefski of Glen Carbon, “and when there’s no contrary evidence, how do you deny the claim?”
Nalefski said he has spoken to investigators who have told him he’s not a target of the probe. Between 2007 and 2010, he was responsible for $6.9 million in permanent impairment awards.
Anne Spillane, chief of staff for the Illinois attorney general, countered that the state “never gave up defending as vigorously as possible” compensation cases. But southern Illinois arbitrators often paid higher awards for repetitive stress than others elsewhere in the state, and some decided claims based on past cases rather than listening to state evidence, she said.
And Illinois has very low criteria for proving what is known as “causation,” or how job duties contributed to the injury, she said. The reform law allowed Quinn to name new arbitrators and put a cap on awards for repetitive stress injuries, but didn’t address the causation bar.
Edward Fisher, a Chester attorney who handled many of the southern Illinois cases, suggested awareness of the law among workers in the area also contributed to the volume of claims and awards. Claims beget claims — the more filed, the more people encourage injured co-workers to pursue their benefits, Fisher said, calling it “the psychology of the group.”
The AP contacted a dozen injured state employees, but none would talk publicly. One worker at Pinckneyville prison who had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome said even with automation, guards still turn keys in individual locks 50 to 100 times a day. He said on the recommendation of another state employee, he sought out a Fairview attorney to help him with part of his case. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the negative publicity surrounding the issue.
Repetitive stress
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union representing most of the employees, defended legitimate compensation for injuries at work in prisons and mental health hospitals.
“That work is difficult, it is physically intensive, and it can be dangerous, and people get hurt,” spokesman Anders Lindall said
Awards at the southern Illinois worksites — in Anna, Centralia, Chester, Harrisburg, Ina, Murphysboro, Pinckneyville, Tamms, and Vienna — were high despite their varying functions and ages.
For example, workers at Menard blamed repetitive stress injuries on operating the 130-year-old prison’s hand-crank locks. But payments — many for the same type of injury — at the more modern Pinckneyville prison, just 35 miles from Chester, ranked second-highest in the state despite a more up-to-date electronic locking system.
Pinckneyville employees received $4.6 million for permanent-injury claims, compared to only $1.6 million at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, which opened in 1925 and has twice as many employees.
In another instance, workers at the Chester Mental Health Center, with a staff of 460 and just a few miles from Menard, received $3.9 million in awards. By contrast, Elgin Mental Health Center in the Chicago suburbs, with 660 workers, received only $430,000 in awards.
Workers at Chester had seven times as many awards for injuries resulting from “altercation” or “assault” — attributable, officials say, to a population of sometimes violent, criminally committed residents. But Chester had 200 other cases of injury, compared to an overall total of 53 at Elgin.
TABLES
Agency ratings
With Menard Correctional Center accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total, the Illinois Department of Corrections topped state agencies with the most injury-impairment benefits paid to workers from 2007 through 2010, according to an Associated Press analysis of state records. This chart shows total benefits in awards or settlements, the number of claims made, the number of claims on which awards were made, and the average award. It does not include awards totaling about $5.2 million given to state workers whose agency the AP could not identify from the data. Some claims were still pending at the end of the period.
Agency Benefits Claims Paid Average
Department of Corrections $48,205,954 1,966 1,129 $42,698
Department of Human Services $17,723,292 1,913 699 $25,355
Department of Transportation $12,536,511 706 345 $36,338
Secretary of State $4,936,750 281 143 $34,523
University of Illinois $4,684,346 431 205 $22,850
Department of State Police $4,521,294 252 145 $31,181
Department of Juvenile Justice $3,471,043 241 111 $31,271
State Toll Highway Authority $2,827,453 217 112 $25,245
Dept. of Central Mgmt. Services $2,448,234 97 55 $44,513
Dept. of Healthcare And Family $2,285,945 119 65 $35,168
Source: Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission
Types of accidents
Repetitive trauma, the kind of stress that leads to injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, was the reason for a large portion of awards for permanent impairment due to on-the-job injuries suffered by state of Illinois workers from 2007 through 2010, after the broad category “injured during course of employment,” according to an analysis of state records by The Associated Press. This chart shows the sum of awards for each type of injury; the number of claims made for such benefits; the number of claims on which payments were made, and the average payment. Some cases were still pending at the end of 2010.
Accident Type Benefit Claims Paid Average
Injured during course of employment $39,821,970 3,196 1,309 $30,422
Repetitive trauma $35,394,357 1,355 734 $48,221
Fell, slipped, tripped, jumped $18,287,565 1,049 567 $32,253
Overexertion $11,622,237 598 297 $39,132
Altercation, assault, horseplay $10,657,082 733 361 $29,521
Struck by or against object $2,683,114 211 121 $22,174
Motor vehicle or other trans. accident $2,490,328 226 111 $22,435
Twisted $2,071,957 83 42 $49,332
Fall from elevation $1,806,329 84 50 $36,127
Caught in, under or between object $612,259 54 32 $19,133
Loading or operating machine $374,470 29 16 $23,404
Contact with heat, sharp obj., electric, inhal. $327,834 57 25 $13,113
Nonclassifiable or unspecified $214,603 16 12 $17,884
Shot $83,860 2 1 $83,860
Cut $62,640 14 7 $8,949
Bodily reaction, unspecified $59,384 4 4 $14,846
Bite: human, dog or insect $73,349 19 8 $9,169
Explosion or burn $63,164 23 15 $4,211
Heart attack $693 4 1 $693
Total $126,707,194 7,757 3,713 $34,125
Source: Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission
Arbitrators
Former arbitrator John Dibble awarded one-quarter of the total long-term impairment awards on state employees’ workers’ compensation claims from 2007 through 2010, according to an Associated Press analysis of state records. This chart shows the top 10 arbitrators by the amount they awarded. It shows the number of claims assigned to him or her, the number for which there’s been an award or settlement, and the average award.
Arbitrator Home Benefit Claims Paid Average
Dibble, John Freeburg $33,295,030 891 768 $43,353
Tobin, Jeffery Jacksonville $21,006,666 979 571 $36,789
Mathis, Stephen J Springfield $8,967,431 451 255 $35,166
Holland, Douglas J Oglesby $7,681,594 497 256 $30,006
Nalefski, Andrew Glen Carbon $6,925,760 843 212 $32,669
White, Ruth Springfield $6,411,689 823 256 $25,046
Teague, Jennifer Belleville $6,318,711 251 177 $35,699
Neal, Neva Springfield $4,093,232 304 156 $26,239
Donohoo, Daniel Wood River $3,693,070 42 35 $105,516
Falcioni, Robert Monee $3,021,073 282 110 $27,464
Source: Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission
Southern Illinois claims
An Associated Press analysis has found workers’ compensation awards and settlements of $41 million were paid to workers at 12 southern Illinois facilities from 2007 through 2010 — nearly one-third of the total paid in awards and settlements statewide during the period. The chart shows the facilities, total benefits in awards and settlements, number of claims made, number of claims on which payments were made, and average award. Some cases were still pending at the end of the period.
Facility Benefits Claims Awards Average
Menard Correctional Center (Chester) $18,995,123 527 321 $59,175
Pinckneyville Correctional Center $4,550,243 153 89 $51,126
Chester Mental Health Center $3,934,206 323 156 $25,219
Shawnee Correctional Center (Vienna) $2,820,744 69 46 $61,321
Illinois Youth Center-Harrisburg $1,857,784 65 39 $47,635
Tamms Correctional Center $1,634,507 56 30 $54,484
Murray Dev Center (Centralia) $1,476,494 128 45 $32,811
Vienna Correctional Center $1,393,334 48 34 $40,980
Choate Mental Health Center (Anna) $1,368,700 79 29 $47,197
Big Muddy River Correctional Center (Ina) $1,280,348 50 32 $40,011
Centralia Correctional Center $1,055,081 49 27 $39,077
Illinois Youth Center-Murphysboro $320,001 20 7 $45,714
Source: Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission
Most claims
Facility-Division Claims Paid Total Amt. Avg
Menard Correctional Center (Chester) 527 321 $18,995,123 $59,175
University of Illinois (Various) 387 183 $4,289,024 $23,437
Chester Mental Health Center 323 156 $3,934,206 $25,219
Transportation-Dist. 1 Highways (Schaumburg) 257 101 $3,546,283 $35,112
Illinois State University (Normal) 213 91 $2,059,582 $22,633
Stateville Correctional Center (Joliet) 184 88 $1,551,016 $17,625
Jacksonville Dev Center 175 73 $1,979,956 $27,123
Howe Dev Center (Tinley Park-Closed) 154 40 $523,286 $13,082
Pinckneyville Correctional Center 153 89 $4,550,243 $51,126
Murray Dev Center (Centralia) 128 45 $1,476,494 $32,811
Shapiro Dev Center (Kankakee) 126 38 $411,446 $10,828
Tollway-Hourly Employees (Various) 122 66 $1,753,554 $26,569
Dept. of Human Services-Field Operations (Various) 118 41 $1,593,705 $38,871
Transportation-Dist. 8 Highways (East St. Louis) 109 60 $2,623,609 $43,727
Ludeman Dev Center (Park Forest) 109 35 $233,960 $6,685
Illinois Veterans Home-Quincy 104 51 $1,368,526 $26,834
Southern Illinois University (Various) 102 53 $1,952,091 $36,832
Mabley Dev Center (Dixon) 101 25 $891,919 $35,677
Pontiac Correctional Center 94 61 $1,358,524 $22,271
Dixon Correctional Center 88 48 $1,002,599 $20,887
Madden Mental Health Center (Hines) 80 12 $104,234 $8,686
Dept. of Corrections Adult Field Services (Various) 77 39 $1,247,372 $31,984
Alton Mental Health Center 77 32 $1,035,146 $32,348
Transportation-Dist 6 Highways (Springfield) 74 44 $1,714,186 $38,959
Source: Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission
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