Mendocino County: Injured Employees

There are three places for injured workers to obtain assistance regarding the Workers Compensation System: their employer, a claims adjuster or a State counselor.

There are 52 State counselors to handle over 1 million new claims per year. There are two counselors for the North Coast who handle Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lake and Marin county.

In Mendocino County, department heads are provided a notebook on the Workers Compensation System and can call Risk Management for advice, but are not provided any in-depth training.

The County employs a private company for managing workers compensation claims. This company believes the two most important elements for a county to provide improved performance of an employer's program are: a. educate their front-line supervisors to more effectively communicate with employees about what they may reasonably expect from the Workers Compensation system, and b. provide modified duty for injured workers. Risk Management Findings

There are no County policies or procedures for department heads to follow regarding dealing with injured workers.

There are no County policies or procedures regarding accommodation, modified or light-duty, for injured workers.

There is nothing in writing from the County government that indicated that the County values its workers or that encourages department heads to value them. Department of Social Services Findings

DSS Director will not institute accommodation, modified work, or light-duty policies until guidance is provided by the County. This has resulted in further injuries. Case History of an Injured Worker The following is an actual case history of a DSS employee, injured in the course of work, illustrating problems in the workers compensation process. In 1993, the DSS placed workers on furlough due to budget cut-backs. Remaining workers were then required to work overtime to cover increasingly heavy caseloads due to reduced staff. In March, 1994, DSS began conversion to a state-wide computer system which dramatically increased the amount of time some workers spent at a computer terminal. The normal work-week was four ten-hour days with, in many cases, about nine hours per day spent at a computer terminal. 12/17/93 First injury, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, right wrist; chronic tendonitis right arm. Workers compensation claim filed; leave from work. 4/11/94 Returned to work. Physician limited time at computer and prescribes armrests for computer chair. No armrests provided. 3/95 Grievance filed; armrests provided. 3/95 On several occasions, the employee communicated the increasing problem of work- related injuries to the County Administrator's Office. 3/95-7/95 Right shoulder pain began. Refused an ergonomic assessment by DSS. 11/95 Physician ordered reduced caseload to alleviate right shoulder pain. No accommodation. 12/95 DSS employees complained to the DSS Director regarding the work environment: inadequate desks, chairs, ergonomic set-ups, and overtime. 1/96 Wrist supports provided at computer set-ups. 3/3/96 Physician ordered leave due to right shoulder injury 5/96 Surgery to right shoulder 9/96 Additional surgery to right shoulder 2/97 Returned to work; placed in re-training. No ergonomic set-up. 3/31/97 Injury to left shoulder. 7/97 Denied workers compensation benefits for left shoulder injury. 8/97 Given over 100% caseload despite injury. 9/97 County offered $25,000 to settle injury claim and retirement with no medical benefits. 10/97 Private physician requested ergonomic set-up for computer station, limiting computer time and lowering caseload. No accommodation. 11/7/97 Physician noted sign of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in left wrist. Requested decreased caseload, ergonomic set-up and limiting computer time. No accommodation.. 1/98 Employee filed grievance. 2/98 County paid for an ergonomic assessment of DSS from a private agency. 3/98 Hearing for the 1/98 grievance. DSS still would not provide modified or light-duty accommodation. 4/13/98 Left shoulder ruptured, neck pain. Took leave from work. 4/98 Employee prevailed in grievance hearing. 5/98 Employee prevailed in preceding workers compensation appeal. 9/98 Surgery on left shoulder and for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. 3/99 Employee filed Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claim. 5/99 Employee granted County disability retirement by the Retirement Board. Summary of this claim The local employee union states: "A worker had an injury that interfered with her ability to perform her job at the level that management expected. The worker requested accommodation from the county, providing medical documentation of her need for accommodation. The worker made repeated requests and supplied medical evidence each time, but the County requested more and more documentation and claimed that it did not have information adequate to make a determination as to whether to not to accommodate the worker. The County never denied the employees claim; however the county never took appropriate action to alleviate the problem. In addition, the County placed the employee on corrective action for job performance problems related to her injury." Ergonomic Programs Findings