For those who don't know, Workers' Compensation programs were adopted in the various states of the United States almost 100 years ago. They represented a societal decision that employers should be responsible for the cost of caring for their injured workers. The deal they made was essentially this: Employers buy insurance policies to cover the cost of employees injured on the job. In return, employers are exempt from ever being sued for damages by employees for injuries caused by the employers' negligence.

For most of the last 100 years or so, this balance has worked reasonably well as a means of protecting the health of injured workers, while also insulating employers from lawsuits caused by workplace accidents and injuries. It has been an accepted cost of doing business. It is true that like most everything else, the cost of this deal has increased for employers over the years, so much so that both the employers and their insurers have taken drastic measures to keep the costs down, even if it means breaching this important social contract.

The 2003-2004 legislative session saw a full frontal attack on the system in California by the business community, employer groups, the Chambers of Commerce and a new charismatic governor trying to make points with big business and corporate Amerrica. Several steps were taken to supposedly increase efficiency and contain costs.

Workers' Compensation benefits play a very important role in the social fabric of our society, especially if you are the one who is injured and can't work. You rely on these benefits to keep your family afloat while you try to heal and get back to work.

The Sleazy Side Of Workers' Comp
Fraud and corruption are always present in this system and we have to be ever so vigilant to make sure that the injured worker is being treated fairly. Those millions of insurance industry dollars buy quite a bit of influence in the state capitols of America. and they certainly pay the bills for many of America's largest political lobbying firms.

In California, the biggest fraud of them all, Senate Bill 899, was perpetrated in 2004 by the insurance industry and voted on by statelegislators who didn't even have the foggiest notion of what it was about. It was simply part of the industry's 20 year plan to take over the entire benefits system.

Elimination of the applicants' attorney is simply the last hurdle for them to jump. Make it so difficult so that applicants' attorney's can't make a reasonable living representing the injured workers and there will be none to help injured workers thru a very complex legal system. SB899 already messed with that by drastically reducing permanent disability awards of which a percentage is used to pay for applicants' attorney's services.

The Exclusive Remedy
This is a doctrine that is part of that social contract. To allow employers and their insurers indemnification against civil prosecution even if the injury was caused by the negligence of the employer. A defined system of benefits under this system are the workers only remedy. But what happens when the employers hack away at those benefits until there's nothing left? Do the employers still enjoy their protection when they are giving the injured worker less and less. Is the exclusive remedy still a fair trade or has it turned into nothing but a 21st century employer scam?

Some principals involved in the Workers' Compensation systems have said that the system present day is no longer a "Quid Pro Quo" (Latin for "something for something") situation with workers' benefits being eroded and eliminated at a accelerated pace. So what do we do, get rid of the Exclusive Remedy and start from square one and build up something that is fair?

How about getting rid of some of those medical (med-legal) doctors who have been prostituting their services to the insurers for so long they couldn't tell the truth if it bit them in the butt? Oh! Excuse me, they're just opinions, right? Opinions that the defense attorneys swear is the gospel truth!

The Dual Standard
Injured workers, defense attorneys and med-legal doctors are not always held to the same standard of accountability of the law. If an injured worker should make a false statement, he is led away in shackles to the nearest jail. But if a defense attorney relies on the false testimony of one of the insurance company's hired-gun doctors, it's simply an opinion. A false statement is a false statement no matter who makes it and the wrath of the Insurance Code sould be applied equally to all concerned.

California Insurance Commissioner, Steve Poizner publicly crys out "zero tolerance for fraud, I don't care who it is", yet the reality is that the many cases against these shady individuals and insurers brought to the attention of his investigators, simply go ignored and aren't prosecuted.

District attorneys spend more time chasing after poor injured workers to prosecute because they get fraud fighting money from the DOI for successful prosecutions. Many innocent workers are simply being railroaded into false prosecutions so that the money keeps flowing to the counties. Now there's a conflict of interests if I ever saw one!

Jail-Time For Workers' Compensation Violations
Given how few real remedies there are for labor and employment law violations, I take a bit of guilty pleasure when corporate officials push their luck so far that they end up in jail. Here's a recent example from New York, which has recently enacted a law that makes it a felony to fail to get Workers' Compensation coverage for your business. Now this is REAL Workers' Compensation reform and the start of something that makes alot of sense!

The owner of a New York City nursing home was recently arrested on felony charges of failing to secure Workers' Compensation insurance, New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo (D) announced Aug. 7. According to Cuomo, defendant Helen Sieger, president and chief executive officer of the Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center in the Bronx, is the first employer to be arrested under a 2007 state Workers' Compensation reform law that, among other things, made it a felony for employers to fail to secure the coverage. Under prior law, the crime was a misdemeanor, Cuomo said.

Sieger was charged with failing to secure coverage for more than 400 workers at the facility, from May 2007 through June 26. On June 19, the state Workers' Compensation Board issued a stop-work order, due to take effect June 30, based on Sieger's failure to obtain insurance. The order would have brought the immediate closing of the nursing home and emergency removal of the patients. Although Sieger obtained coverage June 27, she still faces charges for the period in which coverage had lapsed, according to Cuomo. . . .

The 300-bed facility has been mired in a multi-year labor dispute with 1199 SEIU United Health Care Workers East, the New York City-based Service Employees International Union local. The local began an unfair labor practices strike against Kingsbridge Feb. 20, claiming that the facility had failed to make benefit fund payments, conducted surveillance of union members, and failed to abide by a contract agreement. . . .

It would really be refreshing to see some of that kind of law enforcement applied here in California. Hey Steve Poizner, if you won't keep your word and enforce the laws equally, step down and let someone who will keep his word, and stop some of this corporate palm greasing! We need a commissioner, a leader in that job, not just another politician.

Look at what Andy Cuomo is doing. Take his lead and help clean up house and start enforcing the laws, equally! This kind of crap has gone on too long. Take heed. It's a start!