Since January 2008, Illinois taxpayers have paid nearly $10 million in workers compensation awards and settlements to staffers at Menard Correctional Center in downstate Illinois. An investigation by the Belleville News-Democrat revealed that more than 230 employees at the prison have filed workers compensation claims for repetitive trauma injuries since January 2008—most of which are alleged to have arisen from locking and unlocking cell doors. Strangely, all of these claims came after a 2007 report commissioned by the state that showed that guards’ duties would not cause repetitive motion injuries.
While a federal grand jury considers potential fraud charges, Illinois lawmakers decided to take action. On June 28, Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law a major overhaul of the state’s workers compensation law. Among other things, the revision slashes the maximum compensation for carpal tunnel sufferers, reduces the compensation for medical providers and gets rid of workers comp arbitrators whose allegedly too-cozy relationships with claimants’ lawyers led to some of the abuses. Quinn claims that the measure will save employers more than half a billion dollars per year.
