The high number of worker’s compensation claims filed by Gilroy
Unified School District employees continues to be alarming, and the
lack of drastic action by GUSD administrators is almost as
disconcerting.
The high number of worker’s compensation claims filed by Gilroy Unified School District employees continues to be alarming, and the lack of drastic action by GUSD administrators is almost as disconcerting.
Between January and early October of this year, 46 claims were filed, and these claims weren’t exclusively made by employees who have physically demanding jobs. Twenty of the claims were filed by teachers – that’s nearly two-thirds of the classroom teachers at, for example, Antonio del Buono School, in less than 10 months. It’s an arresting number.
And although district officials point out that GUSD is on track to lower the number of claims from recent years, 46 claims in less than 10 months is still too many. When you consider that the district is starting with a worker’s comp claim rate that is 30 percent higher than the county average, there’s clearly a lot of room for improvement.
The school district has assigned an employee to investigate claims. The district’s maintenance and operations manager spends part of his time interviewing witnesses and victims and calling physicians.
While we’re sure this employee is doing his best to scrutinize these claims, we doubt that this is the best way to change the costly worker’s comp culture at GUSD. The best course of action would be to hire a trained private detective, experienced in spotting fraudulent worker’s compensation claims, to investigate every GUSD worker’s compensation claim.
The district has also instituted safety training to avoid easily preventable injuries like the one suffered when an employee hurt an ankle while moving a table with a desk stacked atop it. Although most employees have undergone the safety training, it still needs to be completed among Gilroy High School employees.
While we’re certain that many worker’s comp claims filed by GUSD employees are legitimate, we’re just as sure that many are of the “contagious” variety, filed by employees who are inspired by a co-worker’s claim to create or exaggerate an injury for some paid time off work.
Uncovering and prosecuting a few fraudulent claims will go a long way toward convincing anyone else who might be tempted to create or exaggerate an injury that it’s not worth the risk.
The taxpayers of this district are shelling out nearly $2 million a year for worker’s compensation insurance – enough to pay the salaries of 40 teachers.
When the community is facing multimillion-dollar premiums and astoundingly high claim rates, especially in times of shrinking education budgets, half-hearted action on the worker’s compensation problem just isn’t good enough.
Drastic action in the form of a tough private investigator is the best prescription for curing GUSD’s ailing worker’s compensation culture.
