Thoughts for the New WC Advisory Board as they Pick Arbitrators

Friday, July 29, 2011 | 0

By Eugene Keefe
Keefe, Campbell & Associates

They fire the old and quickly name a new Workers' Compensation Advisory Board in Illinois. Can we give the new Advisory Board members their first  assignment: Find a way to close the "Tunnels of Illinois" and make sense of the workers' compensation causation standard?
 
In our thinking, the problems with causation in this state are varied. Our administrators have to tackle them and come up with a standard that makes common sense to John and Jane Q. Public. Here are two examples for you to consider.

First, we would like our readers to get the short version of a meeting we had with a wonderful Illinois workers' compensation claims adjuster in Lexington, Ky. last Friday. It appears she had an Illinois worker strain his thumb. She accepted the claim and certified him for a minor thumb repair. Oooops. Without truly being advised, she later finds out:

• He goes to Dr. T for an EMG/NCV at a central Illinois facility
• Dr. T, as he usually does, finds mild to moderate signs for carpal tunnel syndrome.
• If you are not sure, Illinois is the only state where hand surgeons will regularly perform CTS surgeries where the signs are either mild or moderate in this objective diagnostic test.
• Dr. T, as he always does, agrees surgery is needed, if the surgeon feels it necessary Dr. T doesn't care about what surgeons across the globe do when faced with such results
• The worker with the accepted minor thumb procedure has controversial bilateral CTS repairs.
  

• Mitchell Abbett, human resources and safety manager at Holten Meat Inc. We know nothing about Mr. Abbett other than his title and company name. We note his employer, Holten Meat is just south of East St. Louis in beautiful Sauget, Ill.
• Richard Aleksy, a partner at the Chicago law firm Corti, Aleksy & Castaneda. Mr. Aleksy is one of the top claimant lawyers in Illinois workers' compensation history. He has an encyclopedic memory and is well-known to all of the commissioners, Circuit Court judges and appellate and Supreme Court justices. We are confident he will be a driving force in selecting arbitrators. We agree with Mr. Aleksy's focus on getting disputed claims  tried whenever possible. We hope he can provide his vast knowledge of workers' compensation law and practice into a sustainable causation standard that will keep jobs in this state while providing workers' compensation benefits for "real" injuries.
• Aaron Anderson, director and representative for the Painters District Council No. 30 in Aurora, a union representing people in the finishing trades. We know little about Mr. Anderson other than his obvious union ties.
• Michael Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO. We are very aware of Mr. Carrigan's credentials and background. We hope he will bring a balanced approach to this process.
• John Carpenter, senior vice president of public policy for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. We note the Chicagoland Chamber continues to have a strong role in workers' compensation changes. Their organization did not provide much value in the 2005 amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act and we will have to wait and see if they will bring more to the table with their role in selecting new arbitrators.
• Mark Denzler, vice president and chief operating officer for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association. Watching Illinois manufacturing continue to shrink in relation to our sister states, we hope Mr. Denzler can make the point that reasonable arbitrators are critical to his members rebounding and bringing jobs back to our state.
• David Halffield, vice president of Sears Holdings Management Corp. We are happy to see this long-time Illinois-based retailer has a knowledgeable representative at the table in this process.
• Phillip Gruber, general vice president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. We don't know Mr. Gruber's credentials but we assume his union background will bring another liberal voice to the table.
• William Lowry, attorney at Chicago law firm Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie and Lowry. Mr. Lowry is one of the top defense attorneys in our state. He is knowledgeable and a veteran litigator. It is our hope he can assist in finding arbitrators with the same drive and intelligence he brings to the office every day.
• Mark Prince, an attorney at the Prince Law Firm in Marion. Mark is a long-time board member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and will almost certainly bring their liberal to radical focus to the arbitrator selection concept.
• Sean Stott, director of governmental affairs for the Laborers' International Union of North America, which represents workers in the building and construction trades, among others. This is the fourth union member on the board.
• David Vite, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago-based Illinois Retail Merchants Association. David is a long-time participant in the legislative process.