Majority of Clients Injured in Terrorist Shooting Seek Medical Retirement

Tuesday, December 4, 2018 | 0

A California applicants’ attorney representing a dozen San Bernardino County workers who were injured in a terrorist attack during a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center three years ago said the majority of her clients have or will take medical retirement.

Geraldine Ly told the San Bernardino Sun that many of her clients have been unable to return to work after the Dec. 2, 2015, shooting that killed 14. Another 22 county workers who gathered at the Inland Regional Center that day were shot, and others are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“They attempted to go back to work, but psychologically they just couldn’t do it,” Ly said.

Ly said for her clients trying to work, “the memories of their deceased friends are with them eight to 10 hours a day.”

David Wert, a spokesman for San Bernardino County, told the Sun 42 of the 57 survivors of the 2015 terrorist attack had returned to work at some point. As of late November, 14 were working full-time, five were working part-time with restrictions, 19 are out on medical leave and another 19 no longer work for the county.

He said the shooting isn’t the only explanation for some of the job changes. Some workers have retired and others took new jobs, Wert said.

Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes, D-San Bernardino, in 2017 introduced AB 44 which would have exempted from utilization review medical treatment requests for survivors of the shooting. The final version of the bill created an obligation for employers to provide nurse case managers to employees injured by domestic terrorism.

Reyes told the Sun that she is continuing to look for ways to help victims of workplace violence to get doctor-recommended treatment without going through utilization review.