CHESTER -- Prison finance clerk Angela Grott complained to her supervisors that file drawers at her work station jammed, the computer keyboard was set too high and her chair was hard to move, according to state workers' compensation records.
While Grott stated these factors contributed to pain in her neck and shoulder area, she testified during a Dec. 14 workers' compensation hearing that it was primarily the lack of a headset for the telephone at her desk at the Menard Correctional Center that caused severe pain. She said this pain worsened because, not having a headset, she was forced to hold the telephone receiver in the crook of her neck for hours while typing on a keyboard.
Grott's workers' comp claim so far has resulted in a $128,424 medical bill that must be paid by public money because Illinois is self-insured.
While headsets were readily available close to the prison -- one currently sells for $9.96 at the Chester Walmart -- Grott testified at the hearing that her supervisors repeatedly rejected her requests to provide one or to ergonomically alter her work station.
Reached at her job at the prison, Grott said, "I have no comment."
A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections said officials are waiting for headsets to arrive. They will then be given to any employee who wants one.
A summary provided by the Illinois Attorney General's Office of the testimony of a surgeon who operated on Grott stated his patient had "a pre-existing disc degeneration that was aggravated" by holding the phone in an awkward manner. A disc is a soft pad of tissue that separates each vertebra. Lawyers for the attorney general represent taxpayers and defend against claims by state workers.
The surgeon also stated, according to the summary, that holding the phone in the crook of her neck for extended periods likely "caused her to have a massive disc herniation on top of the disc degneration." The disc herniation or bulge occurred Aug. 10, according to state records.
Because Illinois law allows a claimant to file for benefits even if a condition originally occurred outside the job, Grott was required only to show that her spine problems were aggravated by her work.
Grott has received $7,304 for 12 weeks of temporary disability pay. A workers' comp permanent partial disability claim is pending. They typically range from $20,000 to $110,000.
During a hearing last year before arbitrator John Dibble, of Freeburg, Grott testified she saw a chiropractor, who referred her to a family physician, who in turn sent her to a St. Louis surgeon, Dr. Matthew Gornet. He examined her Sept. 22 and operated two days later. Rehabilitation therapy followed. He could not be reached for comment.
Sharyn Elman, spokeswoman for the prison system, said: "We are in the process of obtaining headsets for those staff members who requested them. This has to go through the procurement process and we should be getting them soon."
She said three job safety studies at Menard have been conducted this year, including one Thursday.
Grott's attorney, Tom Rich, of Fairview Heights, said she could receive a partial permanent disability award even though, according to records, she has been cleared to return to work without restriction,
"I cannot comment about a case that is still in litigation," he said.
Rich was the attorney for a majority of the more than 260 repetitive trauma claims filed by Menard employees, mostly guards, who claimed that operating heavy cell locking mechanisms caused carpal tunnel syndrome of the wrist or cubital tunnel of the elbow, which led to surgery.
Since Jan. 1, 2008, almost $12 million has been paid out for all types of workers' comp claims from Menard, with about $7 million of that amount used to pay permanent partial disability awards for repetitive trauma. These figures do not include medical bills. Nearly every repetitive trauma recipient was cleared by a physician to return to work without restriction.
Investigative stories by the Belleville News-Democrat about the state's workers' comp system have resulted in a number of state and federal investigations.
Grott has been a state employee since 1989 and has worked for the Department of Corrections since 2001. In May 2008, about a year after she began her current finance position, she was named an employee of the month.
"She is an excellent employee who never complains," the citation noted.
In his decision, Dibble stated that Grott began noticing symptoms in 2007 and "testified to no prior injuries, trauma or cervical symptoms."
However, according to Dibble's report, Gornet discovered several large pieces of disc had sheared off from her spine. These were surgically repaired.
At the arbitration hearing in December in Whittington, Grott said that after the surgery her shoulder and arm pain were gone, and that her "neck pain and headaches were significantly improved."
In his decision to approve paid leave and medical fees in the Grott case, Dibble cited a 2007 workers' comp injury claim involving a 45-year-old clerk at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center who used a computer mouse "while trying to talk on the phone and type at the same time."
That case, which also was decided by Dibble, resulted in $77,809 in medical bills and a $25,104 payment to the clerk for paid time off. No permanent partial disability award was listed.
The decision in the Grott case noted that Assistant Attorney General Roy Gilbert did not challenge Grott's description of her job duties and did not request an independent medical examination. Grott was the only witness.
Attorney General spokeswoman Natalie Bauer, in a written response, stated the office "didn't have a basis to factually disagree with her detailed testimony" of her job duties.
Bauer stated that an independent medical opinion was not sought because under Illinois law, "The work accident doesn't need to be the sole cause, or even the primary cause for a claimant to be entitled to benefits."
She said that attorneys for her office decided it was unlikely that a physician could be found who would give an opinion that job conditions played no role in Grott's injury.
Dibble has been on paid administrative leave since February. He received a workers' comp award of $48,790 last year based on a claim that he fell on stairs at a workers' comp hearing site in Herrin, resulting in delayed onset carpal and cubital tunnel syndrome. Records in his case show there were no witnesses to the fall.
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