 VOICES,INC.B.E.S.T.,
CA Chapter
April
and Dina may be contacted by those requesting and in some cases are
able to assist employees of Kaiser Permanente who are undergoing
difficulties.
DWC
Kaiser
Reports, Etc. found below:
Significant
Panel Decision
Case
No. OAK 271713
This
is a case of legal
harrassement of an injured employee by the Permanente Medical Group.
Donna
Yee-Sanchez vs. Permanente Medical Group
Yee-Sanchez
v Permanente Medical Group (Case No. OAK 271713)
Yee-Sanchez,
who has never
been represented by counsel,
sustained an admitted industrial injury to her neck and right upper
extremity on January 11, 1999 while employed by PMG. Although there
is no claim form in the WCAB’s file, it appears she filed a
claim
form with PMG shortly after her injury.
Dr.
Duong was
Yee-Sanchez’s primary treating physician
and, on October 19, 2000, he issued a “final comprehensive
report”
that found her to be medically permanent and stationary with various
factors of disability.
PMG objected to
Dr.
Duong’s assessment of
Yee-Sanchez’s permanent disability and requested that she
select a
panel QME. (See Lab. Code, §4061(d).) She selected Dr.
Hightower from
a QME panel and, on December 4,
2000, Dr. Hightower issued a
report finding her to be medically permanent and stationary with
various factors of permanent disability.
On December 14,
2000, the
Disability Evaluation Unit
(“DEU”) issued a summary rating determination
opining that the
factors of permanent disability in Dr. Hightower’s report
rated at (See
Lab. Code, §4061(j)
On January 5,
2001, PMG
requested that the
Administrative Director reconsider the DEU’s summary
rating determination (see Lab.
Code, §4061(l),
but this request was ultimately denied.
Thereafter,
PMG
noticed
depositions for Yee-Sanchez,
Dr. Duong, and Dr. Hightower. It also issued two deposition
subpoenas to Dr. Hightower.
In multiple letters
to PMG, Yee-Sanchez objected to the taking of any
depositions.
Formerly,
section 4061(k).
However,
PMG responded by a
letter stating that, if she failed to
appear for her deposition, it would file a petition to compel with
the WCAB.
Following this
letter from PMG,
Yee-Sanchez sent a
letter to the PWCJ, objecting to all depositions and noting that PMG
had not yet filed an application. Nevertheless, PMG went forward
with Dr. Hightower’s deposition (although, apparently, it
never
took the depositions of.............
Follow links to
learn more
about this important cast.
http://www.dir.state.ca.us/WCAB/2003SPD-3.doc
or
http://www.dir.state.ca.us/WCAB/2003SPD-3.pdf
Kaiser
Permanente
Medical Care Program
Kaiser Foundations Hospitals failed a random
audit in 2001. A
subsequent target audit for Kaiser, conducted under the amended Labor
Code Section 129 and closed in 2004, also resulted in
failure. Kaiser is scheduled for a return target audit to
commence in 2006. At the conclusion of the 2006
audit, the findings of the 3 audits will be reviewed to determine
whether civil penalty charges will be filed with the
Administrative Director pursuant to Labor Code Section 129.5 (e) and
Title 8 California Code of Regulations Section
10114 (c).
http://www.dir.state.ca.us/dwc/AuditReport2005/auditReport2005.pdf
and
http://www.dir.state.ca.us/dwc/AuditReport2005/AuditReport2005.htm
Pamela Broderson and Vivian Miller Statements
regarding Kaiser employee overtime exemption year 2000
http://www.dir.state.ca.us/Iwc/PUBMTG12820000pdf.pdf
Dragomir-Tremoureux
v. Kaiser
Foundation Hospitals.
(BPD)(33 CWCR 302):
Applicant
sustained an injury to her arms on 7-24-98 and a CT ending 10-30-2000
while working for Kaiser.
In November 1996 she had previously received an award for 18
¾ % to her wrist. The applicant was referred to an
AME who applicant was 100% disabled as a result of all the industrial
injuries, but concluded that the 18 ¾ % prior award of PD
should be set off against the current 100% disability. The
WCJ after trial awarded 81 ¼ percent after apportionment to
the prior award based the Escobedo case (apportionment to causation and
the case of Nabors. Applicant filed a petition for
reconsideration which was granted by the Appeals Board. The
panel quoted portions of Labor Code Sections 4662, 4663 and
4664. Labor code section 4662 provides that the loss of both
hands or the loss of use of both hands is conclusively presumed to be
total. Labor Code section 4664 (b) provides that if
the applicant has received a prior award of PD, it is conclusively
presumed that the prior award of PD existed at the time of the
subsequent injury. Under Labor code section 4664 (c) the accumulation
of all award issued for any one region of the body may not exceed 100%
over the lifetime unless the employee’s injury or illness is
conclusively presumed to be total pursuant to Labor Code Section
4662. Labor Code section 4664 provides that upper
extremities, including shoulders are a region of the body.
Nothing in Labor Code section 4664 is intended to permit a single
injury to exceed a 100%. In this case the Appeals Board
concluded under Labor code Section 4664 (b) it was conclusively
presumed that the 18 ¾ % PD still existed at the time of the
injuries in this case. The board also concluded that the
presumption of Labor Code Section 4662 applied and that that it was
presumed applicant’s disability was total. A conclusive
presumption operates as
a rule of substantive law and cannot be
rebutted, and no evidence can be received to contradict it.
The board concluded board that Labor Code section 4662 presumption
precludes apportionment because that the plain language of Labor code
Section 4664 (c) (1) provides that the total of all PD awards issued
with respect to any one region of the body do not exceed 100 % over the
employee’s lifetime unless the employee’s injury or
illness is conclusively presumed to be total per Labor Code section
4662. Because applicants disability was presumed to be total
pursuant to Labor Code Section 4662, her lifetime accumulation of upper
extremity PD awards could exceed 100 percent PD.
http://www.dir.state.ca.us/dwc/educonf13/Apportionment/Apportionment_MKahn.doc
Note
from Dina:
"Many
deaths
occur
at an
intersection before they'll
put up a stop sign or a light. I've been watching these
programs on
cable
t.v. about medical malpractice caps and these so called journalists and
their guests are laughing at the problems patients face today
at HMO's,
bad docs and the legal system.
Is
it because we've
become so desensitized or is it because
the many stories only equate to just figures and numbers.
Where
are the faces and the
stories? Nowhere but on the
internet. Just like in worker's comp there are
MILLIONS of
injured workers per year in
this country, but yet
the public sees the same old tape about an injured
worker defrauding workers
comp.
That
one injured
worker has been representative of millions
and millions of injured workers and wrongly so.
I
guess what I
'm trying to
say is that figures are not
cutting it and just like in the holocaust which people finally
are
coming to
grips with, the
magnitude and gravity of
the situation is realized because the individual stories
are finally
being told.
Each
one could
provide a different part of the medmal
problem with HMO's/insurance today."
Dina
Here
are some of the
employee stories out of Kaiser and the for profit Permanente
Kelly
Quinlan - Kaiser Employee and Patient Victim -
http://workcomp.kaiserpapers.org/kelly.html -
As a former
Kaiser
employee at Kaiser's Appointment and Advice Call Center in Sacramento,
CA from November 2004 until I was transferred to the Roseville
Outpatient Medical Records Department on 5/31/05 where "I would be
gotten rid of" due to my disclosed disability, informing management I
was very aware of them accessing my medical records without my consent
(yes, they do this to employees), and the fact that I needed
an ankle replacement.
MY
KAISER-STATE
FUND
NIGHTMARE
The
Kaiser Back Injury
Denial
of
Treatment Worker's Comp Scam - This is a very common story
for injured
workers.
From Day 1, Kaiser/State Fund never gives a full diagnosis of why my
back swelled up. I had no idea myself until I extract myself from
Kaiser's
care, as I am told it's just overstrained muscles. Xray's/MRI are never
performed by Kaiser/State Fund because they want to save money and if a
work-related injury comes to them, they know any benefits will take a
long
time to be recovered if ever. State Fund wishes to deny the claim
because
some IME claims he sees no signs of a work-related injury. He never
even
takes any x-rays or any true test to determine any underlying
issues.
I
was a 20 year employee with Kaiser, not a smudge on my
personnel record
but was terminated when I reported a hostile work environment that was
investigated and the parties found guilty ( they sabatoged my work, my
car and almost killed me) THEN I found out my daughter was treated
inappropriately
( sexual advance) during a routine exam by an md in this department I
worked
in, along with stalking her.
My
story - working for Kaiser, Getting injured by Paul D. Stutrud
Paul
Strutrud a
Union
Construction Engineer who worked
for Kaiser was injured on the job. This is the story of how
Kaiser
did not provide adequate medical care for their own workers, how they
did
not even provide a diagnosis but rather did provide a guess.
In the
end Paul was retroactively fired by Kaiser though they did present him
with a minimal check as reinbursement for an invention that he
created.
This is another story of Kaiser not even showing their own employees
common
decent treatment. With this type of employee abuse I have to
wonder
why Kaiser hasn't yet figured out why so many employees want to tell
their
stories.
April
Gottman
- A Kaiser Employee
Deborah
Steward A Kaiser Employee
Angelita
Gordon an Employee of Kaiser Permanente
Gail
Martellucci a Long Term Employee of Kaiser Permanente
Dina
Padilla and
her experience with Kaiser Permanente as an Employer
The
Dina Padilla Story -
This ongoing story of Dina Padilla and her inside experience as an
employee of Kaiser and how she survived while "In The Hands of
Kaiser."
Dina
Padilla/Kaiser - We were all Patients!
http://workcomp.kaiserpapers.org/dina.html
A
chronicle of events that took place while in the employ of Kaiser and
the for profit Permanente. Warning!!!!! This is eye
opening. This does not sound like it is a very nice place to
work.
Mr.
John Dean Brenner Victim of Kaiser
Kaiser
Southern California IT Horror Story
H-1B
Horror Stories 01 31 2000.txt
http://shameh-1b.webhostme.com/Horror.htm
H-1B
Horror Stories
If
you send a letter that describes your horrible
experience with H-1B it
will be posted here. There are many people, H-1Bs included, that have
had
bad experiences. Tell your horror story here.
12/7/99
I was on a project with Kaiser Permanente
(KP) in Pasadena, California in
1997-1998. KP was developing a new system, using Cool:gen (IEF). There
were a number of Cool:gen consultants working on the project - a
mixture
of H-1Bs' and U.S. citizens.
KP
wanted the U.S. consultants to sign on as full
time employees but was
only willing to pay us about $60K per year. ($60K per year is a low
salary
for an experienced I.T. professional in S.California). As consultants
we
were making about $60 per hour so needless to say, most of us declined
the
KP offer.
So
what did KP do?
It sent it's managers to the
Phillipines, Egypt and
India to hire employees on H-1B visas. And guess what? Some of these
new
hires had NO knowledege of Cool:gen. They had lied on their re'sume's
and
in the interview. The H-1B hires were being paid about $50-55K per
year.
And you guessed it, once we trained the H-1Bs' our contracts were
terminated.
The
Cool Cool-gen programmer
Linda
Kilcrease email: netmouser
at earthlink.net
WORKERS
COMPENSATION LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST KAISER PERMANENTE
Claimant
sought
medical treatment from Dr. Paul McClain, a
physician
employed by Capital
Area Permanente
Medical Group
("CAPMG"),
which provides
medical services
to the patients of
Kaiser
Permanente Medical
Center ("Kaiser").
http://legalstuff.kaiserpapers.org/wiggins.html
U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Files 3/21/01 OWENS V
KAISER
FOUNDATION HEALTH PLAN, INC.
http://legalstuff.kaiserpapers.org/owens.html
Kaiser
Permanente, Downey, California EEOC racial discrimination case.
KAISERPAPERS.ORG
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In
Copyright Since September 11,
2000
