Need help

[Gaoler]

Ok guys (and gals) I need some serious advice. Awhile back I was injured on the job, still out of work but finally receiving workmen's comp pay. Our contract has a provision to cover the 1/3 pay that you loose from workmen's comp if the mechanism of injury falls within certain paramiters. I feel that the way I was injured falls within it. The state disagrees. So I went to my union and they disagree. Everyone keeps saying that I must be injured by an inmate to qualify, but that is NOT what the contract says.

I feel like the union is laying down on this. I've felt for a long time that my union has the state's interests in heart and not ours, now I know it.

What do I do? I want what I feel entitled to and I cannot believe that the union so arbitrarily abandoned me.

What is one to do when they feel they are getting screwed by the state and by the union? Who do I complain to?

[Arbo]

What does the contract say, and how were you injured. Time for the rest of the story...Paul Harvey.

[Gaoler]

Here is my initial incident report (names have been changed obviously):

On the above date I was assigned as the Control Room Officer. At approximately 0755 I was issuing a key to COI F***. As I put my hand in the drawer to hand him the key, COI H*** grabbed COI F*** by the flashlight loop on his belt and pulled him. As COI F*** was being pulled he grabbed onto the drawer handle which pulled the drawer shut. My hand was still in the drawer when it was shut, trapping it between the edge of the counter and the drawer. I screamed, which caused COI F*** to push the drawer back open. COI H*** and COI G*** immediately came into control once I was able to open the doors for them. COI G*** relieved me so that I could go to the health center. Once there the nurses gave me several Tylenol and an ice pack for my hand. My hand is visibly swollen, albeit mildly, and there is a small scrape visible plus some reddening.

[Gaoler]

Here is the contract:

2. For an injury relating to the performance of a State job under the special circumstances described below, an employee will be paid the difference between basic salary and Workers’ Compensation (as defined in paragraph 4 of this Article) without charge to paid leave:
(a)The injury results from an assault (physical contact by a person, or by an animal). If injuries result from an
incident in which the participants are State employees and willing combatants, this Article shall not apply.
(b)An Agency of Transportation employee or a state police officer injured in a highway accident. Payment is barred when it is determined by the VLRB that the employee’s negligence equaled or exceeded the negligence or conduct of any other person involved in the accident, or in the absence of such third party, that the employee’s negligence was the proximate cause of his or her injury.
(c)A state police officer or a fish and wildlife warden or a motor vehicle inspector is injured in hot vehicular pursuit.
(d)A communications technician while climbing a free standing tower, including atop airport towers. (Not applicable to rooftops)
(e)The provisions of this Article may be extended in other appropriate cases as, for example, to airport firefighters involved in a conflagration.

[moneytra1n]

Hey VtCo

Get a copy of the contract: Get an opinion from an Outside help, like a Lawyer. And tell him/her the full story. Act soon before its too late. Good luck buddy.

[Gaoler]

And for ****s and giggles, here is the state statute that defines assault (in case we need further clarification than the contract provides):

§ 1023. Simple assault

(a) A person is guilty of simple assault if he:

(1) attempts to cause or purposely, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another; or

(2) negligently causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon; or

(3) attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily injury.

(b) A person who is convicted of simple assault shall be imprisoned for not more than one year or fined not more than $1,000.00, or both, unless the offense is committed in a fight or scuffle entered into by mutual consent, in which case a person convicted of simple assault shall be imprisoned not more than 60 days or fined not more than $500.00 or both. (Amended 1971, No. 222 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 5, 1972; 1981, No. 223 (Adj. Sess.), § 23.)

[Gaoler]

Originally Posted by moneytra1n

Hey VtCo

Get a copy of the contract: Get an opinion from an Outside help, like a Lawyer. And tell him/her the full story. Act soon before its too late. Good luck buddy.

What kind of lawyer do I contact?

[Gaoler]

FYI here is the email I received from the union:

Hi D***,

Thank you for the additional information that you provided to me. Unfortunately, you do not have a grievance for “assault pay” based on the intent of the contract. Although VSEA does not handle workman’s comp complaints, it does appear that you are entitled to that benefit. You only meet the standard for assault pay under the contract if you had an injury due to an offender. An injury that occurs for any other reason while on the job will not meet the definition. VSEA’s Senior Field Rep, Gary Hoadley passed along this information to me:

If the employee was injured during a DOC training or during the general performance of his duties, then he would only be entitled to the standard Workers' Compensation payments of two-thirds salary. Article 37 was negotiated to provide a full salary for those injured by offenders on the job. If employee is injured due to an offender than they would then be entitled to the difference between his basic salary (40 hours per week) and the standard Workers' Compensation payments of two-thirds salary.

Please let me know if you have any further questions concerning this matter. I hope you recover quickly!

Sincerely,
T***

I wasn't aware that we went with the "intent" of contracts, I thought we went with the word of the contract.

[moneytra1n]

Check your Private message.

[KBCraig]

The union response is bogus. The contract spells out that you don't get the supplement if they actors are state employees, but only if they are "willing combatants".

A state employee who is not a "willing combatant", and who is injured by another state employee, would be entitled to the supplement under the clause you cited.