Los Angeles County Probation workers spent months away from the job after getting spider bites, tripping in parking lots or falling out of chairs, according to an investigation by NBC4 media partner KPCC which found dozens of questionable cases in hundreds of workers’ compensation files from 2010-2012.
In one case, a probation officer’s first workers’ compensation claim stated that he hurt his hand restraining a minor in one of the county’s juvenile camps.
From there, the claims piled up: stress-related asthma, a hurt wrist from tripping on a curb, a shoulder strain from putting up a bulletin board, and a "contusion" from hitting his knee on a desk.
All in all, in 24 years with the probation department, the employee worked just five of them.
Chief Probation Officer Jerry Powers stresses that the vast majority of workers’ compensation claims are legitimate, but he has taken several steps to crack down on questionable injuries since taking office in 2011.
Since then, the number of probation staff on disability has dropped by one third, Powers says.
Read the full story by KPCC.
