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His work has appeared on Newsweek.com, Slate.com, CBSNews.com, MotherJones.com, DailyKos.com and NPR’s web site. Fiore’s political animation has appeared on CNN, Frontline, Bill Moyers Journal, Salon.com and cable and broadcast outlets across the globe.\r\n\r\nBeginning his professional life by drawing traditional political cartoons for newspapers, Fiore’s work appeared in publications ranging from the Washington Post to the Los Angeles Times. In the late 1990s, he began to experiment with animating political cartoons and, after a short stint at the San Jose Mercury News as their staff cartoonist, Fiore devoted all his energies to animation.\r\nGrowing up in California, Fiore also spent a good portion of his life in the backwoods of Idaho. It was this combination that shaped him politically. 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Fiore has received two awards for his work in new media from the National Cartoonists Society (2001, 2002), and in 2006 received The James Madison Freedom of Information Award from The Society of Professional Journalists.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fc4e2a612b15b67bad0c6f0e1db4ca9b?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"MarkFiore","facebook":null,"instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/markfiore/?hl=en","linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"futureofyou","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"science","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Mark Fiore | KQED","description":"KQED News Cartoonist","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fc4e2a612b15b67bad0c6f0e1db4ca9b?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fc4e2a612b15b67bad0c6f0e1db4ca9b?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/markfiore"},"ccabreralomeli":{"type":"authors","id":"11708","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11708","found":true},"name":"Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí","firstName":"Carlos","lastName":"Cabrera-Lomelí","slug":"ccabreralomeli","email":"ccabreralomeli@KQED.org","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["news"],"title":"Community Reporter","bio":"Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí is a community reporter with KQED's digital engagement team. 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Meanwhile the state has been trying for years to create indoor workplace heat rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2021 study of California worker compensation data by a left-leaning economic research nonprofit shows hot days lead to increased workplace accidents across California. The \u003ca href=\"https://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/temperature-workplace-safety-and-labor-market-inequality/\">Washington Center for Equitable Growth study\u003c/a> estimates hot temperatures have caused at least 360,000 workplace injuries in California from 2001 to 2018, or about 20,000 injuries a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers examined California workers compensation data and tracked daily temperatures down to the zip code. They compared the number of worker injuries and illnesses on 85-to-105-degree days to days when temperatures hovered around 60 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new state \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/doshreg/Heat-Advisory-Committee/\">advisory committee\u003c/a> is set to use this data as a roadmap to tackle hot workplace issues. The group of state agency staffers and scholars will examine persistent problems with underreported heat-related illness and injuries, as well as gaps in data collection and the financial toll on workers and businesses when temperatures rise and production falls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Young workers at risk\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A day above 100 degrees can lead to a 10–15% increase in same-day injuries on the job, the study says, with injuries hitting low-wage workers hardest. And recovering from a heat-related injury or illness costs the average worker $35,000, including health care and long-term wage impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This implies that the welfare impacts associated with heat-related workplace injuries may be on the order of $525 million to $875 million per year in California alone,” the study authors wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study says workplace injuries include incidents not usually linked to heat, such as falling from heights, getting struck by a vehicle or mishandling dangerous machinery. Research links high temperatures to reduced cognitive performance and decision-making.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lead author of the study, University of Pennsylvania professor \u003ca href=\"https://www.sp2.upenn.edu/person/r-jisung-park/\">R. Jisung Park\u003c/a>, is a member of the advisory committee. He and his coauthors found that low-wage workers, especially young men, face the greatest risks of heat injuries, even in mostly indoor workplaces like restaurants or warehouses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s advisory committee met for the first time at the end of June. Its mandate is part of a \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Climate-Resilience/2022-Final-Extreme-Heat-Action-Plan.pdf\">package of heat-related\u003c/a> legislation passed last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom in September \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/09/09/as-record-heat-wave-continues-governor-newsom-signs-legislation-to-protect-californians-from-extreme-heat/\">signed several bills\u003c/a> creating the first \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-09/newsom-signs-bills-california-extreme-heat-warning-system\">extreme heat warning and ranking system\u003c/a> in the nation, directing the California Department of Public Health to study the impact of extreme heat on pregnant workers and encouraging local governments to invest in protections against extreme heat and other climate effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are certain sectors that are going to be heavily influenced of course, including food production,” said Daniel Sumner, an advisory committee member who is an agricultural and labor economist at UC Davis. “I think we’d be remiss not to try to think through impacts that directly affect workers’ lower productivity, raise danger for workers, and as a consequence raise food prices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Are California workers protected from heat?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California is one of a few states with laws that mandate employers provide water breaks, shade and rest for outdoor workers once temperatures reach certain levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state implemented its outdoor heat standard in 2005, after \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/brand-connect/ucdavis/protecting-californias-farmworkers-as-temperatures-climb/#:~:text=California%20passed%20the%20nation's%20most,water%2C%20shade%20and%20rest%20breaks.\">several farmworkers\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> —\u003c/strong> three in \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-aug-03-me-farmworkers3-story.html\">Kern County\u003c/a> and one in Fresno County — died due to heat exposure. After the 2008 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/farm-workers-rights-pregnant-17-year-old-death-2008-maria-isavel-vasquez-jimenez/40950637#:~:text=Mar%C3%ADa%20was%2017%20years%20old,when%20tragedy%20struck%20the%20family.\">death of a pregnant \u003c/a>teen working in a Central Valley vineyard\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>drew national outrage, state officials frantically tried to strengthen and enforce the heat protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11886628 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/RS50596_019_SanFrancisco_HeatWaveImpacts_08062021-qut-1020x680.jpg']The Washington Center study found occupational heat-related injuries in California declined by about 30% since the standards took effect in 2005.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There still are \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/07/10/1185766013/farm-workers-extreme-heat-protection-farmers-safety\">no heat-related federal workplace protections\u003c/a>, even for outdoor workers, although the Occupational Health and Safety Administration announced two years ago it was \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/07/01/1185623467/the-federal-government-wants-to-protect-people-who-work-outdoors-from-wildfire-s\">developing heat rules\u003c/a> for outdoor and indoor workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s currently little relief for California’s indoor workers. The state has been considering proposals for heat rules for employees in indoor settings like restaurants or warehouses for nearly seven years, missing a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1167\">2019 deadline\u003c/a> the Legislature set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer, a 24-year-old United Parcel Service driver died after collapsing from the heat during deliveries in Pasadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 340,000-strong union representing the UPS workers has been seeking heat rules that would cover its California members. The union reached a “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Teamsters/status/1683867683845021697?s=20\">historic\u003c/a>” contract agreement with the company July 25 after threatening a strike, \u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7b3z8/teamsters-ups-union-wins-historic-contract-avoids-gigantic-strike\">securing a deal\u003c/a> with higher wages and more heat protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jassy Grewal, a lobbyist for the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council and a member of the state’s heat advisory committee, said workers in high-intensity environments, or those who don’t have a cool place at home, are especially vulnerable without indoor heat rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What type of pressures from employers, like work quotas, contribute to heat-related illness,” Grewal asked during\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>the first committee meeting. “And how does the intensity of work and how physically demanding it is relate to the impact of heat exposure while at work and while not at work?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Gaps in job protections\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Unions and worker advocates have sued the state in the past to enforce heat-related regulations, and they say the state needs to hold employers accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocacy groups warn that despite progress, the greatest risk to workers lies with the state’s troubled enforcement record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some experts say it’s as simple as better outreach, informing workers about heat risks and their rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s all implementation and ensuring that these workers actually get the benefits of these laws,” said Michael Méndez, environmental policy professor at UC Irvine, “and having a culturally and linguistically appropriate messaging on the risk and severity of these heat waves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Stories' tag='heat']“I think for any population it’s confusing to understand how our climate is changing and how much risk they could have. So ensuring that we have trusted messengers and doing it in a culturally and linguistically appropriate way matters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United Farm Workers sued the Cal/OSHA in 2012\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>to compel the state to enforce heat rules for farmworkers. In 2015 the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cal-osha-farm-workers-20150612-story.html\">settled\u003c/a> a suit the union brought on behalf of five farmworkers who alleged Cal/OSHA was systematically neglecting its duty to enforce the 2005 law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UFW spokesperson Antonio de Loera-Brust told CalMatters “people died to win” California’s enforcement standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We expect state agencies to be out in full strength across California to make sure employers are being compliant with the state heat rules,” De Loera-Brust said. “Heat is still a deadly hazard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Farmworker health\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A February \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/02/farmworkers-conditions-california-report/\">study on California farmworker health\u003c/a> and safety by the \u003ca href=\"https://clc.ucmerced.edu/\">UC Merced Community and Labor Center\u003c/a> found that only a third of farm laborers could recognize the symptoms of a heat-related illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only half of the roughly 1,500 farmworkers surveyed said their employers always provide shade mandated by California law when it hits 80 degrees, while a quarter said their employers never or rarely provide the required shade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://clc.ucmerced.edu/farmworker-health-study/farmworker-health-study-data-dashboard\">study\u003c/a>, which surveyed farmworkers in six languages, also found:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>About 22% of farmworkers said their employer “never” monitors for heat illness. A slightly higher percentage in the Imperial Valley, where scorching temperatures are common, said the same.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>82% of farmworkers in the San Joaquin Valley said they have received heat-related illness training.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>About 43% of farmworkers statewide, including two-thirds of Central Coast farmworkers, said their employers never had a written heat illness protection plan.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Some farm employers still don’t comply with state rules about providing water, shade and rest, the survey shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>55% of farmworkers across the state said their employers always monitored the temperature on hot days — 76% said it in the Imperial Valley, but 46% did in Napa Valley and Sonoma areas.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>75% of farmworkers said their employers provide clean drinking water every time.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Barely half of farmworkers reported their employers always provide a 10-minute cool down rest, while 21% said their employers “never” did.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://clc.ucmerced.edu/content/alice-berliner\">Alice Berliner\u003c/a>, worker health and safety program director at the community and labor center, said it’s clear some workers aren’t getting safety information or training in Spanish when they need it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know heat-related deaths are going up,” she said. “If we want to prevent future deaths from happening, we really need to ensure workers are protected at work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials taking preventive measures, such as conducting heat sweeps ahead of heat waves, has helped, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What will the state committee do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assembly Speaker \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/robert-rivas-1980/\">Robert Rivas\u003c/a>, who authored legislation creating the advisory committee last year, called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/doshreg/Heat-Advisory-Committee/\">panel of 13\u003c/a> a “solid first step.” He said he will work with the Legislature to do more for workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Climate change is accelerating, and extreme heat and heat-related illnesses are on the rise,” the Salinas Democrat said in a statement. “California is committed to protecting workers’ health and quality of life during extreme heat waves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite near-universal consensus among state officials and advocates that heat reform work is urgent, and despite recent record shattering temperatures, the committee has been given a 2026 deadline to report results to the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The committee is set to meet quarterly. The next session is September 19. Members indicated they’ll likely commission a study to guide the committee’s work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have no doubt the work this committee will do will save lives,” said Cal/OSHA chief Jeff Killip at the meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Just 1 day above 100 degrees can cause 15% more workplace accidents, according to a study. A new advisory panel may help California improve its heat-related work rules.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1690912114,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":43,"wordCount":1740},"headData":{"title":"Hot Workplaces Have a Hidden Cost: 20,000 Job Injuries a Year in California | KQED","description":"Just 1 day above 100 degrees can cause 15% more workplace accidents, according to a study. A new advisory panel may help California improve its heat-related work rules.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Hot Workplaces Have a Hidden Cost: 20,000 Job Injuries a Year in California","datePublished":"2023-08-01T13:01:05.000Z","dateModified":"2023-08-01T17:48:34.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"nprByline":"Nicole Foy","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11956922/hot-workplaces-have-a-hidden-cost-20000-job-injuries-a-year-in-california","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With more heat waves expected this summer, California officials are trying to assess the long-term economic impact on workers and businesses — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11956715/democratic-lawmakers-push-for-national-heat-related-worker-protections-amid-scorching-temperatures\">and what more can be done to protect workers bearing the brunt of extreme temperatures\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11886628/feeling-the-heat-how-workers-can-advocate-for-safer-working-conditions-under-the-sun\">California is one of the few states with heat standards protecting outdoor workers\u003c/a>, advocates and workers say enforcement is still a struggle. Meanwhile the state has been trying for years to create indoor workplace heat rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2021 study of California worker compensation data by a left-leaning economic research nonprofit shows hot days lead to increased workplace accidents across California. The \u003ca href=\"https://equitablegrowth.org/working-papers/temperature-workplace-safety-and-labor-market-inequality/\">Washington Center for Equitable Growth study\u003c/a> estimates hot temperatures have caused at least 360,000 workplace injuries in California from 2001 to 2018, or about 20,000 injuries a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers examined California workers compensation data and tracked daily temperatures down to the zip code. They compared the number of worker injuries and illnesses on 85-to-105-degree days to days when temperatures hovered around 60 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new state \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/doshreg/Heat-Advisory-Committee/\">advisory committee\u003c/a> is set to use this data as a roadmap to tackle hot workplace issues. The group of state agency staffers and scholars will examine persistent problems with underreported heat-related illness and injuries, as well as gaps in data collection and the financial toll on workers and businesses when temperatures rise and production falls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Young workers at risk\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A day above 100 degrees can lead to a 10–15% increase in same-day injuries on the job, the study says, with injuries hitting low-wage workers hardest. And recovering from a heat-related injury or illness costs the average worker $35,000, including health care and long-term wage impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This implies that the welfare impacts associated with heat-related workplace injuries may be on the order of $525 million to $875 million per year in California alone,” the study authors wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study says workplace injuries include incidents not usually linked to heat, such as falling from heights, getting struck by a vehicle or mishandling dangerous machinery. Research links high temperatures to reduced cognitive performance and decision-making.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lead author of the study, University of Pennsylvania professor \u003ca href=\"https://www.sp2.upenn.edu/person/r-jisung-park/\">R. Jisung Park\u003c/a>, is a member of the advisory committee. He and his coauthors found that low-wage workers, especially young men, face the greatest risks of heat injuries, even in mostly indoor workplaces like restaurants or warehouses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s advisory committee met for the first time at the end of June. Its mandate is part of a \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Climate-Resilience/2022-Final-Extreme-Heat-Action-Plan.pdf\">package of heat-related\u003c/a> legislation passed last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom in September \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/09/09/as-record-heat-wave-continues-governor-newsom-signs-legislation-to-protect-californians-from-extreme-heat/\">signed several bills\u003c/a> creating the first \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-09/newsom-signs-bills-california-extreme-heat-warning-system\">extreme heat warning and ranking system\u003c/a> in the nation, directing the California Department of Public Health to study the impact of extreme heat on pregnant workers and encouraging local governments to invest in protections against extreme heat and other climate effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are certain sectors that are going to be heavily influenced of course, including food production,” said Daniel Sumner, an advisory committee member who is an agricultural and labor economist at UC Davis. “I think we’d be remiss not to try to think through impacts that directly affect workers’ lower productivity, raise danger for workers, and as a consequence raise food prices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Are California workers protected from heat?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California is one of a few states with laws that mandate employers provide water breaks, shade and rest for outdoor workers once temperatures reach certain levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state implemented its outdoor heat standard in 2005, after \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/brand-connect/ucdavis/protecting-californias-farmworkers-as-temperatures-climb/#:~:text=California%20passed%20the%20nation's%20most,water%2C%20shade%20and%20rest%20breaks.\">several farmworkers\u003c/a>\u003cstrong> —\u003c/strong> three in \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-aug-03-me-farmworkers3-story.html\">Kern County\u003c/a> and one in Fresno County — died due to heat exposure. After the 2008 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/farm-workers-rights-pregnant-17-year-old-death-2008-maria-isavel-vasquez-jimenez/40950637#:~:text=Mar%C3%ADa%20was%2017%20years%20old,when%20tragedy%20struck%20the%20family.\">death of a pregnant \u003c/a>teen working in a Central Valley vineyard\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>drew national outrage, state officials frantically tried to strengthen and enforce the heat protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11886628","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/RS50596_019_SanFrancisco_HeatWaveImpacts_08062021-qut-1020x680.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Washington Center study found occupational heat-related injuries in California declined by about 30% since the standards took effect in 2005.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There still are \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/07/10/1185766013/farm-workers-extreme-heat-protection-farmers-safety\">no heat-related federal workplace protections\u003c/a>, even for outdoor workers, although the Occupational Health and Safety Administration announced two years ago it was \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/07/01/1185623467/the-federal-government-wants-to-protect-people-who-work-outdoors-from-wildfire-s\">developing heat rules\u003c/a> for outdoor and indoor workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s currently little relief for California’s indoor workers. The state has been considering proposals for heat rules for employees in indoor settings like restaurants or warehouses for nearly seven years, missing a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1167\">2019 deadline\u003c/a> the Legislature set.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last summer, a 24-year-old United Parcel Service driver died after collapsing from the heat during deliveries in Pasadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 340,000-strong union representing the UPS workers has been seeking heat rules that would cover its California members. The union reached a “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Teamsters/status/1683867683845021697?s=20\">historic\u003c/a>” contract agreement with the company July 25 after threatening a strike, \u003ca href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7b3z8/teamsters-ups-union-wins-historic-contract-avoids-gigantic-strike\">securing a deal\u003c/a> with higher wages and more heat protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jassy Grewal, a lobbyist for the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council and a member of the state’s heat advisory committee, said workers in high-intensity environments, or those who don’t have a cool place at home, are especially vulnerable without indoor heat rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What type of pressures from employers, like work quotas, contribute to heat-related illness,” Grewal asked during\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>the first committee meeting. “And how does the intensity of work and how physically demanding it is relate to the impact of heat exposure while at work and while not at work?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Gaps in job protections\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Unions and worker advocates have sued the state in the past to enforce heat-related regulations, and they say the state needs to hold employers accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocacy groups warn that despite progress, the greatest risk to workers lies with the state’s troubled enforcement record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some experts say it’s as simple as better outreach, informing workers about heat risks and their rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s all implementation and ensuring that these workers actually get the benefits of these laws,” said Michael Méndez, environmental policy professor at UC Irvine, “and having a culturally and linguistically appropriate messaging on the risk and severity of these heat waves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Stories ","tag":"heat"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think for any population it’s confusing to understand how our climate is changing and how much risk they could have. So ensuring that we have trusted messengers and doing it in a culturally and linguistically appropriate way matters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United Farm Workers sued the Cal/OSHA in 2012\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>to compel the state to enforce heat rules for farmworkers. In 2015 the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cal-osha-farm-workers-20150612-story.html\">settled\u003c/a> a suit the union brought on behalf of five farmworkers who alleged Cal/OSHA was systematically neglecting its duty to enforce the 2005 law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UFW spokesperson Antonio de Loera-Brust told CalMatters “people died to win” California’s enforcement standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We expect state agencies to be out in full strength across California to make sure employers are being compliant with the state heat rules,” De Loera-Brust said. “Heat is still a deadly hazard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Farmworker health\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A February \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/02/farmworkers-conditions-california-report/\">study on California farmworker health\u003c/a> and safety by the \u003ca href=\"https://clc.ucmerced.edu/\">UC Merced Community and Labor Center\u003c/a> found that only a third of farm laborers could recognize the symptoms of a heat-related illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only half of the roughly 1,500 farmworkers surveyed said their employers always provide shade mandated by California law when it hits 80 degrees, while a quarter said their employers never or rarely provide the required shade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://clc.ucmerced.edu/farmworker-health-study/farmworker-health-study-data-dashboard\">study\u003c/a>, which surveyed farmworkers in six languages, also found:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>About 22% of farmworkers said their employer “never” monitors for heat illness. A slightly higher percentage in the Imperial Valley, where scorching temperatures are common, said the same.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>82% of farmworkers in the San Joaquin Valley said they have received heat-related illness training.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>About 43% of farmworkers statewide, including two-thirds of Central Coast farmworkers, said their employers never had a written heat illness protection plan.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Some farm employers still don’t comply with state rules about providing water, shade and rest, the survey shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>55% of farmworkers across the state said their employers always monitored the temperature on hot days — 76% said it in the Imperial Valley, but 46% did in Napa Valley and Sonoma areas.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>75% of farmworkers said their employers provide clean drinking water every time.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Barely half of farmworkers reported their employers always provide a 10-minute cool down rest, while 21% said their employers “never” did.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://clc.ucmerced.edu/content/alice-berliner\">Alice Berliner\u003c/a>, worker health and safety program director at the community and labor center, said it’s clear some workers aren’t getting safety information or training in Spanish when they need it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know heat-related deaths are going up,” she said. “If we want to prevent future deaths from happening, we really need to ensure workers are protected at work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials taking preventive measures, such as conducting heat sweeps ahead of heat waves, has helped, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What will the state committee do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assembly Speaker \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/robert-rivas-1980/\">Robert Rivas\u003c/a>, who authored legislation creating the advisory committee last year, called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/doshreg/Heat-Advisory-Committee/\">panel of 13\u003c/a> a “solid first step.” He said he will work with the Legislature to do more for workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Climate change is accelerating, and extreme heat and heat-related illnesses are on the rise,” the Salinas Democrat said in a statement. “California is committed to protecting workers’ health and quality of life during extreme heat waves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite near-universal consensus among state officials and advocates that heat reform work is urgent, and despite recent record shattering temperatures, the committee has been given a 2026 deadline to report results to the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The committee is set to meet quarterly. The next session is September 19. Members indicated they’ll likely commission a study to guide the committee’s work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have no doubt the work this committee will do will save lives,” said Cal/OSHA chief Jeff Killip at the meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11956922/hot-workplaces-have-a-hidden-cost-20000-job-injuries-a-year-in-california","authors":["byline_news_11956922"],"categories":["news_19906","news_457","news_8","news_13"],"tags":["news_18538","news_5043","news_18269","news_2929","news_32954","news_18578","news_19904","news_19377","news_24100"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11956739","label":"news_18481"},"news_11894053":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11894053","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11894053","score":null,"sort":[1635457425000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"got-covid-19-at-your-job-and-applying-for-workers-comp-in-california-heres-how-it-works","title":"Got COVID-19 at Your Job and Applying for Workers' Comp in California? Here's How It Works","publishDate":1635457425,"format":"standard","headTitle":"KQED News","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11892838/there-is-anger-he-should-be-alive-an-investigation-into-deadly-covid-19-outbreaks-at-foster-farms\">recent KQED investigation\u003c/a> found that Foster Farms provided delayed or incomplete information to health officials, the public and its own employees about the scope and seriousness of COVID-19 outbreaks at its plants in California’s Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the start of the pandemic, 16 people have died due to complications from the coronavirus, at least 20 were hospitalized and hundreds of workers at the company’s California facilities have been infected. According to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11892838/there-is-anger-he-should-be-alive-an-investigation-into-deadly-covid-19-outbreaks-at-foster-farms\">Cal/OSHA inspection file obtained by KQED\u003c/a>, Foster Farms “could have known and should have known of the continuing COVID-19 hazards.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11892838\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2027/10/50872_transform-1020x679.jpg\"]What happened at Foster Farms is only a piece of a larger issue across California: Essential and front-line workers have been hit hardest by workplace outbreaks — and those already struggling with the financial impacts of the pandemic are hit hardest by the incurred costs of dealing with an infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you get coronavirus at work, your employer is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/WorkersCompensationBenefits.htm\">required by law to cover the costs\u003c/a> of medical care, lost income while you’re out sick and even transportation expenses. These benefits all are part of workers’ compensation, and since April 2020, a \u003ca href=\"http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2020/upload/nr036NoticeWorkCompCOVID04062020.pdf\">COVID-19 infection is included as a workplace injury\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if an employee dies from a work-related COVID-19 infection, their dependents could be eligible for death benefits and burial expenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, just because these benefits are available doesn’t mean they’re easy to get. Some employees who’ve survived COVID-19 have had their claims contested by their employers and workers’ comp insurance companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Going through a bureaucratic maze could seem daunting — especially after surviving a case of COVID-19. But it can also open up a financial lifeline for some. Workers \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/employer.htm\">can’t sue their employers for a workplace infection\u003c/a>. However, they are entitled to medical treatment covered by their employer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED spoke with both experienced workers’ comp attorneys and state officials to better understand what it’s like to go through this process and ways to make it less complicated. Don't have time to read the whole guide? Here's a quick breakdown. Click on the links below to skip to a specific section:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#start\">\u003cstrong>What is workers' comp? How do you start a claim?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#provide\">\u003cstrong>What does workers' comp provide?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#denied\">\u003cstrong>My claim was denied. What happens now?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#additional\">\u003cstrong>Some additional things to keep in mind.\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"start\">\u003c/a>What is workers' comp? How do you start a claim?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>According to attorneys who’ve been managing workers’ comp cases for years, the hardest step in the process can be the first: filing a workers’ comp claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people just aren't aware that they can even bring these claims to begin with,” said Ricardo Agustín Pérez, a personal injury lawyer based in Southern California who currently represents Alma Ruth Hernández Núñez, surviving spouse of a former Foster Farms employee \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11892838/there-is-anger-he-should-be-alive-an-investigation-into-deadly-covid-19-outbreaks-at-foster-farms\">who lost his life due to COVID-19 complications\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also file a claim even if you weren’t hospitalized for COVID-19. Cheryl Wallach, a workers' comp attorney and board member of Worksafe, a worker advocacy group, says that a claim should show that the infection is an industrial injury, meaning it happened at the workplace during the course of employment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11894175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/RS52024_IMG_7733-scaled-e1635448154660.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11894175 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/RS52024_IMG_7733-scaled-e1635448154660.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds a pamphlet open as a second hand holds it by the other end.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jakara Movement organizer Navdeep Kaur speaks with Punjabi families at a Sikh gurdwara in Fresno about COVID-19 and workers' compensation. \u003ccite>(Alexandra Hall/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You just have to show that the employee had an increased risk compared to the general population,” she said. “If you’re in the food service industry or you're working side by side with other workers or … you're not working at home, do you have an increased risk compared to other people?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Any worker in California, regardless of immigration status or industry, can file a claim. And you don’t need a lawyer to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first step is to talk to your employer, whether that’s your supervisor or the owner of the business you’re working for, and let them know you tested positive for COVID-19 and that you believe you contracted the virus at your workplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you let your employer know, they have 24 hours to give you a DWC 1 — a workers’ compensation claim form. You’ll fill out the employee section, which includes sections to describe the injury and when it occurred. Remember, the injury in this case is a COVID-19 infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your employer doesn’t have a DWC 1 or claims to not know what that is, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/dwcform1.pdf\">you can find a DWC 1 online\u003c/a>. After you fill out your part, give it to your employer, who must provide a copy to their insurer and to the worker within one working day of receiving the form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No matter what your employer may tell you, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/employer.htm\">every business in California is required to have a workers’ comp insurance policy\u003c/a> — even if they only have one employee. If you take a look at the DWC 1, you may notice the term “claims administrator.” That’s the term for your employer’s insurance company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wallach encourages employees to be proactive when talking to their employers, especially if the employers are unaware of existing regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don't take no for an answer just because they don't understand the law or because they don't think it's work related,” she said. “They have to provide [the claim form] to their insurance company.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the case that your employer refuses to fill out their part of the DWC 1 or fails to send it over to their insurer, you can contact the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2021/10/28/the-lady-of-stow-lake-a-haunted-tale-of-tragedy-in-golden-gate-park/\">Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) at the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)\u003c/a> for assistance. In a statement, the DIR affirmed that “the employer’s failure to complete the form does not affect the worker’s eligibility for benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11894218\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11894218 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Three women wearing masks gathers inside a cafe. One hands another a set of face masks while the third records the scene on their phone.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Officials from the San Mateo County Office of Community Affairs hand out protective face masks to customers at the Top of the Hill Cafe on Sept. 17, 2020, in Daly City. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"provide\">\u003c/a>What does workers' comp provide?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Once your employer has sent out the DWC 1 to their insurer, you should receive information from the insurance company on where to receive medical attention — all of which should be billed to your employer. If you need emergency care due to the infection and the insurance company hasn’t reached out, you can see your health care provider immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have a health care provider, DIR \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/InjuredWorkerGuidebook/Chapter3.pdf\">recommends finding a clinic or hospital\u003c/a> that can provide care without immediate payment, as long as they request a reimbursement from your employer’s insurer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In most instances, the insurance company will connect you with a physician that’s part of a medical provider network (MPN), a group of doctors chosen by the insurance company that are familiar with the workers’ comp process. The MPN doctor \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/medicalunit/qme_page.html\">will perform an examination\u003c/a> to gauge what type of care you need and what benefits you may qualify for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you’re feeling unhappy or unsatisfied with what the physician assigned to you is recommending, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/InjuredWorkerGuidebook/Chapter3.pdf\">you can switch over to another doctor\u003c/a> within the MPN.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Cheryl Wallach, workers' comp attorney\"]'No workers' compensation case is worth losing your job over. The goal is to get better and get back to work.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ricardo Agustín Pérez, the personal injury lawyer, said that many of his clients are not informed about this by their employers. “I think a lot of employers are not educated on that either, because it's really not in the insurance carrier’s interest to tell their insured,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, if the insurer decides that your injury qualifies for workers’ comp — yes, it’s the insurance company that decides — they’ll let you know by mail what medical care will be covered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the insurer accepts your claim, you may also be eligible for several more benefits, including temporary or permanent disability benefits, payments to make up for lost wages while you were sick or reimbursement for transportation costs to and from treatment for COVID-19 care. \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/WorkersCompensationBenefits.htm\">Here’s a more detailed list on what benefits are available and how they’re calculated.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s important to mention that the scope of these benefits is limited, and disability benefits only cover a fraction of your regular wages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody gets rich off workers’ comp,” Wallach said. “No workers’ compensation case is worth losing your job over. The goal is to get better and get back to work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11894172\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11894172 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/RS50871_068_Fresno_FosterFarmsCOVID_08112021-scaled-e1635447963301.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a plastic hairnet and a T-shirt walks toward a concrete building and a forklift beneath a Foster Farms logo.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Foster Farms employee enters the facility on W. Belgravia Ave. in Fresno, California, on Aug. 11, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"denied\">\u003c/a>My claim was denied. What happens now?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In some cases, your employer’s insurance company may decide it won’t cover your claim. This could happen for a variety of reasons, including that they believe you did not contract COVID-19 at your workplace rather than somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this happens, you can challenge this decision \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/MyClaimWasDenied.htm\">by filing a case with the Division of Workers’ Compensation\u003c/a>. A judge will hear your case and decide whether you qualify for benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Cheryl Wallach, workers' comp attorney\"]'The more documentation we have … is going to be helpful in showing that it's a work-related injury.'[/pullquote]This may be a good time to look for legal aid to help you navigate this part of the process. DIR recommends reaching out to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.calbar.ca.gov\">State Bar of California\u003c/a> or the \u003ca href=\"http://www.caaa.org\">California Applicants' Attorneys Association\u003c/a> to learn which workers’ comp attorneys are closest to you. If you are a member of a union, they can also provide you with a list of experienced attorneys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lawyer can help you build a timeline of events to demonstrate that you did catch the coronavirus at work. Wallach, the workers’ comp attorney, points out that it’s especially helpful when an employee has kept a record of their infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As soon as you first start noticing symptoms that you think you have COVID, go a few days out, you know, four or five days backwards and look and see what you've done,” she said. “Who were you around? Where did you go outside of work?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These details can become especially relevant if the insurance company claims that you got COVID-19 outside of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more documentation we have … is going to be helpful in showing that it's a work-related injury,” Wallach explained. “Showing that other people in your family either contracted it after you started having symptoms or didn’t contract it at all will also help tie in that increased risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something else that could be important is knowing how many other employees at your workplace got COVID-19. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/Covid-19/FAQ-SB-1159.html\">state law\u003c/a>, if at least 4% of the workforce tests positive within a period of 14 days, that’s considered an outbreak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If an outbreak took place at your workplace, that could be considered a “rebuttable presumption,” and that, in some instances, could make it easier for you to qualify for workers’ comp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11894217\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11894217 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A worker wears a helmet and a face mask as they carry a heavy cardboard box through a factory.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Employees work with garlic on the production line at Christopher Ranch in Gilroy, California, on May, 30, 2019. \u003ccite>(Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"additional\">\u003c/a>Some additional things to keep in mind\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If you’re thinking of going ahead with the workers’ comp process but feel that your English is a bit limited, you can request an interpreter who can provide assistance in the language you feel most comfortable with during visits to the physician or during the arbitration process. The\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/t8/9795_3.html\"> interpreter would be covered by your employer’s insurance company\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an attorney also fluent in Spanish, Ricardo Agustín Pérez understands the important role that interpreters play in proceedings but also offers a few suggestions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label ='Related Coverage' tag='labor-rights']“It's a very difficult job to be an interpreter,” he explained. “Please be conscious of the fact that this interpreter is translating everything that you say. And if you say a really long sentence, [they have] to remember everything and translate it perfectly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people think that the workers' comp system is designed to compensate you for your lost wages,” he explained, pointing out that some clients have come to him thinking they can get a big compensation after hearing rumors about somebody else’s workers’ comp process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You're only entitled to two years of temporary disability, and it's about two-thirds of your average weekly earnings,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For specific assistance, including extra guidance on the death benefits process, you can contact the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/IandA.html#IandAoffices\">DWC’s Information & Assistance Unit\u003c/a>. The primary number is (800) 736-7401.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You can also contact the DWC Bay Area office that's closest to you:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>San Francisco: (415) 703-5020\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Oakland: (510) 622-2861\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>San José: (408) 277-1292\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Santa Rosa: (707) 576-2452\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/IandA.html#IandAoffices\">\u003cstrong>Get the contact information of all other field offices in the state.\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You can also review the guide from DIR: \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/InjuredWorkerGuidebook/InjuredWorkerGuidebook.html\">Workers' Compensation in California: A Guidebook for Injured Workers\u003c/a>.\"\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting from KQED's Alex Hall.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Unsure of how to file a claim for workers' compensation or what it provides? KQED explains what the process is like and tips to make it less complicated.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1635465268,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":50,"wordCount":2330},"headData":{"title":"Got COVID-19 at Your Job and Applying for Workers' Comp in California? Here's How It Works | KQED","description":"Unsure of how to file a claim for workers' compensation or what it provides? KQED explains what the process is like and tips to make it less complicated.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Got COVID-19 at Your Job and Applying for Workers' Comp in California? Here's How It Works","datePublished":"2021-10-28T21:43:45.000Z","dateModified":"2021-10-28T23:54:28.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"disqusIdentifier":"11894053 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11894053","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2021/10/28/got-covid-19-at-your-job-and-applying-for-workers-comp-in-california-heres-how-it-works/","disqusTitle":"Got COVID-19 at Your Job and Applying for Workers' Comp in California? Here's How It Works","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","path":"/news/11894053/got-covid-19-at-your-job-and-applying-for-workers-comp-in-california-heres-how-it-works","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11892838/there-is-anger-he-should-be-alive-an-investigation-into-deadly-covid-19-outbreaks-at-foster-farms\">recent KQED investigation\u003c/a> found that Foster Farms provided delayed or incomplete information to health officials, the public and its own employees about the scope and seriousness of COVID-19 outbreaks at its plants in California’s Central Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the start of the pandemic, 16 people have died due to complications from the coronavirus, at least 20 were hospitalized and hundreds of workers at the company’s California facilities have been infected. According to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11892838/there-is-anger-he-should-be-alive-an-investigation-into-deadly-covid-19-outbreaks-at-foster-farms\">Cal/OSHA inspection file obtained by KQED\u003c/a>, Foster Farms “could have known and should have known of the continuing COVID-19 hazards.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11892838","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2027/10/50872_transform-1020x679.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>What happened at Foster Farms is only a piece of a larger issue across California: Essential and front-line workers have been hit hardest by workplace outbreaks — and those already struggling with the financial impacts of the pandemic are hit hardest by the incurred costs of dealing with an infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you get coronavirus at work, your employer is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/WorkersCompensationBenefits.htm\">required by law to cover the costs\u003c/a> of medical care, lost income while you’re out sick and even transportation expenses. These benefits all are part of workers’ compensation, and since April 2020, a \u003ca href=\"http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2020/upload/nr036NoticeWorkCompCOVID04062020.pdf\">COVID-19 infection is included as a workplace injury\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if an employee dies from a work-related COVID-19 infection, their dependents could be eligible for death benefits and burial expenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, just because these benefits are available doesn’t mean they’re easy to get. Some employees who’ve survived COVID-19 have had their claims contested by their employers and workers’ comp insurance companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Going through a bureaucratic maze could seem daunting — especially after surviving a case of COVID-19. But it can also open up a financial lifeline for some. Workers \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/employer.htm\">can’t sue their employers for a workplace infection\u003c/a>. However, they are entitled to medical treatment covered by their employer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED spoke with both experienced workers’ comp attorneys and state officials to better understand what it’s like to go through this process and ways to make it less complicated. Don't have time to read the whole guide? Here's a quick breakdown. Click on the links below to skip to a specific section:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#start\">\u003cstrong>What is workers' comp? How do you start a claim?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#provide\">\u003cstrong>What does workers' comp provide?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#denied\">\u003cstrong>My claim was denied. What happens now?\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#additional\">\u003cstrong>Some additional things to keep in mind.\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"start\">\u003c/a>What is workers' comp? How do you start a claim?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>According to attorneys who’ve been managing workers’ comp cases for years, the hardest step in the process can be the first: filing a workers’ comp claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people just aren't aware that they can even bring these claims to begin with,” said Ricardo Agustín Pérez, a personal injury lawyer based in Southern California who currently represents Alma Ruth Hernández Núñez, surviving spouse of a former Foster Farms employee \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11892838/there-is-anger-he-should-be-alive-an-investigation-into-deadly-covid-19-outbreaks-at-foster-farms\">who lost his life due to COVID-19 complications\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also file a claim even if you weren’t hospitalized for COVID-19. Cheryl Wallach, a workers' comp attorney and board member of Worksafe, a worker advocacy group, says that a claim should show that the infection is an industrial injury, meaning it happened at the workplace during the course of employment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11894175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/RS52024_IMG_7733-scaled-e1635448154660.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11894175 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/RS52024_IMG_7733-scaled-e1635448154660.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds a pamphlet open as a second hand holds it by the other end.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jakara Movement organizer Navdeep Kaur speaks with Punjabi families at a Sikh gurdwara in Fresno about COVID-19 and workers' compensation. \u003ccite>(Alexandra Hall/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You just have to show that the employee had an increased risk compared to the general population,” she said. “If you’re in the food service industry or you're working side by side with other workers or … you're not working at home, do you have an increased risk compared to other people?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Any worker in California, regardless of immigration status or industry, can file a claim. And you don’t need a lawyer to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first step is to talk to your employer, whether that’s your supervisor or the owner of the business you’re working for, and let them know you tested positive for COVID-19 and that you believe you contracted the virus at your workplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you let your employer know, they have 24 hours to give you a DWC 1 — a workers’ compensation claim form. You’ll fill out the employee section, which includes sections to describe the injury and when it occurred. Remember, the injury in this case is a COVID-19 infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If your employer doesn’t have a DWC 1 or claims to not know what that is, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/dwcform1.pdf\">you can find a DWC 1 online\u003c/a>. After you fill out your part, give it to your employer, who must provide a copy to their insurer and to the worker within one working day of receiving the form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No matter what your employer may tell you, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/employer.htm\">every business in California is required to have a workers’ comp insurance policy\u003c/a> — even if they only have one employee. If you take a look at the DWC 1, you may notice the term “claims administrator.” That’s the term for your employer’s insurance company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wallach encourages employees to be proactive when talking to their employers, especially if the employers are unaware of existing regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don't take no for an answer just because they don't understand the law or because they don't think it's work related,” she said. “They have to provide [the claim form] to their insurance company.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the case that your employer refuses to fill out their part of the DWC 1 or fails to send it over to their insurer, you can contact the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2021/10/28/the-lady-of-stow-lake-a-haunted-tale-of-tragedy-in-golden-gate-park/\">Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) at the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)\u003c/a> for assistance. In a statement, the DIR affirmed that “the employer’s failure to complete the form does not affect the worker’s eligibility for benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11894218\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11894218 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Three women wearing masks gathers inside a cafe. One hands another a set of face masks while the third records the scene on their phone.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1273198581-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Officials from the San Mateo County Office of Community Affairs hand out protective face masks to customers at the Top of the Hill Cafe on Sept. 17, 2020, in Daly City. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"provide\">\u003c/a>What does workers' comp provide?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Once your employer has sent out the DWC 1 to their insurer, you should receive information from the insurance company on where to receive medical attention — all of which should be billed to your employer. If you need emergency care due to the infection and the insurance company hasn’t reached out, you can see your health care provider immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have a health care provider, DIR \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/InjuredWorkerGuidebook/Chapter3.pdf\">recommends finding a clinic or hospital\u003c/a> that can provide care without immediate payment, as long as they request a reimbursement from your employer’s insurer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In most instances, the insurance company will connect you with a physician that’s part of a medical provider network (MPN), a group of doctors chosen by the insurance company that are familiar with the workers’ comp process. The MPN doctor \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/medicalunit/qme_page.html\">will perform an examination\u003c/a> to gauge what type of care you need and what benefits you may qualify for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you’re feeling unhappy or unsatisfied with what the physician assigned to you is recommending, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/InjuredWorkerGuidebook/Chapter3.pdf\">you can switch over to another doctor\u003c/a> within the MPN.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'No workers' compensation case is worth losing your job over. The goal is to get better and get back to work.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Cheryl Wallach, workers' comp attorney","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ricardo Agustín Pérez, the personal injury lawyer, said that many of his clients are not informed about this by their employers. “I think a lot of employers are not educated on that either, because it's really not in the insurance carrier’s interest to tell their insured,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, if the insurer decides that your injury qualifies for workers’ comp — yes, it’s the insurance company that decides — they’ll let you know by mail what medical care will be covered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the insurer accepts your claim, you may also be eligible for several more benefits, including temporary or permanent disability benefits, payments to make up for lost wages while you were sick or reimbursement for transportation costs to and from treatment for COVID-19 care. \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/WorkersCompensationBenefits.htm\">Here’s a more detailed list on what benefits are available and how they’re calculated.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s important to mention that the scope of these benefits is limited, and disability benefits only cover a fraction of your regular wages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody gets rich off workers’ comp,” Wallach said. “No workers’ compensation case is worth losing your job over. The goal is to get better and get back to work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11894172\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11894172 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/RS50871_068_Fresno_FosterFarmsCOVID_08112021-scaled-e1635447963301.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a plastic hairnet and a T-shirt walks toward a concrete building and a forklift beneath a Foster Farms logo.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Foster Farms employee enters the facility on W. Belgravia Ave. in Fresno, California, on Aug. 11, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"denied\">\u003c/a>My claim was denied. What happens now?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In some cases, your employer’s insurance company may decide it won’t cover your claim. This could happen for a variety of reasons, including that they believe you did not contract COVID-19 at your workplace rather than somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this happens, you can challenge this decision \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/MyClaimWasDenied.htm\">by filing a case with the Division of Workers’ Compensation\u003c/a>. A judge will hear your case and decide whether you qualify for benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'The more documentation we have … is going to be helpful in showing that it's a work-related injury.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Cheryl Wallach, workers' comp attorney","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This may be a good time to look for legal aid to help you navigate this part of the process. DIR recommends reaching out to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.calbar.ca.gov\">State Bar of California\u003c/a> or the \u003ca href=\"http://www.caaa.org\">California Applicants' Attorneys Association\u003c/a> to learn which workers’ comp attorneys are closest to you. If you are a member of a union, they can also provide you with a list of experienced attorneys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lawyer can help you build a timeline of events to demonstrate that you did catch the coronavirus at work. Wallach, the workers’ comp attorney, points out that it’s especially helpful when an employee has kept a record of their infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As soon as you first start noticing symptoms that you think you have COVID, go a few days out, you know, four or five days backwards and look and see what you've done,” she said. “Who were you around? Where did you go outside of work?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These details can become especially relevant if the insurance company claims that you got COVID-19 outside of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more documentation we have … is going to be helpful in showing that it's a work-related injury,” Wallach explained. “Showing that other people in your family either contracted it after you started having symptoms or didn’t contract it at all will also help tie in that increased risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something else that could be important is knowing how many other employees at your workplace got COVID-19. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/Covid-19/FAQ-SB-1159.html\">state law\u003c/a>, if at least 4% of the workforce tests positive within a period of 14 days, that’s considered an outbreak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If an outbreak took place at your workplace, that could be considered a “rebuttable presumption,” and that, in some instances, could make it easier for you to qualify for workers’ comp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11894217\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11894217 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A worker wears a helmet and a face mask as they carry a heavy cardboard box through a factory.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-1148081334-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Employees work with garlic on the production line at Christopher Ranch in Gilroy, California, on May, 30, 2019. \u003ccite>(Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"additional\">\u003c/a>Some additional things to keep in mind\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If you’re thinking of going ahead with the workers’ comp process but feel that your English is a bit limited, you can request an interpreter who can provide assistance in the language you feel most comfortable with during visits to the physician or during the arbitration process. The\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/t8/9795_3.html\"> interpreter would be covered by your employer’s insurance company\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an attorney also fluent in Spanish, Ricardo Agustín Pérez understands the important role that interpreters play in proceedings but also offers a few suggestions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Coverage ","tag":"labor-rights"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It's a very difficult job to be an interpreter,” he explained. “Please be conscious of the fact that this interpreter is translating everything that you say. And if you say a really long sentence, [they have] to remember everything and translate it perfectly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people think that the workers' comp system is designed to compensate you for your lost wages,” he explained, pointing out that some clients have come to him thinking they can get a big compensation after hearing rumors about somebody else’s workers’ comp process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You're only entitled to two years of temporary disability, and it's about two-thirds of your average weekly earnings,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For specific assistance, including extra guidance on the death benefits process, you can contact the \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/IandA.html#IandAoffices\">DWC’s Information & Assistance Unit\u003c/a>. The primary number is (800) 736-7401.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You can also contact the DWC Bay Area office that's closest to you:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>San Francisco: (415) 703-5020\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Oakland: (510) 622-2861\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>San José: (408) 277-1292\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Santa Rosa: (707) 576-2452\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/IandA.html#IandAoffices\">\u003cstrong>Get the contact information of all other field offices in the state.\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You can also review the guide from DIR: \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/InjuredWorkerGuidebook/InjuredWorkerGuidebook.html\">Workers' Compensation in California: A Guidebook for Injured Workers\u003c/a>.\"\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting from KQED's Alex Hall.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11894053/got-covid-19-at-your-job-and-applying-for-workers-comp-in-california-heres-how-it-works","authors":["11708"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_26334","news_311","news_27698","news_28400","news_24863","news_5555","news_29865","news_19377","news_24100"],"featImg":"news_11894181","label":"news"},"news_11864811":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11864811","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11864811","score":null,"sort":[1617264026000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"california-contractors-are-abusing-workers-comp-rules-a-new-bill-would-change-that","title":"California Contractors Are Abusing Workers' Comp Rules. A New Bill Would Change That","publishDate":1617264026,"format":"standard","headTitle":"KQED News","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>A state Senate bill that would require all of California's quarter million contractors to carry workers' compensation insurance is moving ahead with strong support from both parties — and backing from regulators, industry and workers groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials and industry leaders say the bill is aimed at closing a loophole in state law. They say thousands of companies lie to regulators by telling them they do not employ anyone when they actually do. That allows them to avoid buying insurance that's crucial to helping workers who get injured on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The bill will greatly curb the underground economy,\" Skip Daum, a lobbyist for the the American Subcontractors Association of California, told lawmakers this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, there are more than 230,000 contractors with active licenses in California, according to the agency that regulates the state's construction industry. The Contractors State License Board says more than half of those firms — 53% — say they are exempt from carrying insurance because they have no employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Many contractors are falsely making that claim,\" state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, the bill's author, said at a committee hearing in early March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many contractors who claim to be exempt actually have employees, state regulators say. When those workers are injured or killed on the job, that exemption leaves them and their families unprotected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This drives up the cost of workers' compensation insurance for the good actors and puts workers at risk,\" Dodd said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those abuses are at the heart of a series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11780384/employer-in-key-wildfire-gig-economy-trial-from-soberanes-blaze-found-guilty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">KQED stories\u003c/a> on the deaths of bulldozer operators and water tender drivers employed by contractors hired by Cal Fire to help fight wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among those cases were the deaths of three heavy equipment operators killed during wildfires in 2016, 2017 and 2018. After their deaths, state officials learned that the contractors who sent them to fight the fires lacked workers' comp insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Veena Dubal, professor, UC Hastings College of the Law\"]'Failure to carry workers' compensation has had devastating impacts for workers (and their families) who are injured on the job.'[/pullquote]Every year the Contractors State License Board issues hundreds of stop-work orders to companies that are found to have employees and an workers' compensation exemption on file with the agency, according to Mike Jamnetski, the board's chief of legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that disciplinary action \"has not moved the proverbial needle,\" Jamnetski said at the March 8 hearing before the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The contractors board does not have enough staff to audit the 123,000 contractors who claim they do not employ people, Jamnetski said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dodd's proposal, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB216\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Senate Bill 216\u003c/a>, is sponsored by the state contractors board. It would require all concrete, heating, air conditioning and tree service contractors to buy workers' comp right away. By 2025, all licensed contractors in California would be required to purchase coverage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill faces no apparent opposition in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The committee passed the bill in a 14-0 vote after members of nine associations representing contractor groups, unions and lawyers who handle workers' comp cases voiced support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11780384,news_11405049,news_11367902 label='Related Coverage']Daum, the lobbyist with the subcontractors association, said contractors who try to hide the fact they have employees and neglect their responsibility to get workers' comp have an unfair advantage over those who follow the rules: Without paying for insurance, their costs are lower, allowing them to make lower bids on project contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill does not require a set level of workers' comp coverage. Currently, about half of California's construction companies that have the benefit have chosen what are called minimum policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many contractors who have not claimed employees in the past are expected to choose such plans, which range from $500 to $5,000 a year, according to the State Compensation Insurance Fund, one of California's leading providers of the benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cost range depends on the industry in which the contractor works, how many people they employ and their claims history, the fund's chief risk officer, Ken Van Laar, said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"As we've seen, failure to carry workers' compensation has had devastating impacts for workers (and their families) who are injured on the job,\" said Veena Dubal, a UC Hastings College of the Law professor specializing in employment law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the bill passes and contractors do not get workers' comp, the state could suspend their license and they could be charged with a misdemeanor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubal raised concerns that not complying with the potential new rules could lead to criminal prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think it's really troubling,\" Dubal said. \"Addressing workplace violations through criminal law is a trend that, I'm afraid, will be used to disproportionately impact small business, racial minorities and immigrant contractors.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to Dubal's concerns, Natalie Watmore, a CSLB representative, noted that the bill does not change the existing criminal penalties for contractors who lack workers' comp. It just expands the existing regulations to more industries and cuts out exemptions for companies that do not claim employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watmore said the agency does not expect to refer a significant number of cases for criminal enforcement. She emphasized that the proposed regulations apply to all contractors regardless of their background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 216 was recently placed in the Senate Committee on Appropriations' suspense file and is expected to face its next hearing in late May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it passes, state officials say they plan to make sure contractors are aware of the new rules by posting them on a CSLB \u003ca href=\"https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Resources/Newsletters/winter-2021-CLC.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">newsletter\u003c/a>, industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.cslb.ca.gov/media_room/industry_bulletins/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bulletins\u003c/a>, social media posts and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Media_Room/consumer_education/licensing_workshops.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">workshops\u003c/a> for firms to get contractors' licenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A new state Senate bill would close a loophole that has allowed thousands of contractors to avoid buying insurance to cover workers injured or killed on the job.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1617297894,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":29,"wordCount":948},"headData":{"title":"California Contractors Are Abusing Workers' Comp Rules. A New Bill Would Change That | KQED","description":"A new state Senate bill would close a loophole that has allowed thousands of contractors to avoid buying insurance to cover workers injured or killed on the job.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"California Contractors Are Abusing Workers' Comp Rules. A New Bill Would Change That","datePublished":"2021-04-01T08:00:26.000Z","dateModified":"2021-04-01T17:24:54.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"disqusIdentifier":"11864811 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11864811","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2021/04/01/california-contractors-are-abusing-workers-comp-rules-a-new-bill-would-change-that/","disqusTitle":"California Contractors Are Abusing Workers' Comp Rules. A New Bill Would Change That","path":"/news/11864811/california-contractors-are-abusing-workers-comp-rules-a-new-bill-would-change-that","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A state Senate bill that would require all of California's quarter million contractors to carry workers' compensation insurance is moving ahead with strong support from both parties — and backing from regulators, industry and workers groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials and industry leaders say the bill is aimed at closing a loophole in state law. They say thousands of companies lie to regulators by telling them they do not employ anyone when they actually do. That allows them to avoid buying insurance that's crucial to helping workers who get injured on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The bill will greatly curb the underground economy,\" Skip Daum, a lobbyist for the the American Subcontractors Association of California, told lawmakers this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, there are more than 230,000 contractors with active licenses in California, according to the agency that regulates the state's construction industry. The Contractors State License Board says more than half of those firms — 53% — say they are exempt from carrying insurance because they have no employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Many contractors are falsely making that claim,\" state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, the bill's author, said at a committee hearing in early March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many contractors who claim to be exempt actually have employees, state regulators say. When those workers are injured or killed on the job, that exemption leaves them and their families unprotected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This drives up the cost of workers' compensation insurance for the good actors and puts workers at risk,\" Dodd said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those abuses are at the heart of a series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11780384/employer-in-key-wildfire-gig-economy-trial-from-soberanes-blaze-found-guilty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">KQED stories\u003c/a> on the deaths of bulldozer operators and water tender drivers employed by contractors hired by Cal Fire to help fight wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among those cases were the deaths of three heavy equipment operators killed during wildfires in 2016, 2017 and 2018. After their deaths, state officials learned that the contractors who sent them to fight the fires lacked workers' comp insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'Failure to carry workers' compensation has had devastating impacts for workers (and their families) who are injured on the job.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Veena Dubal, professor, UC Hastings College of the Law","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Every year the Contractors State License Board issues hundreds of stop-work orders to companies that are found to have employees and an workers' compensation exemption on file with the agency, according to Mike Jamnetski, the board's chief of legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that disciplinary action \"has not moved the proverbial needle,\" Jamnetski said at the March 8 hearing before the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The contractors board does not have enough staff to audit the 123,000 contractors who claim they do not employ people, Jamnetski said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dodd's proposal, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB216\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Senate Bill 216\u003c/a>, is sponsored by the state contractors board. It would require all concrete, heating, air conditioning and tree service contractors to buy workers' comp right away. By 2025, all licensed contractors in California would be required to purchase coverage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill faces no apparent opposition in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The committee passed the bill in a 14-0 vote after members of nine associations representing contractor groups, unions and lawyers who handle workers' comp cases voiced support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11780384,news_11405049,news_11367902","label":"Related Coverage "},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Daum, the lobbyist with the subcontractors association, said contractors who try to hide the fact they have employees and neglect their responsibility to get workers' comp have an unfair advantage over those who follow the rules: Without paying for insurance, their costs are lower, allowing them to make lower bids on project contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill does not require a set level of workers' comp coverage. Currently, about half of California's construction companies that have the benefit have chosen what are called minimum policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many contractors who have not claimed employees in the past are expected to choose such plans, which range from $500 to $5,000 a year, according to the State Compensation Insurance Fund, one of California's leading providers of the benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cost range depends on the industry in which the contractor works, how many people they employ and their claims history, the fund's chief risk officer, Ken Van Laar, said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"As we've seen, failure to carry workers' compensation has had devastating impacts for workers (and their families) who are injured on the job,\" said Veena Dubal, a UC Hastings College of the Law professor specializing in employment law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the bill passes and contractors do not get workers' comp, the state could suspend their license and they could be charged with a misdemeanor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubal raised concerns that not complying with the potential new rules could lead to criminal prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I think it's really troubling,\" Dubal said. \"Addressing workplace violations through criminal law is a trend that, I'm afraid, will be used to disproportionately impact small business, racial minorities and immigrant contractors.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to Dubal's concerns, Natalie Watmore, a CSLB representative, noted that the bill does not change the existing criminal penalties for contractors who lack workers' comp. It just expands the existing regulations to more industries and cuts out exemptions for companies that do not claim employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watmore said the agency does not expect to refer a significant number of cases for criminal enforcement. She emphasized that the proposed regulations apply to all contractors regardless of their background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 216 was recently placed in the Senate Committee on Appropriations' suspense file and is expected to face its next hearing in late May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it passes, state officials say they plan to make sure contractors are aware of the new rules by posting them on a CSLB \u003ca href=\"https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Resources/Newsletters/winter-2021-CLC.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">newsletter\u003c/a>, industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.cslb.ca.gov/media_room/industry_bulletins/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bulletins\u003c/a>, social media posts and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cslb.ca.gov/Media_Room/consumer_education/licensing_workshops.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">workshops\u003c/a> for firms to get contractors' licenses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11864811/california-contractors-are-abusing-workers-comp-rules-a-new-bill-would-change-that","authors":["258"],"categories":["news_1758","news_457","news_6266","news_6188","news_28250","news_8","news_13"],"tags":["news_21595","news_18538","news_18159","news_19904","news_17968","news_23007","news_19377"],"featImg":"news_11867414","label":"news"},"news_11794229":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11794229","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11794229","score":null,"sort":[1578356355000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"left-waiting-workers-comp-creates-lengthy-delays-for-californians-injured-on-the-job","title":"Left Waiting: Workers’ Comp Creates Lengthy Delays for Californians Injured on the Job","publishDate":1578356355,"format":"standard","headTitle":"KQED News","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Injured workers in California often wait months or even years to receive the medical evaluations required to get needed treatment, and in some cases to determine the extent of their disability resulting from a work-related injury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason? The state lacks enough physicians signed up with the state’s program to serve as experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"workers-comp\"]That’s among the findings of a first-ever state\u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2019-102.pdf\"> audit \u003c/a>of California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation, which noted that the state has not increased the pay schedule for expert doctors, known as Qualified Medical Evaluators, in 13 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s affecting real workers, and if something is not being done correctly, they need to fix it,” said Democratic Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio of Baldwin Park. She requested the audit as a member of the \u003ca href=\"https://legaudit.assembly.ca.gov/\">Joint Committee on Legislative Audit\u003c/a>, which will hold a \u003ca href=\"https://legaudit.assembly.ca.gov/hearings\">hearing\u003c/a> on the findings Tuesday. “But if it doesn’t get fixed, then we can step in and fix it. The department needs to take it seriously.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those workers is Doreen Duarte-Ellis of Livermore, who said she injured herself moving a patient at the nursing home where she worked in 2014. A human resources representative at the company that operates the home declined to comment, saying she was unable to answer questions involving personnel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duarte-Ellis and her lawyer say it has been tough for her to get treatment and resolution in her case — a situation they blame in part on months and months of delays while she waited to see a workers’ comp medical evaluator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m tired physically, emotionally. This process plays a huge part in it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duarte-Ellis said she used to be an active woman who rode a Harley, swam and played with her grandchildren. Now, she says, she can’t ride, swim or lift babies anymore because of pain and stiffness — and that she spends most of her day icing her body or trying to find a comfortable position to sit or lie down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m permanently disabled. Had they done stuff sooner possibly I may not have been disabled,” said Duarte-Ellis, 57. “My life came to a screeching halt and I’ve suffered endlessly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state auditor found that the Division of Workers’ Compensation:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>“Failed” to address the shortage of medical experts — there were 2,800 medical evaluators to handle some 100,000 new requests for evaluations in 2017-2018.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“Inappropriately” disciplined doctors for alleged overbilling issues by not reappointing them, raising “due process concerns.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Has not ensured that the evaluators’ reports meet quality standards as accurate and complete, and has not tracked how often judges reject those reports as a result.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The division is part of the Department of Industrial Relations, which is charged with enforcing labor laws and protecting workers and employers. It is funded by fees paid by employers statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The division “acknowledged and accepted” the recommendations in the audit, but indicated it was already working on some solutions. Agency representatives refused to answer CalMatters’ questions about the audit, referring instead to its written response to the auditor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wrote that it has been working on updating the payment schedule for evaluators since 2017. In August, the agency released a \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2019/2019-68.pdf\">proposal\u003c/a> that garnered hundreds of mostly negative public \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/WCAB/ForumDocs/Forum-%20June2019/Forum-3-Comments.pdf\">comments\u003c/a>. The agency has since revised the proposal, held stakeholder meetings, and in January will hold a public hearing on a final proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its response also cited a statewide doctor shortage, which makes it hard to recruit doctors to the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"https://e.infogram.com/f8ca3acd-9c6c-4197-8341-e63f92f665df?src=embed\" title=\"Workers Compensation Final\" width=\"800\" height=\"1300\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the agency also said not all the certified doctors are busy under the current system, and that it intends to change how evaluators are assigned to panels from which workers and their attorneys choose experts. Doctor advocates say that some doctors, such as orthopedists, are more in demand than others, such as chiropractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency also wrote that it would review its disciplinary procedures and notify doctors earlier in the process if it suspected billing violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2018\u003ca href=\"https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR1279.html\"> review\u003c/a> by the Rand Corp. recommended the fees be restructured to ensure that medical experts are fully compensated for their time on complex cases and produce high quality evaluations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the Legislature is getting involved too. A \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1832\">bill\u003c/a> expected to be heard in committee in January would require the agency to boost pay for medical evaluators based on inflation since 2006, and provide regular raises as a way to keep and attract doctors to the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When injured workers endure lengthy waits, their health may suffer, their condition could worsen, they may lose their financial footing and some have even lost their homes, according to lawyers representing injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They provide “your recourse to getting access to benefits once they are denied,” said Dr. Gabor Vari, CEO of California Medical Evaluators, a company that connects injured workers with evaluators. “You may be out of work. You may not be getting any benefits like disability payments. You may not have access to medical care because workers’ comp is supposed to treat your injury.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically workers require an evaluation when an employer disputes whether an injury is actually work-related, or the worker feels they need more treatment or wants a second opinion regarding temporary or permanent disability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a worker, or the worker’s attorney, asks for a medical review, the state provides a list of three experts to choose from, but also requires the appointment take place within 60 days. If a doctor can’t do it in that timeframe, the worker will be given a fresh list and the process begins all over again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers who have an attorney typically end up with just one expert to schedule, because both sides can strike one of the other’s choices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland attorney Dikla Dolev said she represented a worker who went through nine lists before getting an evaluation in the required time. That process took over a year, said Dolev.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who don’t have other access to health insurance are literally just sitting out there, and it becomes a situation where your whole life has been delayed,” she said. “They are trying to survive on state disability benefits. They are losing the time they are typically giving to 401(k)s and pensions. It puts their entire life on delay, and frankly there is a staggering effect on someone’s health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evaluations also produce documents that are used in legal cases to determine treatment, settlement and future medical care, said Jacob Rosenberg, president of the \u003ca href=\"https://csims.org/\">California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery\u003c/a>, which represents physicians who see injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evaluators can earn around $240 an hour if a case is complex. A complex evaluation and completion of the required report can take hours. Clamping down on how long doctors can take or limiting their compensation may lead them to rush through the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t pay well enough to get new evaluators and keep old evaluators,” Rosenberg said. “The system is breaking down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This isn’t the first time the agency has hit controversy. Its previous director\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-fraud-commissioner-nepotism-20190329-story.html\"> resigned\u003c/a> in 2018 after reports of nepotism. That year the agency settled a lawsuit brought by doctors whom it did not reappoint for two-year terms as medical evaluators based on alleged billing violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rpna-wins-victory-for-california-qmes-in-settlement-agreements-with-the-california-department-of-workers-compensation-300635846.html\">lawsuit\u003c/a> claimed the agency used “underground regulations” to assess bills submitted by evaluators to insurers, and cut them out of the system for alleged overbilling when their terms were up without letting them defend themselves, said attorney Nicolas Roxborough, who represented medical evaluators against the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither the agency nor the doctors admitted wrongdoing in the \u003ca href=\"http://rpnalaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180420.Master-Settlement-Agreement-etc.-FINAL-redacted-pdf-00163418xE15DC.pdf\">settlement\u003c/a>. The agency agreed to follow written regulations when reviewing reports and not impose other rules, Some of the doctors agreed to pay back reduced amounts to insurers for the billing issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tigran Garabekyan, a plaintiff and an orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles, was not reappointed as an evaluator because the agency said he was overbilling insurers on complex cases. He said that forced him to cancel more than a dozen evaluations, leaving injured workers in the lurch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is how callous their action was, with seemingly no regard for the damage it had on the injured workers,” Garabekyan said. “I had the rug pulled out from under me. They didn’t provide any avenues to resolve this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within months the state settled the case and reappointed him. He agreed to pay several thousand dollars back to various insurers and to take a billing course. He was not accused of fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Employers and workers’ compensation insurers agree that the evaluator system is in need of repair and the fees need to be raised, said Jerry Azevedo, spokesman for the Workers’ Compensation Action Network, which represents a coalition of employers and insurers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There has been complaining and gnashing of teeth about the process for many years,” he said. “Employers are most concerned about the quality issue. This is employer money and workers lives — and if we are going to spend the time and energy and money on what is supposed to be an impartial process, we want to get that right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters.org\u003c/a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Although the number of Californians needing evaluations for reported on-the-job-injuries has soared, the state's stable of approved medical evaluators to review those cases has been dropping.\r\n","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1578356389,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":40,"wordCount":1626},"headData":{"title":"Left Waiting: Workers’ Comp Creates Lengthy Delays for Californians Injured on the Job | KQED","description":"Although the number of Californians needing evaluations for reported on-the-job-injuries has soared, the state's stable of approved medical evaluators to review those cases has been dropping.\r\n","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Left Waiting: Workers’ Comp Creates Lengthy Delays for Californians Injured on the Job","datePublished":"2020-01-07T00:19:15.000Z","dateModified":"2020-01-07T00:19:49.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"disqusIdentifier":"11794229 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11794229","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2020/01/06/left-waiting-workers-comp-creates-lengthy-delays-for-californians-injured-on-the-job/","disqusTitle":"Left Waiting: Workers’ Comp Creates Lengthy Delays for Californians Injured on the Job","source":"CalMatters","sourceUrl":"https://calmatters.org/","nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/elizabeth-aguilera/\">Elizabeth Aguilera\u003c/a>\u003cbr>CalMatters","path":"/news/11794229/left-waiting-workers-comp-creates-lengthy-delays-for-californians-injured-on-the-job","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Injured workers in California often wait months or even years to receive the medical evaluations required to get needed treatment, and in some cases to determine the extent of their disability resulting from a work-related injury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason? The state lacks enough physicians signed up with the state’s program to serve as experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"related coverage ","tag":"workers-comp"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That’s among the findings of a first-ever state\u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2019-102.pdf\"> audit \u003c/a>of California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation, which noted that the state has not increased the pay schedule for expert doctors, known as Qualified Medical Evaluators, in 13 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s affecting real workers, and if something is not being done correctly, they need to fix it,” said Democratic Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio of Baldwin Park. She requested the audit as a member of the \u003ca href=\"https://legaudit.assembly.ca.gov/\">Joint Committee on Legislative Audit\u003c/a>, which will hold a \u003ca href=\"https://legaudit.assembly.ca.gov/hearings\">hearing\u003c/a> on the findings Tuesday. “But if it doesn’t get fixed, then we can step in and fix it. The department needs to take it seriously.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those workers is Doreen Duarte-Ellis of Livermore, who said she injured herself moving a patient at the nursing home where she worked in 2014. A human resources representative at the company that operates the home declined to comment, saying she was unable to answer questions involving personnel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duarte-Ellis and her lawyer say it has been tough for her to get treatment and resolution in her case — a situation they blame in part on months and months of delays while she waited to see a workers’ comp medical evaluator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m tired physically, emotionally. This process plays a huge part in it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duarte-Ellis said she used to be an active woman who rode a Harley, swam and played with her grandchildren. Now, she says, she can’t ride, swim or lift babies anymore because of pain and stiffness — and that she spends most of her day icing her body or trying to find a comfortable position to sit or lie down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m permanently disabled. Had they done stuff sooner possibly I may not have been disabled,” said Duarte-Ellis, 57. “My life came to a screeching halt and I’ve suffered endlessly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state auditor found that the Division of Workers’ Compensation:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>“Failed” to address the shortage of medical experts — there were 2,800 medical evaluators to handle some 100,000 new requests for evaluations in 2017-2018.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“Inappropriately” disciplined doctors for alleged overbilling issues by not reappointing them, raising “due process concerns.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Has not ensured that the evaluators’ reports meet quality standards as accurate and complete, and has not tracked how often judges reject those reports as a result.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The division is part of the Department of Industrial Relations, which is charged with enforcing labor laws and protecting workers and employers. It is funded by fees paid by employers statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The division “acknowledged and accepted” the recommendations in the audit, but indicated it was already working on some solutions. Agency representatives refused to answer CalMatters’ questions about the audit, referring instead to its written response to the auditor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wrote that it has been working on updating the payment schedule for evaluators since 2017. In August, the agency released a \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2019/2019-68.pdf\">proposal\u003c/a> that garnered hundreds of mostly negative public \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/WCAB/ForumDocs/Forum-%20June2019/Forum-3-Comments.pdf\">comments\u003c/a>. The agency has since revised the proposal, held stakeholder meetings, and in January will hold a public hearing on a final proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its response also cited a statewide doctor shortage, which makes it hard to recruit doctors to the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"https://e.infogram.com/f8ca3acd-9c6c-4197-8341-e63f92f665df?src=embed\" title=\"Workers Compensation Final\" width=\"800\" height=\"1300\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the agency also said not all the certified doctors are busy under the current system, and that it intends to change how evaluators are assigned to panels from which workers and their attorneys choose experts. Doctor advocates say that some doctors, such as orthopedists, are more in demand than others, such as chiropractors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency also wrote that it would review its disciplinary procedures and notify doctors earlier in the process if it suspected billing violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2018\u003ca href=\"https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR1279.html\"> review\u003c/a> by the Rand Corp. recommended the fees be restructured to ensure that medical experts are fully compensated for their time on complex cases and produce high quality evaluations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the Legislature is getting involved too. A \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1832\">bill\u003c/a> expected to be heard in committee in January would require the agency to boost pay for medical evaluators based on inflation since 2006, and provide regular raises as a way to keep and attract doctors to the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When injured workers endure lengthy waits, their health may suffer, their condition could worsen, they may lose their financial footing and some have even lost their homes, according to lawyers representing injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They provide “your recourse to getting access to benefits once they are denied,” said Dr. Gabor Vari, CEO of California Medical Evaluators, a company that connects injured workers with evaluators. “You may be out of work. You may not be getting any benefits like disability payments. You may not have access to medical care because workers’ comp is supposed to treat your injury.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically workers require an evaluation when an employer disputes whether an injury is actually work-related, or the worker feels they need more treatment or wants a second opinion regarding temporary or permanent disability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a worker, or the worker’s attorney, asks for a medical review, the state provides a list of three experts to choose from, but also requires the appointment take place within 60 days. If a doctor can’t do it in that timeframe, the worker will be given a fresh list and the process begins all over again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers who have an attorney typically end up with just one expert to schedule, because both sides can strike one of the other’s choices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland attorney Dikla Dolev said she represented a worker who went through nine lists before getting an evaluation in the required time. That process took over a year, said Dolev.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who don’t have other access to health insurance are literally just sitting out there, and it becomes a situation where your whole life has been delayed,” she said. “They are trying to survive on state disability benefits. They are losing the time they are typically giving to 401(k)s and pensions. It puts their entire life on delay, and frankly there is a staggering effect on someone’s health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evaluations also produce documents that are used in legal cases to determine treatment, settlement and future medical care, said Jacob Rosenberg, president of the \u003ca href=\"https://csims.org/\">California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery\u003c/a>, which represents physicians who see injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evaluators can earn around $240 an hour if a case is complex. A complex evaluation and completion of the required report can take hours. Clamping down on how long doctors can take or limiting their compensation may lead them to rush through the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t pay well enough to get new evaluators and keep old evaluators,” Rosenberg said. “The system is breaking down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This isn’t the first time the agency has hit controversy. Its previous director\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-fraud-commissioner-nepotism-20190329-story.html\"> resigned\u003c/a> in 2018 after reports of nepotism. That year the agency settled a lawsuit brought by doctors whom it did not reappoint for two-year terms as medical evaluators based on alleged billing violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rpna-wins-victory-for-california-qmes-in-settlement-agreements-with-the-california-department-of-workers-compensation-300635846.html\">lawsuit\u003c/a> claimed the agency used “underground regulations” to assess bills submitted by evaluators to insurers, and cut them out of the system for alleged overbilling when their terms were up without letting them defend themselves, said attorney Nicolas Roxborough, who represented medical evaluators against the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither the agency nor the doctors admitted wrongdoing in the \u003ca href=\"http://rpnalaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/180420.Master-Settlement-Agreement-etc.-FINAL-redacted-pdf-00163418xE15DC.pdf\">settlement\u003c/a>. The agency agreed to follow written regulations when reviewing reports and not impose other rules, Some of the doctors agreed to pay back reduced amounts to insurers for the billing issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tigran Garabekyan, a plaintiff and an orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles, was not reappointed as an evaluator because the agency said he was overbilling insurers on complex cases. He said that forced him to cancel more than a dozen evaluations, leaving injured workers in the lurch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is how callous their action was, with seemingly no regard for the damage it had on the injured workers,” Garabekyan said. “I had the rug pulled out from under me. They didn’t provide any avenues to resolve this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within months the state settled the case and reappointed him. He agreed to pay several thousand dollars back to various insurers and to take a billing course. He was not accused of fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Employers and workers’ compensation insurers agree that the evaluator system is in need of repair and the fees need to be raised, said Jerry Azevedo, spokesman for the Workers’ Compensation Action Network, which represents a coalition of employers and insurers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There has been complaining and gnashing of teeth about the process for many years,” he said. “Employers are most concerned about the quality issue. This is employer money and workers lives — and if we are going to spend the time and energy and money on what is supposed to be an impartial process, we want to get that right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters.org\u003c/a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11794229/left-waiting-workers-comp-creates-lengthy-delays-for-californians-injured-on-the-job","authors":["byline_news_11794229"],"categories":["news_457","news_8","news_13"],"tags":["news_24864","news_19904","news_19377","news_24100"],"featImg":"news_11794252","label":"source_news_11794229"},"news_11662927":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11662927","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11662927","score":null,"sort":[1524005344000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"troubles-for-tesla","title":"Troubles for Tesla","publishDate":1524005344,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Mark Fiore: Drawn to the Bay | KQED News","labelTerm":{"term":18515,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Tesla did not take kindly to Reveal's \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/fioreteslareveal\">report about injuries at the company's Fremont plant\u003c/a>, calling the nonprofit news outlet that reported it, \"an extremist organization.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/\">Reveal\u003c/a>, named a Pulitzer Prize finalist on Monday and the public face of the Bay Area's Center for Investigative Reporting, has been a fixture in journalism since 1977.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beset by ongoing production problems, Tesla announced on Tuesday it was temporarily suspending manufacturing of the Model 3.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Tesla did not take kindly to Reveal's report about injuries at the company's Fremont plant, calling the nonprofit news outlet that reported it, \"an extremist organization.\"","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1524005344,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":5,"wordCount":77},"headData":{"title":"Troubles for Tesla | KQED","description":"Tesla did not take kindly to Reveal's report about injuries at the company's Fremont plant, calling the nonprofit news outlet that reported it, "an extremist organization."","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Troubles for Tesla","datePublished":"2018-04-17T22:49:04.000Z","dateModified":"2018-04-17T22:49:04.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"disqusIdentifier":"11662927 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11662927","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2018/04/17/troubles-for-tesla/","disqusTitle":"Troubles for Tesla","path":"/news/11662927/troubles-for-tesla","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Tesla did not take kindly to Reveal's \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/fioreteslareveal\">report about injuries at the company's Fremont plant\u003c/a>, calling the nonprofit news outlet that reported it, \"an extremist organization.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/\">Reveal\u003c/a>, named a Pulitzer Prize finalist on Monday and the public face of the Bay Area's Center for Investigative Reporting, has been a fixture in journalism since 1977.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beset by ongoing production problems, Tesla announced on Tuesday it was temporarily suspending manufacturing of the Model 3.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11662927/troubles-for-tesla","authors":["3236"],"series":["news_18515"],"categories":["news_19906","news_8","news_248","news_1397"],"tags":["news_18544","news_3897","news_20150","news_66","news_20482","news_20949","news_57","news_794","news_23007","news_19377"],"featImg":"news_11662938","label":"news_18515"},"news_11662641":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11662641","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11662641","score":null,"sort":[1523970031000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books","title":"Tesla Says Its Factory Is Safer, but It Left Injuries Off the Books","publishDate":1523970031,"format":"audio","headTitle":"The California Report | KQED News","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at \u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/\">revealnews.org\u003c/a> and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at \u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/podcast\">revealnews.org/podcast\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]nside Tesla’s electric car factory, giant red robots – some named for X-Men characters – heave car parts in the air, while workers wearing black toil on aluminum car bodies. Forklifts and tuggers zip by on gray-painted floors, differentiated from pedestrian walkways by another shade of gray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s one color, though, that some of Tesla’s former safety experts wanted to see more of: yellow – the traditional hue of caution used to mark hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Concerned about bone-crunching collisions and the lack of clearly marked pedestrian lanes at the Fremont, California, plant, the general assembly line’s then-lead safety professional went to her boss, who she said told her, “Elon does not like the color yellow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The melding of cutting-edge technology and world-saving vision is Tesla Inc.’s big draw. Many, including Justine White, the safety lead, went to work there inspired by Elon Musk, a CEO with star power and now a\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2018/feb/07/forget-the-car-in-space-why-elon-musks-reusable-rockets-are-more-than-a-publicity-stunt\"> groundbreaking rocket\u003c/a> in space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What she and some of her colleagues found, they said, was a chaotic factory floor where style and speed trumped safety. Musk’s name often was invoked to justify shortcuts and shoot down concerns, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under fire for mounting injuries, Tesla recently\u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/blog/becoming-safest-car-factory-world\"> touted a sharp drop\u003c/a> in its injury rate for 2017, which it says came down to meet the auto industry average of about 6.2 injuries per 100 workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But things are not always as they seem at Tesla. An \u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/article/tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books\">investigation\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"http://revealnews.org/\">Reveal\u003c/a> from The Center for Investigative Reporting found that Tesla has failed to report some of its serious injuries on legally mandated reports, making the company’s injury numbers look better than they actually are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11662656\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-800x613.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"613\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-800x613.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-160x123.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-1020x782.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-1180x904.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-960x736.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-240x184.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-375x287.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-520x399.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2.png 1190w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last April, Tarik Logan suffered debilitating headaches from the fumes of a toxic glue he had to use at the plant. He texted his mom: “I’m n hella pain foreal something ain’t right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The searing pain became so unbearable he couldn’t work, and it plagued him for weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Logan’s inhalation injury, as it was diagnosed, never made it onto the official injury logs that state and federal law requires companies to keep. Neither did reports from other factory workers of sprains, strains and repetitive stress injuries from piecing together Tesla’s sleek cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, company officials labeled the injuries personal medical issues or minor incidents requiring only first aid, according to internal company records obtained by Reveal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undercounting injuries is one symptom of a more fundamental problem at Tesla: The company has put its manufacturing of electric cars above safety concerns, according to five former members of its environment, health and safety team who left the company last year. That, they said, has put workers unnecessarily in harm’s way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, White said she warned superiors about a potential explosion hazard but was told they would defer to production managers because fixing the problem would require stopping the production line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From September 2016 to January 2017, White oversaw safety for thousands of workers on Tesla’s general assembly line, in charge of responding to injuries, reviewing injury records, teaching safety classes and assessing the factory for hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything took a back seat to production,” White said. “It’s just a matter of time before somebody gets killed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla, worth about $50 billion, employs more than 10,000 workers at its Fremont factory. Alongside the company’s remarkable rise, workers have been sliced by machinery, crushed by forklifts, burned in electrical explosions and sprayed with molten metal. Tesla recorded \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4419499-Tesla-300A-2017.html\">722 injuries\u003c/a> last year, about two a day. The rate of serious injuries, requiring time off or a work restriction, was 30 percent worse than the previous year’s industry average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frantic growth, constant changes and lax rules, combined with a CEO whom senior managers were afraid to cross, created an atmosphere in which few dared to stand up for worker safety, the former environment, health and safety team members told Reveal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in addition to yellow, Musk was said to dislike too many signs in the factory and the warning beeps forklifts make when backing up, former team members said. His preferences, they said, were well known and led to cutting back on those standard safety signals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone said, ‘Elon doesn’t like something,’ you were concerned because you could lose your job,” said Susan Rigmaiden, former environmental compliance manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months into her job, White became so alarmed that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4419515-Justine-Email-to-HR.html\">wrote\u003c/a> to a human resources manager that “the risk of injury is too high. People are getting hurt every day and near-hit incidents where people are getting almost crushed or hit by cars is unacceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next day, she \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4416595-Justine-White-Email-to-Sam-Teller.html\">emailed\u003c/a> Sam Teller, Musk’s chief of staff, that safety team leaders were failing to address the hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know what can keep a person up at night regarding safety,” she wrote. “I must tell you that I can’t sleep here at Tesla.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she never heard back from Musk’s office. She transferred departments and quit a couple of months later, disillusioned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her March 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4437759-Resignation-Letter-Excerpt.html\">resignation letter,\u003c/a> White recounted the time she told her boss, Seth Woody, “that the plant layout was extremely dangerous to pedestrians.” Woody, head of the safety team, told her “that Elon didn’t want signs, anything yellow (like caution tape) or to wear safety shoes in the plant” and acknowledged it “was a mess,” she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She sent the letter directly to Musk and the head of human resources at the time – to no response, she said. Woody did not respond to inquiries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Tesla quality inspector Dennis Cruz has had a series of injuries that took him off the production line. At one point, living on workers’ compensation payments because of work-induced tendinitis, he ended up living in his car, unable to afford rent.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tesla quality inspector Dennis Cruz has had a series of injuries that took him off the production line. At one point, living on workers’ compensation payments because of work-induced tendinitis, he ended up living in his car, unable to afford rent. \u003ccite>(Emily Harger/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tesla officials dismissed all of White’s concerns as unsubstantiated. They insisted that the company records injuries accurately and cares deeply about the safety of its workers. As proof, company officials said a recent anonymous internal survey found 82 percent of employees agreed that “Tesla is committed to my health, safety and well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before publication of this story, a Tesla spokesman sent a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4432415-Tesla-Statement.html\">statement\u003c/a> accusing Reveal of being a tool in an ongoing unionization drive and portraying “a completely false picture of Tesla and what it is actually like to work here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In our view, what they portray as investigative journalism is in fact an ideologically motivated attack by an extremist organization working directly with union supporters to create a calculated disinformation campaign against Tesla,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla’s spokesman also sent photos of rails and posts in the factory that were painted yellow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reveal interviewed more than three dozen current and former employees and managers and reviewed hundreds of pages of documents. Some of the workers who spoke to Reveal have supported the unionization effort, while many others – including safety professionals – had no involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Chaotic Factory Floor\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On one hand, Tesla boasts state-of-the-art machinery that makes it “like working for Iron Man,” as one former employee described it. On the other, the company relied on hoists that weren’t engineered or inspected before they were used to lift heavy car parts, according to a former safety team member, resulting in repeated accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662666\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662666\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-800x529.jpg\" alt=\"At Tesla’s electric car factory in Fremont, CEO Elon Musk’s name often was invoked to justify shortcuts and shoot down safety concerns, former safety experts for the company say. \" width=\"800\" height=\"529\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-800x529.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-1020x675.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-1200x794.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-1180x781.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-960x635.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-240x159.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-375x248.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-520x344.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Tesla’s electric car factory in Fremont, CEO Elon Musk’s name often was invoked to justify shortcuts and shoot down safety concerns, former safety experts for the company say. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The company is under immense pressure to ramp up manufacturing of the new Model 3 sedan, its first mass-market vehicle at $35,000. Musk initially said Tesla would be producing\u003ca href=\"https://mashable.com/2017/10/03/tesla-model-3-production-woes-analysis/#KH37hHQFemqw\"> 20,000 of them per month\u003c/a> by the end of 2017, but the company \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2018/04/03/tesla-misses-model-3-production-goal-once-again/?utm_term=.6679155b2d34\">just missed\u003c/a> its scaled-back promise to produce half that number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla is often in a state of frenzied production. Former employees said they faced 12-hour workdays, faulty equipment and paltry training as they scrambled to come up with workarounds on the fly to get cars out the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hustle meant that health and safety protocols could literally get left in the dust. Last year, construction workers cut through concrete to build the new Model 3 assembly line, spreading silica dust – which can cause cancer – without containing and testing it first, Rigmaiden and two other former members of the health and safety team said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the high stakes for life and limb, the safety professionals maintain safety training has been woefully inadequate. The company said all workers receive at least four days of training. But new employees often were pulled out of training early to fill spots on the factory floor, White and another former safety team member said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Team members were reluctant to speak to reporters, but said they agreed to in order to help improve conditions for current and future Tesla workers. Some asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals or hurting their careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Tesla Chief People Officer Gaby Toledano, who joined the company in May, repeatedly questioned the motives of the former health and safety professionals and suggested they might have been “failing at their own job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toledano touted the hiring in October of Laurie Shelby as Tesla’s first vice president for environment, health and safety as an improvement in itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anybody who walks through our doors into this factory is our responsibility, and we care about them,” said Shelby, formerly safety vice president at aluminum manufacturer Alcoa. “I have a passion for safety and it’s about caring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla disputed each of Reveal’s findings. The company said that it had no information that workers were exposed to silica dust and that it does regular air monitoring. It said that while some hoists did fail and injure workers, it was not due to a lack of engineering or inspections, and they have been improved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662669\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662669\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Tesla officials Laurie Shelby (L) and Gaby Toledano read the concerns of then-safety lead Justine White, who emailed CEO Elon Musk’s chief of staff in 2016. “I know what can keep a person up at night regarding safety,” she wrote. “I must tell you that I can’t sleep here at Tesla.” Tesla says her concerns were unsubstantiated. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tesla officials Laurie Shelby (L) and Gaby Toledano read the concerns of then-safety lead Justine White, who emailed CEO Elon Musk’s chief of staff in 2016. “I know what can keep a person up at night regarding safety,” she wrote. “I must tell you that I can’t sleep here at Tesla.” Tesla says her concerns were unsubstantiated. \u003ccite>(Paul Kuroda/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Toledano and Shelby said they had never heard of Musk’s purported aesthetic preferences and pointed out that the factory does have some yellow. Both distanced themselves from what might have happened before their tenure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all injured workers have given up on Tesla, either. Dennis Cruz has had his share of injuries, yet he still wants to get back to the production line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, out on workers’ compensation because of work-induced tendinitis, Cruz ended up living in his car, unable to afford rent. Then, in late 2016, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4436216-SDS-BM4601.html\">toxic\u003c/a> adhesive many workers complain about got in his eye, damaging his cornea. And in September, as a quality inspector, Cruz says he put out a fire that broke out on a car body, inhaling fumes from burning chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cruz, 42, is on light duty as he struggles with shortness of breath, coughing spells and headaches. But he wants to provide for his family, apply his skills and get promoted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t do that on workers’ comp. I can’t do that away from the factory,” he said. “That’s why I push to go back. I push to go back into the fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Discrepancies in Injury Counts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Tesla’s internal injury tracking system, a supervisor wrote that a worker couldn’t come to work one day in February 2017 because “his left arm was in pain from installing Wiper motors during his shift.” One worker “fainted and hit head on floor” because “team member was working in a group setting and became uncomfortably hot.” Another employee, a supervisor noted, was “highly relied upon at this workstation” but injured her shoulder from repetitive motion due to an “Unfriendly Ergonomic Process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla is required by law to report every work-related injury that results in days away from work, job restrictions or medical treatment beyond first aid. But those injuries were labeled “personal medical” cases, meaning work had nothing to do with them. So they weren’t counted when Tesla tallied its injuries on legally mandated reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662683\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"New Tesla employees learn how to use tools safely in a training session at the Fremont factory. State safety regulators have cited Tesla eight times since 2013 for deficient training, including twice in the last year. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">New Tesla employees learn how to use tools safely in a training session at the Fremont factory. State safety regulators have cited Tesla eight times since 2013 for deficient training, including twice in the last year. \u003ccite>(Paul Kuroda/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The list of the uncounted goes on. One worker had back spasms when reaching for boxes, one sprained her back carrying something to a work table and one got a pinch in his back from bending over to apply sealer and couldn’t walk off the pain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By law, if something at work contributed to an injury – even if work wasn’t the only cause – the injury \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/t8/14300_5.html\">must be counted\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former Tesla safety professional, however, said the company systematically undercounted injuries by mislabeling them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I saw injuries on there like broken bones and lacerations that they were saying were not recordable” as injuries, said the safety professional, who asked to remain anonymous. “I saw a lot of stuff that was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reveal compared records from Tesla’s internal tracking system, obtained from a source, with the official logs, which were requested by an employee and provided to Reveal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a dozen examples provided to the company by Reveal, Tesla stood by its decision to not count them. It said workers may have thought they were injured because of their jobs, and supervisors may have assumed the same. But later, Tesla said, a medical professional – sometimes contracted or affiliated with the company – determined there was no connection to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel very strongly,” Shelby said. “We are doing proper recordkeeping here at Tesla.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reveal also provided Tesla’s internal descriptions of the injuries, along with the company’s case-by-case response, to Doug Parker, executive director of Worksafe, an Oakland-based organization that \u003ca href=\"http://worksafe.typepad.com/files/worksafe_tesla5_24.pdf\">previously analyzed\u003c/a> Tesla’s official injury logs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The examples you’ve given me are concerning, troubling,” he said. “They suggest that Tesla isn’t reporting all the workplace injuries that they should be reporting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to the podcast:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"300\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/429374469&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has cited Tesla for more than 40 violations since 2013. Tesla’s rate of serious injuries that required time off or job restrictions was\u003ca href=\"http://worksafe.org/file_download/inline/83a169a1-2af7-4c2e-81a5-21b6965ff996\"> 83 percent higher\u003c/a> than the industry in 2016. Since then, however, Tesla says it has turned things around on its way to “\u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/blog/becoming-safest-car-factory-world\">becoming the safest car factory in the world\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Musk claimed in a \u003ca href=\"https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/24/elon-musk-addresses-working-condition-claims-in-tesla-staff-wide-email/\">staffwide email\u003c/a> and at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/06/elon-musk-says-tesla-is-on-its-way-to-lowering-employees-injury-rate/\">shareholder meeting\u003c/a> that the company’s injury rate was much better than the industry average. A company \u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/blog/creating-the-safest-car-factory-in-the-world\">blog post\u003c/a> said that to be average would be “to go backwards.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then Tesla apparently did hit reverse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our 2017 data showed that we are at industry average, so we’re happy about that,” Shelby said, explaining the earlier claims as a “snapshot in time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk also \u003ca href=\"https://electrek.co/2017/06/02/elon-musk-tesla-injury-factory/\">emailed\u003c/a> his staff last year saying he was meeting weekly with the safety team and “would like to meet every injured person as soon as they are well, so that I can understand from them exactly what we need to do to make it better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toledano said Musk did meet with some injured workers, but no longer meets weekly with the safety team because it isn’t necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now I can’t claim he’s met with every injured worker,” she said. “I think that’s absurd.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several former members of the environment, health and safety team said they had other reasons to doubt Tesla’s official numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company, for example, didn’t always count injuries among the plant’s temporary workers, they said. Tesla fills some of its factory positions with temp workers who later may be offered permanent jobs. Companies must count those injuries if they supervise the temps, as Tesla does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the law,” agreed Tesla’s Shelby. “Based on my review of our data, we’ve always done that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662689\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662689\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Laurie Shelby, Tesla’s vice president for environment, health and safety, points to the principles of her department listed on a placard at the car plant in Fremont.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laurie Shelby, Tesla’s vice president for environment, health and safety, points to the principles of her department listed on a placard at the car plant in Fremont. \u003ccite>(Paul Kuroda/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At one point, though, White said she asked her supervisor why the injury rate seemed off, and he told her they weren’t counting temp worker injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They knew they were reporting incorrect numbers,” White said. “Those workers were being injured on the floor and that wasn’t being captured, and they knew that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla began to fix that problem in 2017, former employees said, but it’s unclear how consistently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11662690\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-800x537.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"537\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-800x537.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-1020x684.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-1200x805.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-1180x792.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-960x644.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-240x161.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-375x252.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-520x349.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final.png 1592w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After workers requested the company’s injury logs last year, Tesla\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4419502-Tesla-300A-2016-Amended.html\"> amended\u003c/a> its\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4419503-Tesla-300A-2016-initial.html\"> original\u003c/a> 2016 report to add 135 injuries that hadn’t been counted previously. The company said it changed the numbers after it discovered injuries that hadn’t been shared with Tesla by its temp agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Toxic Workplace Chemicals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In April 2017, Tarik Logan – a temporary worker – was assigned to patch parts in Tesla’s battery packs with Henkel Loctite AA H3500. The powerful adhesive includes \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/methyl-methacrylate.pdf\">toxic chemicals\u003c/a> that can cause \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4433392-LoctiteH3500-SDS-1808799.html\">allergic reactions and even genetic defects\u003c/a>. Logan and a former co-worker said they went through more than 100 tubes of the glue a day without adequate ventilation or protection from the fumes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First it brought dizziness, then headaches – the worst pain he’s ever felt, Logan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s a strong person,” said Toni Porter, his mother. “For him to cry out, it was terrifying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla referred Logan, then 23, to a medical clinic that diagnosed an “acute reaction to car adhesive glue causing headaches, dizziness, and some respiratory discomfort.” The doctor gave him prescription-strength painkillers and told him to avoid the glue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My head still hurt tho,” he texted Porter. “This Shit hurrrrrts!!!!!!!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These texts are among those sent by Tarik Logan to his mother, Toni Porter, while Logan worked at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California in April 2017:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11662690\" src=\"https://www.revealnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/texts34.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"537\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He missed work and ended up at the hospital multiple times, Logan and Porter said. Then Tesla declined to take him on as a permanent employee, citing attendance issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla, in response to Reveal’s inquiries, said it doesn’t agree with the doctor’s determination that Logan’s pain was work-related. In any case, Tesla said, it doesn’t count as an injury because it didn’t require any medical treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By law, however, just the prescription of pain medication – documented in medical records obtained by Reveal – \u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2007-02-06-1\">requires\u003c/a> that his injury be counted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Logan handled only a very small amount of the chemical and exposure levels were within standards, Tesla stated. The company also said Logan didn’t complain about headaches until he told a doctor a month later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That statement is contradicted by medical records and internal company records, which show that Logan’s supervisor put it in Tesla’s injury tracking system and Logan was diagnosed by a doctor a week after his headaches started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The former safety team member who asked to remain anonymous said Tesla told workers that their reactions to workplace chemicals were personal medical problems instead of treating them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have employees at work that don’t know what they’re being exposed to, and nobody’s taking care of them,” the safety professional said. “It’s heartbreaking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662701\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662701\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Eberley, 48, was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in 2014. He injured his hand welding thousands of studs to car wheelhouses during nearly 12-hour days at Tesla.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-800x530.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-960x637.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-240x159.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-375x249.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-520x345.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Eberley, 48, was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in 2014. He injured his hand welding thousands of studs to car wheelhouses during nearly 12-hour days at Tesla. \u003ccite>(Emily Harger/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One worker is described in internal records as having gone to Tesla’s nurse “expressing concerns with the fumes in the area. Saying he feels like he is dying.” It was marked a personal medical issue, with a note that stated, “Beyond my skillset.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelby, the safety vice president, said Tesla checks thoroughly for chemical exposures and “nowhere are we over any of the exposure limits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, regulators \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4390644-Inspection-1268303-Citations-Copy.html\">cited\u003c/a> the company for failing to “effectively assess the workplace” for chemical hazards, which Tesla is appealing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Thrown to the Wolves’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If Tesla has been improving, it wasn’t fast enough for Alaa Alkhafagi, who joined Tesla in 2017 as an engineering technician servicing robots that spray paint on car bodies. Alkhafagi said he received no safety instruction specific to the paint department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, Alkhafagi, 27, said he was told to go underneath the painting booth to clear excess paint from a clogged hose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unsure of how to get down there, workers would pry up a piece of the metal flooring and jump in, he said. When he did, Alkhafagi’s foot got stuck in paint, his hand slipped and he fell forward, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4436269-Alkhafagi-Injury.html\">smashing\u003c/a> his head and arm. He ended up unable to make a fist or go back to his job, filing a workers’ compensation claim, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incident didn’t end up on Tesla’s official injury logs. The company said it wasn’t recorded because Alkhafagi initially received only first aid. But his inability to go back to his normal work duties would mean that the injury should have been counted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s more than the accident,” Alkhafagi said. “They haven’t trained anyone properly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla said that after his injury, the company made sure only specially trained workers did that job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lack of adequate training was a problem throughout the factory, said Roger Croney, who oversaw workers in three different departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New employees with no factory experience were sent to Tesla’s die-casting operation – where aluminum is melted and molded into parts – without basic training specific to the job, said Croney, former associate manager in that department. Some didn’t know they’d be working with 1,200-degree molten metal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was far different from the General Motors plant in Ohio where Croney had worked for eight years, he said. So Croney took it upon himself to develop his own training program. A blast of liquid metal had burned his face and hands not long after he came to Tesla in 2012, and he took safety seriously. But other supervisors didn’t, Croney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662702\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662702\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Roger Croney oversaw workers in three different departments at Tesla. He took it upon himself to develop his own training program for new employees, whom he said were sometimes sent to work with no factory experience or basic training specific to the job. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Roger Croney oversaw workers in three different departments at Tesla. He took it upon himself to develop his own training program for new employees, whom he said were sometimes sent to work with no factory experience or basic training specific to the job. \u003ccite>(AJ Mast/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of workers come in and they get thrown to the wolves,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croney quit in March 2017 with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4432391-Roger-Croney-Resignation-Letter.html\">letter\u003c/a> alleging a pattern of discriminatory treatment. Croney, who is black, said he was passed over repeatedly by white people with less experience and then demoted to a supervisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Tesla said Croney didn’t mention racial discrimination in his letter or exit interview. Croney has a pending claim of racial discrimination at Tesla with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State safety regulators have cited Tesla eight times since 2013 for deficient training, including twice in the last year, according to a Reveal review of records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla defended its training regimen, saying all new production employees get a day of orientation, a day of classroom instruction and two days of hands-on training in which they’re shown how to hold and use tools while avoiding injury. Workers building the Model 3 get an additional two days of virtual training on computers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Four days is pretty intensive,” Toledano said, “and then there’s ongoing training, so training is central.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Repetitive Stress Injuries\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Acknowledging that repetitive stress injuries are the most common way workers get hurt there, Tesla officials emphasize ergonomic improvements to the new Model 3 assembly line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We actually redesigned it so it’s safer for our employees to make,” Shelby said. “It’s super cool to see when it’s on the line how much easier it is to make the Model 3.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla, however, wouldn’t let reporters see that assembly line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662703\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662703\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-800x528.jpg\" alt=\"Inside Tesla’s electric car factory in Fremont, the company is under immense pressure to ramp up production of the new Model 3 sedan, its first mass-market vehicle at $35,000.\" width=\"800\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-800x528.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-1200x791.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-1180x778.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-960x633.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-240x158.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-375x247.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-520x343.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside Tesla’s electric car factory in Fremont, the company is under immense pressure to ramp up production of the new Model 3 sedan, its first mass-market vehicle at $35,000. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When building Tesla’s other cars, former workers said they had to sacrifice their bodies to save time. Some workers, for example, lifted heavy car seats over their shoulders because the mechanical assists designed to ease the load were too slow, said Joel Barraza, a former production associate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People would carry a seat because they’d be like, ‘Oh, I gotta get this done.’ I personally carried a seat,” Barraza said. “They’re supposed to move. Move it on, move it on, keep the line going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White, the former safety lead, also said workers sometimes lifted seats manually, but Tesla, in a statement, said it doesn’t happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barraza said he was fired along with hundreds of other workers last fall. Tesla said employees were\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/13/4819750/\"> terminated en masse\u003c/a> due to performance issues, though some workers have argued they were \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/17/tesla-firings-former-and-current-employees-allege-layoffs.html\">cost-cutting layoffs\u003c/a> or used to \u003ca href=\"http://www.autonews.com/article/20171026/OEM01/171029793/tesla-uaw-labor-dispute-california\">punish union supporters\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662704\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662704\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Eberley shows his scar from surgery after carpal tunnel syndrome left him unable to continue work at the Tesla factory in Fremont. He has been out of work for years. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-960x639.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-520x346.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Eberley shows his scar from surgery after carpal tunnel syndrome left him unable to continue work at the Tesla factory in Fremont. He has been out of work for years. \u003ccite>(Emily Harger/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Barraza said he and others hurt their backs through repetitive movements, but few complained because “supervisors would be like, ‘Oh, he’s just being a little bitch.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers’ accounts from 2017 didn’t sound much different from those who were injured years earlier. In 2014, Mark Eberley was diagnosed with Tesla-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. He wrecked his hand welding thousands of studs to car wheelhouses during nearly 12-hour days, he said. He needed surgery and was out of work and on workers’ compensation for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No matter what we were doing, it was hustle, hustle, hustle,” he said. “If you didn’t get your numbers, they’d be complaining to you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pressure could be crushing for white-collar workers as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At his office job at the Fremont factory, senior analyst Ali Khan prepared Tesla’s financial filings required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2016, the office was understaffed, and he worked at least 12 hours every day, he said – no weekends, holidays or days off at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pain from repetitive motion started in his wrists, radiated up his arms, then to his neck and back. He said he would have trouble holding a glass of water and couldn’t play with his 1-year-old daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khan said he asked for an ergonomic evaluation, but Tesla’s safety team told his manager they were too busy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"My boss is telling me, ‘Oh, if you are going to take time off, it’s going to slow us down, it’s going to affect your reviews,'\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla eventually sent him to one of its preferred health clinics. A doctor there diagnosed him with work-related muscle strains and tendinitis, repeatedly prescribing painkillers and work restrictions, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4433386-Khan-Medical-Records.html\">medical records show\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That meant Khan had to be listed on Tesla’s injury logs. He wasn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khan said he still wasn’t allowed the doctor-ordered breaks. Forfeiting lucrative stock options, he submitted his resignation in August 2016. But his body hasn’t recovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These things were preventable – that’s what makes me upset,” he said. “All of this could have been addressed, and it just wasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"ctx-article-root\">\u003c!-- -->\u003c/span> \u003cimg id=\"pixel-ping-tracker\" src=\"https://pixel.revealnews.org/pixel.gif?key=pixel.3rdrevnews.tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books.htkl4vtololw22goiwba\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\">\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Undercounting injuries is a symptom of a bigger problem: Tesla has put electric car manufacturing above safety concerns, former safety experts say.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1524009304,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":129,"wordCount":4970},"headData":{"title":"Tesla Says Its Factory Is Safer, but It Left Injuries Off the Books | KQED","description":"Undercounting injuries is a symptom of a bigger problem: Tesla has put electric car manufacturing above safety concerns, former safety experts say.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Tesla Says Its Factory Is Safer, but It Left Injuries Off the Books","datePublished":"2018-04-17T13:00:31.000Z","dateModified":"2018-04-17T23:55:04.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"disqusIdentifier":"11662641 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11662641","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2018/04/17/tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books/","disqusTitle":"Tesla Says Its Factory Is Safer, but It Left Injuries Off the Books","source":"Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting","sourceUrl":"https://www.revealnews.org/","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/2018/04/Evans2wayTesla.mp3","nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/author/willevans\" rel=\"author\">Will Evans\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/author/alyssa-jeong-perry\" rel=\"author\">Alyssa Jeong Perry\u003c/a>","path":"/news/11662641/tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books","audioDuration":260000,"audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at \u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/\">revealnews.org\u003c/a> and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at \u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/podcast\">revealnews.org/podcast\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>nside Tesla’s electric car factory, giant red robots – some named for X-Men characters – heave car parts in the air, while workers wearing black toil on aluminum car bodies. Forklifts and tuggers zip by on gray-painted floors, differentiated from pedestrian walkways by another shade of gray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s one color, though, that some of Tesla’s former safety experts wanted to see more of: yellow – the traditional hue of caution used to mark hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Concerned about bone-crunching collisions and the lack of clearly marked pedestrian lanes at the Fremont, California, plant, the general assembly line’s then-lead safety professional went to her boss, who she said told her, “Elon does not like the color yellow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The melding of cutting-edge technology and world-saving vision is Tesla Inc.’s big draw. Many, including Justine White, the safety lead, went to work there inspired by Elon Musk, a CEO with star power and now a\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2018/feb/07/forget-the-car-in-space-why-elon-musks-reusable-rockets-are-more-than-a-publicity-stunt\"> groundbreaking rocket\u003c/a> in space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What she and some of her colleagues found, they said, was a chaotic factory floor where style and speed trumped safety. Musk’s name often was invoked to justify shortcuts and shoot down concerns, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under fire for mounting injuries, Tesla recently\u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/blog/becoming-safest-car-factory-world\"> touted a sharp drop\u003c/a> in its injury rate for 2017, which it says came down to meet the auto industry average of about 6.2 injuries per 100 workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But things are not always as they seem at Tesla. An \u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/article/tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books\">investigation\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"http://revealnews.org/\">Reveal\u003c/a> from The Center for Investigative Reporting found that Tesla has failed to report some of its serious injuries on legally mandated reports, making the company’s injury numbers look better than they actually are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11662656\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-800x613.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"613\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-800x613.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-160x123.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-1020x782.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-1180x904.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-960x736.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-240x184.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-375x287.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2-520x399.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-employee-injury-rate-final-2.png 1190w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last April, Tarik Logan suffered debilitating headaches from the fumes of a toxic glue he had to use at the plant. He texted his mom: “I’m n hella pain foreal something ain’t right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The searing pain became so unbearable he couldn’t work, and it plagued him for weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Logan’s inhalation injury, as it was diagnosed, never made it onto the official injury logs that state and federal law requires companies to keep. Neither did reports from other factory workers of sprains, strains and repetitive stress injuries from piecing together Tesla’s sleek cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, company officials labeled the injuries personal medical issues or minor incidents requiring only first aid, according to internal company records obtained by Reveal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undercounting injuries is one symptom of a more fundamental problem at Tesla: The company has put its manufacturing of electric cars above safety concerns, according to five former members of its environment, health and safety team who left the company last year. That, they said, has put workers unnecessarily in harm’s way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, White said she warned superiors about a potential explosion hazard but was told they would defer to production managers because fixing the problem would require stopping the production line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From September 2016 to January 2017, White oversaw safety for thousands of workers on Tesla’s general assembly line, in charge of responding to injuries, reviewing injury records, teaching safety classes and assessing the factory for hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything took a back seat to production,” White said. “It’s just a matter of time before somebody gets killed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla, worth about $50 billion, employs more than 10,000 workers at its Fremont factory. Alongside the company’s remarkable rise, workers have been sliced by machinery, crushed by forklifts, burned in electrical explosions and sprayed with molten metal. Tesla recorded \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4419499-Tesla-300A-2017.html\">722 injuries\u003c/a> last year, about two a day. The rate of serious injuries, requiring time off or a work restriction, was 30 percent worse than the previous year’s industry average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frantic growth, constant changes and lax rules, combined with a CEO whom senior managers were afraid to cross, created an atmosphere in which few dared to stand up for worker safety, the former environment, health and safety team members told Reveal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in addition to yellow, Musk was said to dislike too many signs in the factory and the warning beeps forklifts make when backing up, former team members said. His preferences, they said, were well known and led to cutting back on those standard safety signals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone said, ‘Elon doesn’t like something,’ you were concerned because you could lose your job,” said Susan Rigmaiden, former environmental compliance manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months into her job, White became so alarmed that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4419515-Justine-Email-to-HR.html\">wrote\u003c/a> to a human resources manager that “the risk of injury is too high. People are getting hurt every day and near-hit incidents where people are getting almost crushed or hit by cars is unacceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next day, she \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4416595-Justine-White-Email-to-Sam-Teller.html\">emailed\u003c/a> Sam Teller, Musk’s chief of staff, that safety team leaders were failing to address the hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know what can keep a person up at night regarding safety,” she wrote. “I must tell you that I can’t sleep here at Tesla.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she never heard back from Musk’s office. She transferred departments and quit a couple of months later, disillusioned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her March 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4437759-Resignation-Letter-Excerpt.html\">resignation letter,\u003c/a> White recounted the time she told her boss, Seth Woody, “that the plant layout was extremely dangerous to pedestrians.” Woody, head of the safety team, told her “that Elon didn’t want signs, anything yellow (like caution tape) or to wear safety shoes in the plant” and acknowledged it “was a mess,” she wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She sent the letter directly to Musk and the head of human resources at the time – to no response, she said. Woody did not respond to inquiries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Tesla quality inspector Dennis Cruz has had a series of injuries that took him off the production line. At one point, living on workers’ compensation payments because of work-induced tendinitis, he ended up living in his car, unable to afford rent.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/031118_TESLA_DennisCruz_02-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tesla quality inspector Dennis Cruz has had a series of injuries that took him off the production line. At one point, living on workers’ compensation payments because of work-induced tendinitis, he ended up living in his car, unable to afford rent. \u003ccite>(Emily Harger/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tesla officials dismissed all of White’s concerns as unsubstantiated. They insisted that the company records injuries accurately and cares deeply about the safety of its workers. As proof, company officials said a recent anonymous internal survey found 82 percent of employees agreed that “Tesla is committed to my health, safety and well-being.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before publication of this story, a Tesla spokesman sent a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4432415-Tesla-Statement.html\">statement\u003c/a> accusing Reveal of being a tool in an ongoing unionization drive and portraying “a completely false picture of Tesla and what it is actually like to work here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In our view, what they portray as investigative journalism is in fact an ideologically motivated attack by an extremist organization working directly with union supporters to create a calculated disinformation campaign against Tesla,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla’s spokesman also sent photos of rails and posts in the factory that were painted yellow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reveal interviewed more than three dozen current and former employees and managers and reviewed hundreds of pages of documents. Some of the workers who spoke to Reveal have supported the unionization effort, while many others – including safety professionals – had no involvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Chaotic Factory Floor\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On one hand, Tesla boasts state-of-the-art machinery that makes it “like working for Iron Man,” as one former employee described it. On the other, the company relied on hoists that weren’t engineered or inspected before they were used to lift heavy car parts, according to a former safety team member, resulting in repeated accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662666\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662666\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-800x529.jpg\" alt=\"At Tesla’s electric car factory in Fremont, CEO Elon Musk’s name often was invoked to justify shortcuts and shoot down safety concerns, former safety experts for the company say. \" width=\"800\" height=\"529\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-800x529.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-1020x675.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-1200x794.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-1180x781.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-960x635.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-240x159.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-375x248.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MuskLaunchEvent-520x344.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Tesla’s electric car factory in Fremont, CEO Elon Musk’s name often was invoked to justify shortcuts and shoot down safety concerns, former safety experts for the company say. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The company is under immense pressure to ramp up manufacturing of the new Model 3 sedan, its first mass-market vehicle at $35,000. Musk initially said Tesla would be producing\u003ca href=\"https://mashable.com/2017/10/03/tesla-model-3-production-woes-analysis/#KH37hHQFemqw\"> 20,000 of them per month\u003c/a> by the end of 2017, but the company \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2018/04/03/tesla-misses-model-3-production-goal-once-again/?utm_term=.6679155b2d34\">just missed\u003c/a> its scaled-back promise to produce half that number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla is often in a state of frenzied production. Former employees said they faced 12-hour workdays, faulty equipment and paltry training as they scrambled to come up with workarounds on the fly to get cars out the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hustle meant that health and safety protocols could literally get left in the dust. Last year, construction workers cut through concrete to build the new Model 3 assembly line, spreading silica dust – which can cause cancer – without containing and testing it first, Rigmaiden and two other former members of the health and safety team said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the high stakes for life and limb, the safety professionals maintain safety training has been woefully inadequate. The company said all workers receive at least four days of training. But new employees often were pulled out of training early to fill spots on the factory floor, White and another former safety team member said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Team members were reluctant to speak to reporters, but said they agreed to in order to help improve conditions for current and future Tesla workers. Some asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals or hurting their careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Tesla Chief People Officer Gaby Toledano, who joined the company in May, repeatedly questioned the motives of the former health and safety professionals and suggested they might have been “failing at their own job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toledano touted the hiring in October of Laurie Shelby as Tesla’s first vice president for environment, health and safety as an improvement in itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anybody who walks through our doors into this factory is our responsibility, and we care about them,” said Shelby, formerly safety vice president at aluminum manufacturer Alcoa. “I have a passion for safety and it’s about caring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla disputed each of Reveal’s findings. The company said that it had no information that workers were exposed to silica dust and that it does regular air monitoring. It said that while some hoists did fail and injure workers, it was not due to a lack of engineering or inspections, and they have been improved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662669\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662669\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Tesla officials Laurie Shelby (L) and Gaby Toledano read the concerns of then-safety lead Justine White, who emailed CEO Elon Musk’s chief of staff in 2016. “I know what can keep a person up at night regarding safety,” she wrote. “I must tell you that I can’t sleep here at Tesla.” Tesla says her concerns were unsubstantiated. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9143-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tesla officials Laurie Shelby (L) and Gaby Toledano read the concerns of then-safety lead Justine White, who emailed CEO Elon Musk’s chief of staff in 2016. “I know what can keep a person up at night regarding safety,” she wrote. “I must tell you that I can’t sleep here at Tesla.” Tesla says her concerns were unsubstantiated. \u003ccite>(Paul Kuroda/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Toledano and Shelby said they had never heard of Musk’s purported aesthetic preferences and pointed out that the factory does have some yellow. Both distanced themselves from what might have happened before their tenure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all injured workers have given up on Tesla, either. Dennis Cruz has had his share of injuries, yet he still wants to get back to the production line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, out on workers’ compensation because of work-induced tendinitis, Cruz ended up living in his car, unable to afford rent. Then, in late 2016, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4436216-SDS-BM4601.html\">toxic\u003c/a> adhesive many workers complain about got in his eye, damaging his cornea. And in September, as a quality inspector, Cruz says he put out a fire that broke out on a car body, inhaling fumes from burning chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cruz, 42, is on light duty as he struggles with shortness of breath, coughing spells and headaches. But he wants to provide for his family, apply his skills and get promoted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t do that on workers’ comp. I can’t do that away from the factory,” he said. “That’s why I push to go back. I push to go back into the fire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Discrepancies in Injury Counts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Tesla’s internal injury tracking system, a supervisor wrote that a worker couldn’t come to work one day in February 2017 because “his left arm was in pain from installing Wiper motors during his shift.” One worker “fainted and hit head on floor” because “team member was working in a group setting and became uncomfortably hot.” Another employee, a supervisor noted, was “highly relied upon at this workstation” but injured her shoulder from repetitive motion due to an “Unfriendly Ergonomic Process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla is required by law to report every work-related injury that results in days away from work, job restrictions or medical treatment beyond first aid. But those injuries were labeled “personal medical” cases, meaning work had nothing to do with them. So they weren’t counted when Tesla tallied its injuries on legally mandated reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662683\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"New Tesla employees learn how to use tools safely in a training session at the Fremont factory. State safety regulators have cited Tesla eight times since 2013 for deficient training, including twice in the last year. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/Y5I6227-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">New Tesla employees learn how to use tools safely in a training session at the Fremont factory. State safety regulators have cited Tesla eight times since 2013 for deficient training, including twice in the last year. \u003ccite>(Paul Kuroda/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The list of the uncounted goes on. One worker had back spasms when reaching for boxes, one sprained her back carrying something to a work table and one got a pinch in his back from bending over to apply sealer and couldn’t walk off the pain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By law, if something at work contributed to an injury – even if work wasn’t the only cause – the injury \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/t8/14300_5.html\">must be counted\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former Tesla safety professional, however, said the company systematically undercounted injuries by mislabeling them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I saw injuries on there like broken bones and lacerations that they were saying were not recordable” as injuries, said the safety professional, who asked to remain anonymous. “I saw a lot of stuff that was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reveal compared records from Tesla’s internal tracking system, obtained from a source, with the official logs, which were requested by an employee and provided to Reveal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a dozen examples provided to the company by Reveal, Tesla stood by its decision to not count them. It said workers may have thought they were injured because of their jobs, and supervisors may have assumed the same. But later, Tesla said, a medical professional – sometimes contracted or affiliated with the company – determined there was no connection to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel very strongly,” Shelby said. “We are doing proper recordkeeping here at Tesla.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reveal also provided Tesla’s internal descriptions of the injuries, along with the company’s case-by-case response, to Doug Parker, executive director of Worksafe, an Oakland-based organization that \u003ca href=\"http://worksafe.typepad.com/files/worksafe_tesla5_24.pdf\">previously analyzed\u003c/a> Tesla’s official injury logs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The examples you’ve given me are concerning, troubling,” he said. “They suggest that Tesla isn’t reporting all the workplace injuries that they should be reporting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to the podcast:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"300\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/429374469&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has cited Tesla for more than 40 violations since 2013. Tesla’s rate of serious injuries that required time off or job restrictions was\u003ca href=\"http://worksafe.org/file_download/inline/83a169a1-2af7-4c2e-81a5-21b6965ff996\"> 83 percent higher\u003c/a> than the industry in 2016. Since then, however, Tesla says it has turned things around on its way to “\u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/blog/becoming-safest-car-factory-world\">becoming the safest car factory in the world\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Musk claimed in a \u003ca href=\"https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/24/elon-musk-addresses-working-condition-claims-in-tesla-staff-wide-email/\">staffwide email\u003c/a> and at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/06/elon-musk-says-tesla-is-on-its-way-to-lowering-employees-injury-rate/\">shareholder meeting\u003c/a> that the company’s injury rate was much better than the industry average. A company \u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/blog/creating-the-safest-car-factory-in-the-world\">blog post\u003c/a> said that to be average would be “to go backwards.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then Tesla apparently did hit reverse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our 2017 data showed that we are at industry average, so we’re happy about that,” Shelby said, explaining the earlier claims as a “snapshot in time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk also \u003ca href=\"https://electrek.co/2017/06/02/elon-musk-tesla-injury-factory/\">emailed\u003c/a> his staff last year saying he was meeting weekly with the safety team and “would like to meet every injured person as soon as they are well, so that I can understand from them exactly what we need to do to make it better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Toledano said Musk did meet with some injured workers, but no longer meets weekly with the safety team because it isn’t necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now I can’t claim he’s met with every injured worker,” she said. “I think that’s absurd.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several former members of the environment, health and safety team said they had other reasons to doubt Tesla’s official numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company, for example, didn’t always count injuries among the plant’s temporary workers, they said. Tesla fills some of its factory positions with temp workers who later may be offered permanent jobs. Companies must count those injuries if they supervise the temps, as Tesla does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the law,” agreed Tesla’s Shelby. “Based on my review of our data, we’ve always done that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662689\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662689\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Laurie Shelby, Tesla’s vice president for environment, health and safety, points to the principles of her department listed on a placard at the car plant in Fremont.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/B82I9150-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laurie Shelby, Tesla’s vice president for environment, health and safety, points to the principles of her department listed on a placard at the car plant in Fremont. \u003ccite>(Paul Kuroda/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At one point, though, White said she asked her supervisor why the injury rate seemed off, and he told her they weren’t counting temp worker injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They knew they were reporting incorrect numbers,” White said. “Those workers were being injured on the floor and that wasn’t being captured, and they knew that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla began to fix that problem in 2017, former employees said, but it’s unclear how consistently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11662690\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-800x537.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"537\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-800x537.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-1020x684.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-1200x805.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-1180x792.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-960x644.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-240x161.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-375x252.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final-520x349.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/tesla-factory-injury-rate-final.png 1592w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After workers requested the company’s injury logs last year, Tesla\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4419502-Tesla-300A-2016-Amended.html\"> amended\u003c/a> its\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4419503-Tesla-300A-2016-initial.html\"> original\u003c/a> 2016 report to add 135 injuries that hadn’t been counted previously. The company said it changed the numbers after it discovered injuries that hadn’t been shared with Tesla by its temp agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Toxic Workplace Chemicals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In April 2017, Tarik Logan – a temporary worker – was assigned to patch parts in Tesla’s battery packs with Henkel Loctite AA H3500. The powerful adhesive includes \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/methyl-methacrylate.pdf\">toxic chemicals\u003c/a> that can cause \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4433392-LoctiteH3500-SDS-1808799.html\">allergic reactions and even genetic defects\u003c/a>. Logan and a former co-worker said they went through more than 100 tubes of the glue a day without adequate ventilation or protection from the fumes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First it brought dizziness, then headaches – the worst pain he’s ever felt, Logan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s a strong person,” said Toni Porter, his mother. “For him to cry out, it was terrifying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla referred Logan, then 23, to a medical clinic that diagnosed an “acute reaction to car adhesive glue causing headaches, dizziness, and some respiratory discomfort.” The doctor gave him prescription-strength painkillers and told him to avoid the glue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My head still hurt tho,” he texted Porter. “This Shit hurrrrrts!!!!!!!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These texts are among those sent by Tarik Logan to his mother, Toni Porter, while Logan worked at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California in April 2017:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11662690\" src=\"https://www.revealnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/texts34.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"537\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He missed work and ended up at the hospital multiple times, Logan and Porter said. Then Tesla declined to take him on as a permanent employee, citing attendance issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla, in response to Reveal’s inquiries, said it doesn’t agree with the doctor’s determination that Logan’s pain was work-related. In any case, Tesla said, it doesn’t count as an injury because it didn’t require any medical treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By law, however, just the prescription of pain medication – documented in medical records obtained by Reveal – \u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2007-02-06-1\">requires\u003c/a> that his injury be counted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Logan handled only a very small amount of the chemical and exposure levels were within standards, Tesla stated. The company also said Logan didn’t complain about headaches until he told a doctor a month later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That statement is contradicted by medical records and internal company records, which show that Logan’s supervisor put it in Tesla’s injury tracking system and Logan was diagnosed by a doctor a week after his headaches started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The former safety team member who asked to remain anonymous said Tesla told workers that their reactions to workplace chemicals were personal medical problems instead of treating them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have employees at work that don’t know what they’re being exposed to, and nobody’s taking care of them,” the safety professional said. “It’s heartbreaking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662701\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662701\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Eberley, 48, was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in 2014. He injured his hand welding thousands of studs to car wheelhouses during nearly 12-hour days at Tesla.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-800x530.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-960x637.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-240x159.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-375x249.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679-520x345.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_05-1024x679.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Eberley, 48, was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in 2014. He injured his hand welding thousands of studs to car wheelhouses during nearly 12-hour days at Tesla. \u003ccite>(Emily Harger/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One worker is described in internal records as having gone to Tesla’s nurse “expressing concerns with the fumes in the area. Saying he feels like he is dying.” It was marked a personal medical issue, with a note that stated, “Beyond my skillset.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelby, the safety vice president, said Tesla checks thoroughly for chemical exposures and “nowhere are we over any of the exposure limits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, regulators \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4390644-Inspection-1268303-Citations-Copy.html\">cited\u003c/a> the company for failing to “effectively assess the workplace” for chemical hazards, which Tesla is appealing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Thrown to the Wolves’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If Tesla has been improving, it wasn’t fast enough for Alaa Alkhafagi, who joined Tesla in 2017 as an engineering technician servicing robots that spray paint on car bodies. Alkhafagi said he received no safety instruction specific to the paint department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, Alkhafagi, 27, said he was told to go underneath the painting booth to clear excess paint from a clogged hose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unsure of how to get down there, workers would pry up a piece of the metal flooring and jump in, he said. When he did, Alkhafagi’s foot got stuck in paint, his hand slipped and he fell forward, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4436269-Alkhafagi-Injury.html\">smashing\u003c/a> his head and arm. He ended up unable to make a fist or go back to his job, filing a workers’ compensation claim, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The incident didn’t end up on Tesla’s official injury logs. The company said it wasn’t recorded because Alkhafagi initially received only first aid. But his inability to go back to his normal work duties would mean that the injury should have been counted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s more than the accident,” Alkhafagi said. “They haven’t trained anyone properly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla said that after his injury, the company made sure only specially trained workers did that job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lack of adequate training was a problem throughout the factory, said Roger Croney, who oversaw workers in three different departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New employees with no factory experience were sent to Tesla’s die-casting operation – where aluminum is melted and molded into parts – without basic training specific to the job, said Croney, former associate manager in that department. Some didn’t know they’d be working with 1,200-degree molten metal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was far different from the General Motors plant in Ohio where Croney had worked for eight years, he said. So Croney took it upon himself to develop his own training program. A blast of liquid metal had burned his face and hands not long after he came to Tesla in 2012, and he took safety seriously. But other supervisors didn’t, Croney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662702\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662702\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Roger Croney oversaw workers in three different departments at Tesla. He took it upon himself to develop his own training program for new employees, whom he said were sometimes sent to work with no factory experience or basic training specific to the job. \" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683-520x347.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/AJ53579-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Roger Croney oversaw workers in three different departments at Tesla. He took it upon himself to develop his own training program for new employees, whom he said were sometimes sent to work with no factory experience or basic training specific to the job. \u003ccite>(AJ Mast/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of workers come in and they get thrown to the wolves,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croney quit in March 2017 with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4432391-Roger-Croney-Resignation-Letter.html\">letter\u003c/a> alleging a pattern of discriminatory treatment. Croney, who is black, said he was passed over repeatedly by white people with less experience and then demoted to a supervisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Tesla said Croney didn’t mention racial discrimination in his letter or exit interview. Croney has a pending claim of racial discrimination at Tesla with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State safety regulators have cited Tesla eight times since 2013 for deficient training, including twice in the last year, according to a Reveal review of records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla defended its training regimen, saying all new production employees get a day of orientation, a day of classroom instruction and two days of hands-on training in which they’re shown how to hold and use tools while avoiding injury. Workers building the Model 3 get an additional two days of virtual training on computers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Four days is pretty intensive,” Toledano said, “and then there’s ongoing training, so training is central.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Repetitive Stress Injuries\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Acknowledging that repetitive stress injuries are the most common way workers get hurt there, Tesla officials emphasize ergonomic improvements to the new Model 3 assembly line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We actually redesigned it so it’s safer for our employees to make,” Shelby said. “It’s super cool to see when it’s on the line how much easier it is to make the Model 3.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla, however, wouldn’t let reporters see that assembly line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662703\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662703\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-800x528.jpg\" alt=\"Inside Tesla’s electric car factory in Fremont, the company is under immense pressure to ramp up production of the new Model 3 sedan, its first mass-market vehicle at $35,000.\" width=\"800\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-800x528.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-1200x791.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-1180x778.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-960x633.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-240x158.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-375x247.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/TeslaFactory-520x343.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside Tesla’s electric car factory in Fremont, the company is under immense pressure to ramp up production of the new Model 3 sedan, its first mass-market vehicle at $35,000. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When building Tesla’s other cars, former workers said they had to sacrifice their bodies to save time. Some workers, for example, lifted heavy car seats over their shoulders because the mechanical assists designed to ease the load were too slow, said Joel Barraza, a former production associate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People would carry a seat because they’d be like, ‘Oh, I gotta get this done.’ I personally carried a seat,” Barraza said. “They’re supposed to move. Move it on, move it on, keep the line going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White, the former safety lead, also said workers sometimes lifted seats manually, but Tesla, in a statement, said it doesn’t happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barraza said he was fired along with hundreds of other workers last fall. Tesla said employees were\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/13/4819750/\"> terminated en masse\u003c/a> due to performance issues, though some workers have argued they were \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/17/tesla-firings-former-and-current-employees-allege-layoffs.html\">cost-cutting layoffs\u003c/a> or used to \u003ca href=\"http://www.autonews.com/article/20171026/OEM01/171029793/tesla-uaw-labor-dispute-california\">punish union supporters\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11662704\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11662704\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Eberley shows his scar from surgery after carpal tunnel syndrome left him unable to continue work at the Tesla factory in Fremont. He has been out of work for years. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-960x639.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682-520x346.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/032018_Tesla_MarkEberley_03-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Eberley shows his scar from surgery after carpal tunnel syndrome left him unable to continue work at the Tesla factory in Fremont. He has been out of work for years. \u003ccite>(Emily Harger/Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Barraza said he and others hurt their backs through repetitive movements, but few complained because “supervisors would be like, ‘Oh, he’s just being a little bitch.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers’ accounts from 2017 didn’t sound much different from those who were injured years earlier. In 2014, Mark Eberley was diagnosed with Tesla-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. He wrecked his hand welding thousands of studs to car wheelhouses during nearly 12-hour days, he said. He needed surgery and was out of work and on workers’ compensation for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No matter what we were doing, it was hustle, hustle, hustle,” he said. “If you didn’t get your numbers, they’d be complaining to you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pressure could be crushing for white-collar workers as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At his office job at the Fremont factory, senior analyst Ali Khan prepared Tesla’s financial filings required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2016, the office was understaffed, and he worked at least 12 hours every day, he said – no weekends, holidays or days off at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pain from repetitive motion started in his wrists, radiated up his arms, then to his neck and back. He said he would have trouble holding a glass of water and couldn’t play with his 1-year-old daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khan said he asked for an ergonomic evaluation, but Tesla’s safety team told his manager they were too busy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"My boss is telling me, ‘Oh, if you are going to take time off, it’s going to slow us down, it’s going to affect your reviews,'\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla eventually sent him to one of its preferred health clinics. A doctor there diagnosed him with work-related muscle strains and tendinitis, repeatedly prescribing painkillers and work restrictions, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4433386-Khan-Medical-Records.html\">medical records show\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That meant Khan had to be listed on Tesla’s injury logs. He wasn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khan said he still wasn’t allowed the doctor-ordered breaks. Forfeiting lucrative stock options, he submitted his resignation in August 2016. But his body hasn’t recovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These things were preventable – that’s what makes me upset,” he said. “All of this could have been addressed, and it just wasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"ctx-article-root\">\u003c!-- -->\u003c/span> \u003cimg id=\"pixel-ping-tracker\" src=\"https://pixel.revealnews.org/pixel.gif?key=pixel.3rdrevnews.tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books.htkl4vtololw22goiwba\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\">\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11662641/tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books","authors":["byline_news_11662641"],"programs":["news_72"],"categories":["news_1758","news_457","news_6188","news_8","news_248","news_1397"],"tags":["news_3897","news_19542","news_66","news_19904","news_5555","news_22456","news_57","news_17041","news_21564","news_19377"],"featImg":"news_11662672","label":"source_news_11662641"},"news_11039435":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11039435","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11039435","score":null,"sort":[1470183017000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"employer-of-worker-killed-in-soberanes-fire-under-scrutiny","title":"Employer of Worker Killed in Soberanes Fire Under Scrutiny","publishDate":1470183017,"format":"standard","headTitle":"The California Report | KQED News","labelTerm":{"term":72,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>The construction company that employed a bulldozer operator killed last week in the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/07/29/soberanes-fire-containment-update/\" target=\"_blank\">massive Soberanes wildfire\u003c/a> in Monterey County has had its license suspended eight times by state regulators in the last four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Reagan, the 35-year-old Friant man who was working the fire when the bulldozer he was operating rolled over, was employed by Czirban Concrete Construction, said Julia Bernstein, a spokeswoman for California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA,) which is investigating his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The construction company, which is based in Coarsegold (Madera County), recently told the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) it had no employees and therefore did not need to provide worker's compensation, board spokesman Rick Lopes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'They’ve been going without a workers' comp policy, telling us they’ve got no employees.'\u003ccite>Rick Lopes, Contractors State License Board spokesman\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Multiple calls for comment to Ian Czirban, the company's owner, have yet to be returned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Word of Reagan's death and employment has prompted the license board to open a new investigation into the firm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They are on our radar now,\" Lopes said in an interview. \"They've been going without a workers' comp policy, telling us they've got no employees.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The license board learned about Reagan's employment at Czirban from KQED, which asked questions about the company's history after learning Cal/OSHA had launched its probe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's Cal/OSHA's first investigation into an incident related to Czirban, but not the license board's first probe. The company has gotten into trouble repeatedly over how much workers' comp it offers its workers and its payments to its employees and suppliers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July 2012, CSLB investigators found that a crew employed by the company was not covered by workers' compensation insurance. Czirban was then cited and fined $3,500.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"0ln3jCxk9zcVbBiBPbe1nNpEWaowUo2l\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company did not pay that fine right away, so its contractors license was suspended. The firm agreed to a payment plan with the agency to pay the fine -- but it failed to make a payment and its license was suspended again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company's license was then suspended several other times because its subcontractors and material suppliers were not paid, Lopes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The fact is whenever they've gotten into a situation where they've had to pay some sort of fines or pay back a bond, they've really dragged their feet and it's forced the contractors board to suspend their license and turn up the heat on them.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current investigation could lead the agency to pull Czirban's license again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the company had no workers' compensation insurance, it could be harder for Reagan's relatives to collect money because of his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban Concrete is one of a number of companies Cal Fire has contracted with on the Soberanes Fire -- a practice the agency employs on large fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We have many companies that we contract with throughout the state and they can be utilized in any area,\" Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said. \"The only time they are hired is for emergency incidents. We do not use these contracts for day-to-day projects.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email, Cal Fire confirmed its Madera-Mariposa-Merced unit has a \"call when needed\" vendor contract with Czirban, and that the vendor has responded to 10 fires in the last 10 years, nine of those times with a bulldozer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire also emphasized that it requires vendors to have workers' compensation insurance, and that vendors must sign an agreement to that effect under penalty of perjury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire's Serious Accident Investigation Team is looking into the circumstances surrounding Reagan's death, but few details have been released about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire says he died sometime between last Tuesday night and the following Wednesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reagan was not in the middle of a firefight at the time, according to U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Paula Martinez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"He was just coming on shift so it wasn't like he was actively engaged in fire suppression at the time of the accident,\" Martinez said, adding that the incident took place in the Palo Colorado Canyon area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor's Note: In a previous version of this story, we said the construction company's license was \"revoked several other times.\" We should have instead used the word \"suspended.\" We regret the error.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Cal/OSHA and the California Contractors State License Board are investigating Czirban Concrete Construction after the death of one of its bulldozer operators.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1470342866,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":26,"wordCount":737},"headData":{"title":"Employer of Worker Killed in Soberanes Fire Under Scrutiny | KQED","description":"Cal/OSHA and the California Contractors State License Board are investigating Czirban Concrete Construction after the death of one of its bulldozer operators.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Employer of Worker Killed in Soberanes Fire Under Scrutiny","datePublished":"2016-08-03T00:10:17.000Z","dateModified":"2016-08-04T20:34:26.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"disqusIdentifier":"11039435 http://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11039435","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/08/02/employer-of-worker-killed-in-soberanes-fire-under-scrutiny/","disqusTitle":"Employer of Worker Killed in Soberanes Fire Under Scrutiny","path":"/news/11039435/employer-of-worker-killed-in-soberanes-fire-under-scrutiny","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The construction company that employed a bulldozer operator killed last week in the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/07/29/soberanes-fire-containment-update/\" target=\"_blank\">massive Soberanes wildfire\u003c/a> in Monterey County has had its license suspended eight times by state regulators in the last four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Reagan, the 35-year-old Friant man who was working the fire when the bulldozer he was operating rolled over, was employed by Czirban Concrete Construction, said Julia Bernstein, a spokeswoman for California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA,) which is investigating his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The construction company, which is based in Coarsegold (Madera County), recently told the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) it had no employees and therefore did not need to provide worker's compensation, board spokesman Rick Lopes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'They’ve been going without a workers' comp policy, telling us they’ve got no employees.'\u003ccite>Rick Lopes, Contractors State License Board spokesman\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Multiple calls for comment to Ian Czirban, the company's owner, have yet to be returned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Word of Reagan's death and employment has prompted the license board to open a new investigation into the firm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They are on our radar now,\" Lopes said in an interview. \"They've been going without a workers' comp policy, telling us they've got no employees.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The license board learned about Reagan's employment at Czirban from KQED, which asked questions about the company's history after learning Cal/OSHA had launched its probe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's Cal/OSHA's first investigation into an incident related to Czirban, but not the license board's first probe. The company has gotten into trouble repeatedly over how much workers' comp it offers its workers and its payments to its employees and suppliers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July 2012, CSLB investigators found that a crew employed by the company was not covered by workers' compensation insurance. Czirban was then cited and fined $3,500.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company did not pay that fine right away, so its contractors license was suspended. The firm agreed to a payment plan with the agency to pay the fine -- but it failed to make a payment and its license was suspended again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company's license was then suspended several other times because its subcontractors and material suppliers were not paid, Lopes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The fact is whenever they've gotten into a situation where they've had to pay some sort of fines or pay back a bond, they've really dragged their feet and it's forced the contractors board to suspend their license and turn up the heat on them.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current investigation could lead the agency to pull Czirban's license again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the company had no workers' compensation insurance, it could be harder for Reagan's relatives to collect money because of his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban Concrete is one of a number of companies Cal Fire has contracted with on the Soberanes Fire -- a practice the agency employs on large fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We have many companies that we contract with throughout the state and they can be utilized in any area,\" Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said. \"The only time they are hired is for emergency incidents. We do not use these contracts for day-to-day projects.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email, Cal Fire confirmed its Madera-Mariposa-Merced unit has a \"call when needed\" vendor contract with Czirban, and that the vendor has responded to 10 fires in the last 10 years, nine of those times with a bulldozer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire also emphasized that it requires vendors to have workers' compensation insurance, and that vendors must sign an agreement to that effect under penalty of perjury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire's Serious Accident Investigation Team is looking into the circumstances surrounding Reagan's death, but few details have been released about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire says he died sometime between last Tuesday night and the following Wednesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reagan was not in the middle of a firefight at the time, according to U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Paula Martinez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"He was just coming on shift so it wasn't like he was actively engaged in fire suppression at the time of the accident,\" Martinez said, adding that the incident took place in the Palo Colorado Canyon area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor's Note: In a previous version of this story, we said the construction company's license was \"revoked several other times.\" We should have instead used the word \"suspended.\" We regret the error.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11039435/employer-of-worker-killed-in-soberanes-fire-under-scrutiny","authors":["258"],"programs":["news_6944","news_72"],"categories":["news_457","news_6188","news_8"],"tags":["news_19724","news_17286","news_19377"],"featImg":"news_11039607","label":"news_72"},"news_10937451":{"type":"posts","id":"news_10937451","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"10937451","score":null,"sort":[1461567956000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"profiteering-masquerades-as-medical-care-for-injured-california-workers","title":"Profiteering Masquerades as Medical Care for Injured California Workers","publishDate":1461567956,"format":"image","headTitle":"The California Report | KQED News","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">\u003ci>This story was republished with permission from Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003ci>Subscribe to the Reveal podcast\u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, produced with PRX, on iTunes and learn more at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://revealnews.org/\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003ci>revealnews.org\u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. \u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Priscilla Lujan was awake soothing her infant son at 10 p.m. and again in the middle of the night. She let him gum one of the salty pistachios she was eating. She mixed a bottle of formula at the side of their shared bed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was the fitful kind of night that’s easily forgotten after a strong cup of coffee and a shy smile from a sleep-refreshed baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not what happened the next morning. When Lujan woke up, her son -- not yet 6 months old on Feb. 3, 2012 -- was cold. His lips, blue. His eyes, half open. She screamed to her mother to call 911.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the hospital, Lujan stood in a room rocking her baby from side to side, sobbing. By then, Andrew Gallegos already was dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police showed up at Lujan’s East Los Angeles home about a week later -- more than a dozen of them. They seized her medications. They handcuffed her and drove her to the police station, where a detective demanded answers: Why did her baby have toxic levels of pain medicine in his bloodstream?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the interview, it dawned on Lujan: The pain cream she had slathered on her knee had gotten into her son’s mouth, through the pistachio and bottle of formula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10939806\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 629px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Lujan-paincream.png\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-10939806\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Lujan-paincream.png\" alt=\"Photos of tubes of pain cream seized from Priscilla Lujan’s home were presented to an Orange County grand jury. Prosecutors alleged that businessman Kareem Ahmed helped formulate the toxic cream and was culpable in the death of Lujan’s infant son.\" width=\"629\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Lujan-paincream.png 629w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Lujan-paincream-400x272.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos of tubes of pain cream seized from Priscilla Lujan’s home were presented to an Orange County grand jury. Prosecutors alleged that businessman Kareem Ahmed helped formulate the toxic cream and was culpable in the death of Lujan’s infant son. \u003ccite>(Orange County Superior Court)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Oh my God, I killed my baby,” she told the detective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after, the focus of the case shifted. The new target was Kareem Ahmed, a millionaire businessman who made his fortune selling medicated creams for patients like Lujan, who struggled with pain after an injury on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahmed eventually would be indicted for involuntary manslaughter in Andrew’s death and accused of a far more sweeping crime: paying more than $25 million in bribes to doctors, including Lujan’s, who prescribed the pain-relief creams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To the people who combat fraud in California’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/Reports/2015/CHSWC_AnnualReport2015_4.pdf\">$24 billion\u003c/a> workers’ compensation system, the case exemplifies unchecked profiteering that jeopardizes injured workers’ health and lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is one of more than a dozen cases that, taken together, outline a medical landscape in which corruption masquerades as medical care for some of California’s injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A review of thousands of criminal court records by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting shows a system in which pay-to-play schemes trump patient care, particularly in unregulated treatments rejected by insurers and disputed in obscure courts throughout the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors are beginning to turn the tide, pursuing charges against more than 80 medical professionals who’ve handled more than 100,000 injured-worker cases, most of them originating in Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defendants include a physician assistant accused of “aggravated mayhem” after he operated on dozens of injured workers’ knees and shoulders, despite lacking surgical training. The outcomes often were disastrous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It still hurts today,” one worker testified in 2015, describing his unsuccessful 2010 shoulder surgery through an interpreter. “I can’t, you know, bend my arm, really.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with the court records, Reveal analyzed data from more than a million workers’ compensation court cases, which show that over the last decade, workers have been swept into medical billing mills, prescribed unregulated medications and advised to undergo sometimes unneeded or high-risk surgery by doctors who were raking in bribes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors estimate that the accused have burdened the system with more than $1 billion in demands for money intended to help injured workers get back on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cases are being fought vigorously at every turn. Ahmed’s attorney secured an early victory, getting all but one count in his indictment thrown out; the prosecutor says she will refile the charges. Other attorneys defending the accused say the barrage of cases is a witch hunt that scares medical providers away from the system, limiting workers’ access to care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taken together, the alleged schemes inject cynicism into a system in which workers already are at odds with insurers, which can save money when they deny care. They heap costs in the form of higher premiums on employers, who in turn raise prices for goods or services or stem hiring as they pay the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sgvtribune.com/business/20141022/california-ranks-highest-for-workers-compensation-costs\">highest workers’ compensation rates\u003c/a> in the nation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers such as Tammy Martinez, though, pay the greatest price. The 56-year-old truck driver hurt her back pushing a 1-ton cart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The workers’ compensation attorney whom she relied on to help her navigate the system pleaded guilty in 2014 to being part of a criminal club: people taking bribes from hospital executive\u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/article/ex-hospital-executive-in-kickback-scheme-looks-to-spread-the-blame/\"> Michael Drobot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drobot had\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1698182-drobot-plea.html\"> pleaded guilty\u003c/a> in early 2014 to paying at least $20 million in kickbacks to dozens of marketers, doctors and others who helped him fill the surgery suites at the now-defunct Pacific Hospital of Long Beach. Federal prosecutors linked the bribes to more than 4,400 risky spinal operations at the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10939808\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Michael_Drobot.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-10939808\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Michael_Drobot.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Drobot, executive of the now-defunct Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, pleaded guilty in 2014 to paying at least $20 million in bribes to bring spinal surgeries to his hospital.\" width=\"200\" height=\"225\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Drobot, executive of the now-defunct Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, pleaded guilty in 2014 to paying at least $20 million in bribes to bring spinal surgeries to his hospital. \u003ccite>(Pacific Hospital of Long Beach website via Archive.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Martinez’s lawyer, Sean O’Keefe, recommended that she see a surgeon, who, she later would learn, also was accused of taking bribes from Drobot. O’Keefe’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2775949-US-v-OKeefe.html\" target=\"_blank\">guilty plea\u003c/a> singles out Martinez’s case as one spurred by illegal bribes and a conspiracy compelling her surgeon to perform a particularly complex -- and expensive -- operation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it came time for Martinez’s spinal surgery in October 2011, all did not go well. Doctors noted that after the procedure, her left foot grew pale and pulseless. Within weeks, her leg had to be amputated above the knee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, she said, it’s been a difficult journey to learn to stand again and to discover that her young grandson was not, in fact, afraid of her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lost myself,” Martinez said. “I struggle every day to get the person I used to be back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across Southern California, Reveal found, companies employ intensive marketing to tap into a particularly vulnerable segment of the workforce. They blanket Spanish-language media with ads and target Latinos with calls to their homes. They suggest that filing a case could lead to a windfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Receive up to $4,000 per month,” proclaim Spanish-language signs, business cards and fliers posted across Southern California. One workers’ compensation attorney troubled by the ads called the number out of curiosity. After that, messages from a buzzing call center lit up his phone five times a day -- for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Callers wanted to know “if I knew anyone who had been injured,” San Diego attorney John A. Don said, “if I could refer anyone to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christine Baker, director of the state Department of Industrial Relations, which administers workers’ compensation, initially responded to questions with a statement noting that other state authorities oversee medical providers and health fraud. But two weeks ago, she said her department had taken a closer look at unregulated medical care, and “we know there’s a problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want workers to get appropriate care,” she said. “We don’t want overcare or undercare; either way is wrong. Delivery of care needs to be evidence-based, appropriate and quickly delivered.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baker said medical abuse is a symptom of a “deeper problem,” particularly in Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There, workers’ comp stands out as an easy target for scammers. While health care programs such as Medicare have developed an arsenal of weapons to ward off fraud, California state regulators have few tools at their disposal. For one thing, the state shares oversight with hundreds of insurers and self-insured employers, leaving no one clearly in charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors filing a growing parade of cases are exposing this leadership vacuum and how it allows operatives to bypass the most competent medical providers for the highest bidder. Workers who’ve been hurt on the job often are the last to find out that they have been exploited -- if they find out at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re talking about a patient that has become a commodity,” said Don Marshall, chairman of the state’s Fraud Assessment Commission, which distributes funds to prosecutors who fight workers’ compensation fraud. “It’s become something to trade and sell on the open market for no other reason than to generate income.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Nobody Cares’ About Workers’ Comp\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As investigators began to puzzle over the 2012 death of Andrew Gallegos, it did not take them long to realize they already had a window into the world of the man who ultimately would be charged in the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kareem Ahmed was the owner of Landmark Medical Management. He is not a pharmacist. But prosecutors, in the continuing legal case against him related to Andrew’s death, would point out that he still delved into the science of mixing medications to formulate pain creams.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"aligncenter\">\u003cstrong>Listen to the full story\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n[soundcloud url=\"https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/256830338\" params=\"color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" iframe=\"true\" /]\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Ahmed’s goal, they allege, was not to make the most effective salve, but the most profitable one. Experts would testify that, if ingested, the opioid-infused cream was a “loaded gun” that could kill an adult. His firms billed insurers $400 to $1,700 per tube for creams sent to Priscilla Lujan, totaling $59,000, court records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An undercover recording made nearly four years before Ahmed’s indictment gives a wider view of the world of workers’ compensation medical executives. In that recording, Ahmed makes it clear that many of them are up to no good -- and no one is stopping them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Businessman Cyrus Sorat secretly recorded the conversation. Also in the pain cream business, Sorat was working for federal prosecutors as part of an agreement to seek leniency in a separate workers’ compensation fraud case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the two men shared a leisurely lunch at an upscale restaurant in Ontario, California, Ahmed marveled over the scale of the exploits of others who, like him, made their millions off health care for injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One stood out, he said, for paying doctors up to $50,000 a month to perform invasive and risky back surgeries: Drobot, the Long Beach hospital executive who eventually would plead guilty to bribing the surgeons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How come nobody does anything to him, man?” Ahmed implores in the recording, pounding the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sorat lowers his voice. “Let me tell you something. If you do Medicare -- the feds hang you,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, I know, that’s why I never touch Medicare,” Ahmed says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But when it comes to workers’ comp …,” Sorat continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody gives a fuck,” Ahmed finishes the sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody cares,” Sorat agrees. Ahmed laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men go on to discuss other workers’ compensation moguls. They cluck about a former chiropractor who they say had gotten a multimillion-dollar settlement from a large insurer. Sorat calls him “a criminal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, and then he gets money. He’s wanted in six different states,” Ahmed said. “But nobody did anything. … Nobody does shit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also talk about David Wayne Fish, a businessman who pleaded no contest in 2010 to taking money for patient referrals. He was accused of organizing dozens of lawyers and doctors to steer more than 4,000 cases to preferred medical providers and run up high bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fish’s sentence: probation, fines and an order to stop demanding the $60 million he was seeking from insurers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s … walking! What happened to him? Nothing,” Ahmed said. “Six fucking years of (investigation), thousands of hours, and he’s walking? … He’ll … make a $100 million in one year again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When it comes to workers’ comp …,” Sorat said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahmed finished his sentence once again: “Yeah, nobody cares.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abuse Abounds In Specialized Courts\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a sunny Monday in November, the workers’ compensation court in Marina del Rey is swarming with activity. Lawyers weave down the halls from small courtroom to courtroom and gather in clusters. Others fervently broker deals on their cellphones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are 24 courts like this up and down the state. But the activity is particularly frenetic in Southern California, where the paperwork that fuels the court’s pace comes in by the virtual truckload.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10939809\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 216px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/christine_baker.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-10939809 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/christine_baker.jpg\" alt=\"Christine Baker, director of the California Department of Industrial Relations, says her department has taken a closer look at unregulated medical care, and “we know there’s a problem.”\" width=\"216\" height=\"286\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christine Baker, director of the California Department of Industrial Relations, says her department has taken a closer look at unregulated medical care, and 'we know there’s a problem.' \u003ccite>(California Department of Industrial Relations)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These courts spend the bulk of their time settling liens -- claims for payments that medical and other service providers file against insurers or self-insured employers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lien system was created to protect the injured worker. It guarantees that even if insurers deny medical care, workers will have a medical professional to whom they can turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the system also throws its doors open to providers excluded from insurers’ networks of preferred professionals. It allows thousands of unregulated entities to bill for any treatment, whiz-bang device, pain cream or DNA test. The only limit is the providers’ willingness to roll the dice on how much money they’ll rake in at workers’ comp courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lien system thrives in California -- more than in any other state. One national insurance executive \u003ca href=\"http://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/Meetings/2010/CHSWC_MeetingMinutesJune2010.pdf\">estimated in 2010\u003c/a> that his company does one-fifth of its business in California -- but deals with more than four-fifths of its liens there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That volume creates “a very thick forest for thieves and scoundrels to hide out in,” said Lachlan Taylor, a former special counsel to the Department of Industrial Relations who analyzed the lien system in 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His work informed a 2012 law that cut down on liens with a new $150 fee required to demand payment in workers’ compensation courts. It also gave insurers new powers to deny money to providers that aren’t approved to treat injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet claims for unapproved care still are cropping up, said Baker, the Department of Industrial Relations’ chief. And the number of liens filed last year is even higher than it was when Taylor initially concluded that the system “rewards bad behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baker said her department has begun reviewing the medical providers who currently file the largest number of liens. The result: “We do note that many are (criminally) indicted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shifting array of schemes is difficult for government authorities to track, much less for workers such as Denise Rivera. Her medical care providers amassed bills -- or liens -- amounting to $95,000. Yet the knee she sought help with continues to ache, swell and give out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She injured it while working at a center for severely disabled children, a nursing assistant job she loved. She worked the night shift, feeding children, turning them when they slept and getting them ready for the next day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you came in, (the kids) had a smile for you,” said Rivera, who lives in Riverside County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two days after Thanksgiving in 2011, she slipped and fell while giving a child a shower. Rivera said she immediately felt paralyzed by leg and back pain. Her company’s doctor said she needed knee surgery, but her employer’s insurance company denied the request.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera saw a commercial on TV for legal help with a work-injury case, called the number and got connected to California Injury Lawyer Inc. The Corona-based company sent people to her house to take her information and referred her to a Riverside clinic, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teena Barton is familiar with this kind of advertising through her work as a special investigator in San Diego for the ICW Group Insurance Cos., a workers’ compensation insurance firm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barton said marketers and advertisers are invasive, often pressuring workers to refer friends and co-workers, who get cold calls at home. She said workers often are pressured into filing work injury claims and put on a lengthy course of medical treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is once you’re on that wave, that wave’s going to take you,” Barton said. “That’s what the system is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Multiple Medical Procedures\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe people who asked Denise Rivera, 54, to sign papers advised her to report to a Riverside clinic, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The clinic packed her schedule with appointments. Clinic staff gave her what looked like a school lunch menu, with the names of doctors and companies she was expected to see three times per week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera cobbled together the gas money or borrowed family members’ cars to make her appointments. She sat in the clinic’s jammed waiting room for hours at a time and watched medical staff wheel in suitcases full of devices to treat workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she received MRIs, acupuncture, shockwave therapy and treatments with a device that seemed like a jackhammer thumping her knee. At one point, clinic staff sent her home with an electrical pain treatment device, but they forgot to include the electrode pads needed to make it work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pain creams that “seemed like Bengay,” according to Rivera, arrived in the mail. For those creams alone, records show that Kareem Ahmed’s company billed $17,102. Ahmed is the pain-cream executive who was charged in baby Andrew Gallegos’ death. The pharmacist who made 145,000 tubes of cream for his company got $35 to $72 per tube, public records say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Records in Rivera’s case show the total bill sent by providers to the insurer for her care: $95,257. She had never seen that total, and it shocked her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No way,” she said, then added: “None of the treatments they’ve given me has helped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera said she did not work for four years while waiting for her workers’ compensation case to be resolved. Penniless, she set up her bedroom in her mother’s garage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She ultimately got a settlement in the case to compensate her for a permanent disability. The amount was $32,500 -- about what she would have made in one year at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Going After ‘The Godfather’\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nRiverside County prosecutors now allege that Rivera walked into a clinic, with eight affiliate sites, that ran a $122 million scam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They filed charges in July 2014 against attorney Cary Abramowitz and chiropractor Peyman Heidary. Prosecutors say in court records that Heidary is nicknamed “The Godfather” for masterminding the profit-centered medical network that Rivera encountered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heidary is accused of controlling medical treatment at the clinics, even though he’s not a doctor, which is a crime in California. Prosecutors say he also illegally owned and controlled law offices, even though he’s not a lawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors claim that workers came into the network via “cappers” -- people paid to recruit patients -- who got referrals from English- and Spanish-language 800 numbers. At Heidary’s direction, clerical staff allegedly padded the cases with additional supposedly injured body parts, according to\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2755573-Peyman-Heidary-RIF1409778-TRO-186-11-Dec.html\"> court records\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the $122 million Heidary’s group sought, one document from prosecutors indicates that it had collected $18 million from insurers as of April 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera said the allegations were bad news for her, given that she trusted the legal and medical professionals to fight for her best interests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes me angry,” she said. “I kind of want to cry.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heidary has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Michael Khouri, said the case lacks legal and factual merit and has ruined Heidary’s reputation. All the care, he said, was medically necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When told about Rivera’s plight, Khouri said he’s not moved by the case of one worker disappointed with her care, given that patients “die in the best hospitals … all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers’ compensation court records show that Heidary’s clinic dropped claims in May for payment in Rivera’s case. Attorneys involved in the case say the bills were resolved in a confidential settlement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Workers Struggle Physically and Legally\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nState and federal prosecutors have filed cases against more than 80 people for medical scams victimizing injured workers since 2010. The cases are moving forward in courthouses from Fresno to San Diego and are shaping up to be vigorous fights, with defendants battling every step of the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parallel civil lawsuits also have emerged. They tend to pit insurers against medical providers in disputes over money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But little is being done in any of the legal venues for injured workers who’ve been victimized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10939811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10939811\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Roger Brown’s doctor advised him to undergo back surgery in 2011 at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, at the height of the cash-for-surgery scam. The operation did not go well, and he now relies on a caretaker to help him each day.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683-400x267.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Roger Brown’s doctor advised him to undergo back surgery in 2011 at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, at the height of the cash-for-surgery scam. The operation did not go well, and he now relies on a caretaker to help him each day. \u003ccite>(Annie Tritt for Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many, such as Denise Rivera, sign away their rights to future medical treatment in workers’ compensation cases. Others move forward with their lives, debilitated by medical care that left them worse off and unaware of the dynamics that shaped medical decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That latter group includes Roger Brown, 59.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His back hurt badly after he was rear-ended in a car, but he still could work as a private investigator for a Riverside County law firm. He went fishing nearly every weekend and looked forward to annual deep-sea expeditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown’s doctor advised him to undergo back surgery in January 2011 at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, where, Brown recalled, “he just felt the care was better.” That was at the height of the cash-for-surgery scam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The surgery did not go well. During the first attempt to drill screws into Brown’s spine, the doctor drove special hardware 9 millimeters into his spinal cord. Even heavily medicated, the pain was unbearable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would have taken my own life if I could have,” Brown said. “It was excruciating pain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He underwent a second surgery to fix the problem but emerged unable to drive or even work. Brown relies on a caretaker to help him each day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The doctor who advised Brown to undergo the surgery in Long Beach has been accused of taking kickbacks from Michael Drobot, the executive who pleaded guilty to bribing doctors to operate at his hospital. Another surgeon who assisted in the case faces the same accusations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown was so disgusted by the care that he sued for malpractice in April 2012. He didn’t get far before he decided to drop the case. As for the civil bribery accusations against his doctors, “I never heard anything like that,” Brown said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if Brown had known about the illegal profiteering allegations over his medical care, it’s not clear that it would have gotten him anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers who’ve sustained medical harm under workers’ comp have little recourse, according to Irvine attorney Kevin Liebeck, partly because there is so little money in it for patients or lawyers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers are reluctant to take medical malpractice cases due to caps on payouts in place since the 1970s, said Liebeck, a partner in a firm that takes such cases. Attorneys who want to help workers also are unlikely to go after a doctor for fraud because doctors’ liability insurance usually does not cover fraudulent care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And most lawyers, he said, know that means they’ll be left struggling to get money from a doctor who can easily hide it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you do stuff that is beyond the pale … and make a lot of money on it, even if you get caught and get a lot of grief, you will ultimately get out ahead,” Liebeck said. “Crime does pay for a lot of this stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cases Move Forward for High-profile Defendants\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nWhether coming out ahead is the case for some of the high-profile defendants in workers’ compensation fraud cases remains to be seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drobot, the Long Beach hospital executive, faces sentencing in June for paying bribes to pack his surgery suites with workers. He also pleaded guilty to bribing former state Sen. Ronald Calderon, who is fighting accusations in a separate case for delaying legislation that cut into the astronomical profit Drobot and others made on\u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/article/medical-firm-profited-on-pain-in-alleged-spine-surgery-hardware-scam/\"> spinal surgery hardware\u003c/a>. Drobot declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cyrus Sorat, the pain-cream businessman who made the audio recording of his friend Kareem Ahmed, went to prison in 2013 following his stint as a confidential witness for prosecutors. The judge who sentenced Sorat described his undercover work as active and significant, saying it would be valuable in multiple cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he faced a possible sentence of up to 6½ years, Sorat ultimately served two years in federal prison in California for mail fraud. He pleaded guilty to selling worthless billing rights to a third-party firm for pain creams that never were delivered to workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sorat now faces new insurance fraud charges, also over his pain cream business. He has pleaded not guilty in the case, and his attorney did not return calls seeking comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahmed is fighting the case prosecutors filed against him in 2014. His attorney, Benjamin Gluck, said their early success in throwing out most of Ahmed’s indictment speaks “loudly about the quality of the allegations and, needless to say, we emphatically dispute them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gluck noted that the undercover tapes obtained by Reveal contain no incriminating statements by Ahmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From what Ahmed told Sorat in their freewheeling conversation in 2010, criminal charges were not a fate he expected. Ahmed confided then that he had a plan for his millions. He wanted to build a children’s hospital in San Bernardino County -- a Cedars-Sinai for kids. But, he lamented, “nobody believes me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahmed faces another legal challenge. Priscilla Lujan filed a civil lawsuit against Ahmed and her doctor in 2013. Lujan declined to be interviewed for this article, but a transcript in Ahmed’s criminal case details the hours of Andrew’s death and all that her encounter with Ahmed’s company cost her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After losing her baby, she testified, Ahmed’s companies kept sending the pain cream to her home and billing insurers for them -- $33,000 in all. She threw the boxes in her garage. She also lost custody of her older son. Child welfare officials declared her home unsafe, she said, because they believed she fed the toxic cream to her baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">\u003ci>Contact the reporter at cjewett@cironline and follow her on Twitter \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/by_cjewett\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003ci>@By_Jewett.\u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A review of thousands of criminal court records shows a workers’ compensation system in which pay-to-play schemes trump patient care.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1461623848,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":123,"wordCount":4644},"headData":{"title":"Profiteering Masquerades as Medical Care for Injured California Workers | KQED","description":"A review of thousands of criminal court records shows a workers’ compensation system in which pay-to-play schemes trump patient care.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Profiteering Masquerades as Medical Care for Injured California Workers","datePublished":"2016-04-25T07:05:56.000Z","dateModified":"2016-04-25T22:37:28.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"disqusIdentifier":"10937451 http://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=10937451","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/04/25/profiteering-masquerades-as-medical-care-for-injured-california-workers/","disqusTitle":"Profiteering Masquerades as Medical Care for Injured California Workers","source":"Reveal","sourceUrl":"https://www.revealnews.org/article/profiteering-masquerades-as-medical-care-for-injured-california-workers/","nprByline":"\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/author/christinajewett/\">Christina Jewett\u003c/a>\u003cbr>Reveal\u003c/strong>","path":"/news/10937451/profiteering-masquerades-as-medical-care-for-injured-california-workers","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">\u003ci>This story was republished with permission from Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003ci>Subscribe to the Reveal podcast\u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>, produced with PRX, on iTunes and learn more at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://revealnews.org/\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003ci>revealnews.org\u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. \u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Priscilla Lujan was awake soothing her infant son at 10 p.m. and again in the middle of the night. She let him gum one of the salty pistachios she was eating. She mixed a bottle of formula at the side of their shared bed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was the fitful kind of night that’s easily forgotten after a strong cup of coffee and a shy smile from a sleep-refreshed baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not what happened the next morning. When Lujan woke up, her son -- not yet 6 months old on Feb. 3, 2012 -- was cold. His lips, blue. His eyes, half open. She screamed to her mother to call 911.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the hospital, Lujan stood in a room rocking her baby from side to side, sobbing. By then, Andrew Gallegos already was dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police showed up at Lujan’s East Los Angeles home about a week later -- more than a dozen of them. They seized her medications. They handcuffed her and drove her to the police station, where a detective demanded answers: Why did her baby have toxic levels of pain medicine in his bloodstream?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the interview, it dawned on Lujan: The pain cream she had slathered on her knee had gotten into her son’s mouth, through the pistachio and bottle of formula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10939806\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 629px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Lujan-paincream.png\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-10939806\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Lujan-paincream.png\" alt=\"Photos of tubes of pain cream seized from Priscilla Lujan’s home were presented to an Orange County grand jury. Prosecutors alleged that businessman Kareem Ahmed helped formulate the toxic cream and was culpable in the death of Lujan’s infant son.\" width=\"629\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Lujan-paincream.png 629w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Lujan-paincream-400x272.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos of tubes of pain cream seized from Priscilla Lujan’s home were presented to an Orange County grand jury. Prosecutors alleged that businessman Kareem Ahmed helped formulate the toxic cream and was culpable in the death of Lujan’s infant son. \u003ccite>(Orange County Superior Court)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Oh my God, I killed my baby,” she told the detective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after, the focus of the case shifted. The new target was Kareem Ahmed, a millionaire businessman who made his fortune selling medicated creams for patients like Lujan, who struggled with pain after an injury on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahmed eventually would be indicted for involuntary manslaughter in Andrew’s death and accused of a far more sweeping crime: paying more than $25 million in bribes to doctors, including Lujan’s, who prescribed the pain-relief creams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To the people who combat fraud in California’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/Reports/2015/CHSWC_AnnualReport2015_4.pdf\">$24 billion\u003c/a> workers’ compensation system, the case exemplifies unchecked profiteering that jeopardizes injured workers’ health and lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is one of more than a dozen cases that, taken together, outline a medical landscape in which corruption masquerades as medical care for some of California’s injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A review of thousands of criminal court records by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting shows a system in which pay-to-play schemes trump patient care, particularly in unregulated treatments rejected by insurers and disputed in obscure courts throughout the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors are beginning to turn the tide, pursuing charges against more than 80 medical professionals who’ve handled more than 100,000 injured-worker cases, most of them originating in Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Defendants include a physician assistant accused of “aggravated mayhem” after he operated on dozens of injured workers’ knees and shoulders, despite lacking surgical training. The outcomes often were disastrous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It still hurts today,” one worker testified in 2015, describing his unsuccessful 2010 shoulder surgery through an interpreter. “I can’t, you know, bend my arm, really.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with the court records, Reveal analyzed data from more than a million workers’ compensation court cases, which show that over the last decade, workers have been swept into medical billing mills, prescribed unregulated medications and advised to undergo sometimes unneeded or high-risk surgery by doctors who were raking in bribes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors estimate that the accused have burdened the system with more than $1 billion in demands for money intended to help injured workers get back on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cases are being fought vigorously at every turn. Ahmed’s attorney secured an early victory, getting all but one count in his indictment thrown out; the prosecutor says she will refile the charges. Other attorneys defending the accused say the barrage of cases is a witch hunt that scares medical providers away from the system, limiting workers’ access to care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taken together, the alleged schemes inject cynicism into a system in which workers already are at odds with insurers, which can save money when they deny care. They heap costs in the form of higher premiums on employers, who in turn raise prices for goods or services or stem hiring as they pay the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sgvtribune.com/business/20141022/california-ranks-highest-for-workers-compensation-costs\">highest workers’ compensation rates\u003c/a> in the nation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers such as Tammy Martinez, though, pay the greatest price. The 56-year-old truck driver hurt her back pushing a 1-ton cart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The workers’ compensation attorney whom she relied on to help her navigate the system pleaded guilty in 2014 to being part of a criminal club: people taking bribes from hospital executive\u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/article/ex-hospital-executive-in-kickback-scheme-looks-to-spread-the-blame/\"> Michael Drobot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drobot had\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1698182-drobot-plea.html\"> pleaded guilty\u003c/a> in early 2014 to paying at least $20 million in kickbacks to dozens of marketers, doctors and others who helped him fill the surgery suites at the now-defunct Pacific Hospital of Long Beach. Federal prosecutors linked the bribes to more than 4,400 risky spinal operations at the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10939808\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Michael_Drobot.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-10939808\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Michael_Drobot.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Drobot, executive of the now-defunct Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, pleaded guilty in 2014 to paying at least $20 million in bribes to bring spinal surgeries to his hospital.\" width=\"200\" height=\"225\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Drobot, executive of the now-defunct Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, pleaded guilty in 2014 to paying at least $20 million in bribes to bring spinal surgeries to his hospital. \u003ccite>(Pacific Hospital of Long Beach website via Archive.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Martinez’s lawyer, Sean O’Keefe, recommended that she see a surgeon, who, she later would learn, also was accused of taking bribes from Drobot. O’Keefe’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2775949-US-v-OKeefe.html\" target=\"_blank\">guilty plea\u003c/a> singles out Martinez’s case as one spurred by illegal bribes and a conspiracy compelling her surgeon to perform a particularly complex -- and expensive -- operation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it came time for Martinez’s spinal surgery in October 2011, all did not go well. Doctors noted that after the procedure, her left foot grew pale and pulseless. Within weeks, her leg had to be amputated above the knee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, she said, it’s been a difficult journey to learn to stand again and to discover that her young grandson was not, in fact, afraid of her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lost myself,” Martinez said. “I struggle every day to get the person I used to be back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across Southern California, Reveal found, companies employ intensive marketing to tap into a particularly vulnerable segment of the workforce. They blanket Spanish-language media with ads and target Latinos with calls to their homes. They suggest that filing a case could lead to a windfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Receive up to $4,000 per month,” proclaim Spanish-language signs, business cards and fliers posted across Southern California. One workers’ compensation attorney troubled by the ads called the number out of curiosity. After that, messages from a buzzing call center lit up his phone five times a day -- for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Callers wanted to know “if I knew anyone who had been injured,” San Diego attorney John A. Don said, “if I could refer anyone to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christine Baker, director of the state Department of Industrial Relations, which administers workers’ compensation, initially responded to questions with a statement noting that other state authorities oversee medical providers and health fraud. But two weeks ago, she said her department had taken a closer look at unregulated medical care, and “we know there’s a problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want workers to get appropriate care,” she said. “We don’t want overcare or undercare; either way is wrong. Delivery of care needs to be evidence-based, appropriate and quickly delivered.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baker said medical abuse is a symptom of a “deeper problem,” particularly in Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There, workers’ comp stands out as an easy target for scammers. While health care programs such as Medicare have developed an arsenal of weapons to ward off fraud, California state regulators have few tools at their disposal. For one thing, the state shares oversight with hundreds of insurers and self-insured employers, leaving no one clearly in charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors filing a growing parade of cases are exposing this leadership vacuum and how it allows operatives to bypass the most competent medical providers for the highest bidder. Workers who’ve been hurt on the job often are the last to find out that they have been exploited -- if they find out at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re talking about a patient that has become a commodity,” said Don Marshall, chairman of the state’s Fraud Assessment Commission, which distributes funds to prosecutors who fight workers’ compensation fraud. “It’s become something to trade and sell on the open market for no other reason than to generate income.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘Nobody Cares’ About Workers’ Comp\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As investigators began to puzzle over the 2012 death of Andrew Gallegos, it did not take them long to realize they already had a window into the world of the man who ultimately would be charged in the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kareem Ahmed was the owner of Landmark Medical Management. He is not a pharmacist. But prosecutors, in the continuing legal case against him related to Andrew’s death, would point out that he still delved into the science of mixing medications to formulate pain creams.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"aligncenter\">\u003cstrong>Listen to the full story\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe width='100%' height='166'\n scrolling='no' frameborder='no'\n src='https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/256830338&visual=true&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false'\n title='https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/256830338'>\n \u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Ahmed’s goal, they allege, was not to make the most effective salve, but the most profitable one. Experts would testify that, if ingested, the opioid-infused cream was a “loaded gun” that could kill an adult. His firms billed insurers $400 to $1,700 per tube for creams sent to Priscilla Lujan, totaling $59,000, court records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An undercover recording made nearly four years before Ahmed’s indictment gives a wider view of the world of workers’ compensation medical executives. In that recording, Ahmed makes it clear that many of them are up to no good -- and no one is stopping them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Businessman Cyrus Sorat secretly recorded the conversation. Also in the pain cream business, Sorat was working for federal prosecutors as part of an agreement to seek leniency in a separate workers’ compensation fraud case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the two men shared a leisurely lunch at an upscale restaurant in Ontario, California, Ahmed marveled over the scale of the exploits of others who, like him, made their millions off health care for injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One stood out, he said, for paying doctors up to $50,000 a month to perform invasive and risky back surgeries: Drobot, the Long Beach hospital executive who eventually would plead guilty to bribing the surgeons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How come nobody does anything to him, man?” Ahmed implores in the recording, pounding the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sorat lowers his voice. “Let me tell you something. If you do Medicare -- the feds hang you,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, I know, that’s why I never touch Medicare,” Ahmed says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But when it comes to workers’ comp …,” Sorat continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody gives a fuck,” Ahmed finishes the sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody cares,” Sorat agrees. Ahmed laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men go on to discuss other workers’ compensation moguls. They cluck about a former chiropractor who they say had gotten a multimillion-dollar settlement from a large insurer. Sorat calls him “a criminal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, and then he gets money. He’s wanted in six different states,” Ahmed said. “But nobody did anything. … Nobody does shit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also talk about David Wayne Fish, a businessman who pleaded no contest in 2010 to taking money for patient referrals. He was accused of organizing dozens of lawyers and doctors to steer more than 4,000 cases to preferred medical providers and run up high bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fish’s sentence: probation, fines and an order to stop demanding the $60 million he was seeking from insurers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s … walking! What happened to him? Nothing,” Ahmed said. “Six fucking years of (investigation), thousands of hours, and he’s walking? … He’ll … make a $100 million in one year again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When it comes to workers’ comp …,” Sorat said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahmed finished his sentence once again: “Yeah, nobody cares.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Abuse Abounds In Specialized Courts\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a sunny Monday in November, the workers’ compensation court in Marina del Rey is swarming with activity. Lawyers weave down the halls from small courtroom to courtroom and gather in clusters. Others fervently broker deals on their cellphones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are 24 courts like this up and down the state. But the activity is particularly frenetic in Southern California, where the paperwork that fuels the court’s pace comes in by the virtual truckload.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10939809\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 216px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/christine_baker.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-10939809 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/christine_baker.jpg\" alt=\"Christine Baker, director of the California Department of Industrial Relations, says her department has taken a closer look at unregulated medical care, and “we know there’s a problem.”\" width=\"216\" height=\"286\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christine Baker, director of the California Department of Industrial Relations, says her department has taken a closer look at unregulated medical care, and 'we know there’s a problem.' \u003ccite>(California Department of Industrial Relations)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These courts spend the bulk of their time settling liens -- claims for payments that medical and other service providers file against insurers or self-insured employers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lien system was created to protect the injured worker. It guarantees that even if insurers deny medical care, workers will have a medical professional to whom they can turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the system also throws its doors open to providers excluded from insurers’ networks of preferred professionals. It allows thousands of unregulated entities to bill for any treatment, whiz-bang device, pain cream or DNA test. The only limit is the providers’ willingness to roll the dice on how much money they’ll rake in at workers’ comp courts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lien system thrives in California -- more than in any other state. One national insurance executive \u003ca href=\"http://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/Meetings/2010/CHSWC_MeetingMinutesJune2010.pdf\">estimated in 2010\u003c/a> that his company does one-fifth of its business in California -- but deals with more than four-fifths of its liens there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That volume creates “a very thick forest for thieves and scoundrels to hide out in,” said Lachlan Taylor, a former special counsel to the Department of Industrial Relations who analyzed the lien system in 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His work informed a 2012 law that cut down on liens with a new $150 fee required to demand payment in workers’ compensation courts. It also gave insurers new powers to deny money to providers that aren’t approved to treat injured workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet claims for unapproved care still are cropping up, said Baker, the Department of Industrial Relations’ chief. And the number of liens filed last year is even higher than it was when Taylor initially concluded that the system “rewards bad behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baker said her department has begun reviewing the medical providers who currently file the largest number of liens. The result: “We do note that many are (criminally) indicted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shifting array of schemes is difficult for government authorities to track, much less for workers such as Denise Rivera. Her medical care providers amassed bills -- or liens -- amounting to $95,000. Yet the knee she sought help with continues to ache, swell and give out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She injured it while working at a center for severely disabled children, a nursing assistant job she loved. She worked the night shift, feeding children, turning them when they slept and getting them ready for the next day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you came in, (the kids) had a smile for you,” said Rivera, who lives in Riverside County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two days after Thanksgiving in 2011, she slipped and fell while giving a child a shower. Rivera said she immediately felt paralyzed by leg and back pain. Her company’s doctor said she needed knee surgery, but her employer’s insurance company denied the request.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera saw a commercial on TV for legal help with a work-injury case, called the number and got connected to California Injury Lawyer Inc. The Corona-based company sent people to her house to take her information and referred her to a Riverside clinic, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teena Barton is familiar with this kind of advertising through her work as a special investigator in San Diego for the ICW Group Insurance Cos., a workers’ compensation insurance firm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barton said marketers and advertisers are invasive, often pressuring workers to refer friends and co-workers, who get cold calls at home. She said workers often are pressured into filing work injury claims and put on a lengthy course of medical treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is once you’re on that wave, that wave’s going to take you,” Barton said. “That’s what the system is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Multiple Medical Procedures\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThe people who asked Denise Rivera, 54, to sign papers advised her to report to a Riverside clinic, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The clinic packed her schedule with appointments. Clinic staff gave her what looked like a school lunch menu, with the names of doctors and companies she was expected to see three times per week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera cobbled together the gas money or borrowed family members’ cars to make her appointments. She sat in the clinic’s jammed waiting room for hours at a time and watched medical staff wheel in suitcases full of devices to treat workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she received MRIs, acupuncture, shockwave therapy and treatments with a device that seemed like a jackhammer thumping her knee. At one point, clinic staff sent her home with an electrical pain treatment device, but they forgot to include the electrode pads needed to make it work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pain creams that “seemed like Bengay,” according to Rivera, arrived in the mail. For those creams alone, records show that Kareem Ahmed’s company billed $17,102. Ahmed is the pain-cream executive who was charged in baby Andrew Gallegos’ death. The pharmacist who made 145,000 tubes of cream for his company got $35 to $72 per tube, public records say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Records in Rivera’s case show the total bill sent by providers to the insurer for her care: $95,257. She had never seen that total, and it shocked her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No way,” she said, then added: “None of the treatments they’ve given me has helped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera said she did not work for four years while waiting for her workers’ compensation case to be resolved. Penniless, she set up her bedroom in her mother’s garage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She ultimately got a settlement in the case to compensate her for a permanent disability. The amount was $32,500 -- about what she would have made in one year at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Going After ‘The Godfather’\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nRiverside County prosecutors now allege that Rivera walked into a clinic, with eight affiliate sites, that ran a $122 million scam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They filed charges in July 2014 against attorney Cary Abramowitz and chiropractor Peyman Heidary. Prosecutors say in court records that Heidary is nicknamed “The Godfather” for masterminding the profit-centered medical network that Rivera encountered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heidary is accused of controlling medical treatment at the clinics, even though he’s not a doctor, which is a crime in California. Prosecutors say he also illegally owned and controlled law offices, even though he’s not a lawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors claim that workers came into the network via “cappers” -- people paid to recruit patients -- who got referrals from English- and Spanish-language 800 numbers. At Heidary’s direction, clerical staff allegedly padded the cases with additional supposedly injured body parts, according to\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2755573-Peyman-Heidary-RIF1409778-TRO-186-11-Dec.html\"> court records\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the $122 million Heidary’s group sought, one document from prosecutors indicates that it had collected $18 million from insurers as of April 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivera said the allegations were bad news for her, given that she trusted the legal and medical professionals to fight for her best interests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes me angry,” she said. “I kind of want to cry.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heidary has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Michael Khouri, said the case lacks legal and factual merit and has ruined Heidary’s reputation. All the care, he said, was medically necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When told about Rivera’s plight, Khouri said he’s not moved by the case of one worker disappointed with her care, given that patients “die in the best hospitals … all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers’ compensation court records show that Heidary’s clinic dropped claims in May for payment in Rivera’s case. Attorneys involved in the case say the bills were resolved in a confidential settlement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Workers Struggle Physically and Legally\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nState and federal prosecutors have filed cases against more than 80 people for medical scams victimizing injured workers since 2010. The cases are moving forward in courthouses from Fresno to San Diego and are shaping up to be vigorous fights, with defendants battling every step of the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parallel civil lawsuits also have emerged. They tend to pit insurers against medical providers in disputes over money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But little is being done in any of the legal venues for injured workers who’ve been victimized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10939811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10939811\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Roger Brown’s doctor advised him to undergo back surgery in 2011 at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, at the height of the cash-for-surgery scam. The operation did not go well, and he now relies on a caretaker to help him each day.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683-800x534.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683-400x267.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/04/Roger-Brown-56-web-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Roger Brown’s doctor advised him to undergo back surgery in 2011 at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, at the height of the cash-for-surgery scam. The operation did not go well, and he now relies on a caretaker to help him each day. \u003ccite>(Annie Tritt for Reveal)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many, such as Denise Rivera, sign away their rights to future medical treatment in workers’ compensation cases. Others move forward with their lives, debilitated by medical care that left them worse off and unaware of the dynamics that shaped medical decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That latter group includes Roger Brown, 59.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His back hurt badly after he was rear-ended in a car, but he still could work as a private investigator for a Riverside County law firm. He went fishing nearly every weekend and looked forward to annual deep-sea expeditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown’s doctor advised him to undergo back surgery in January 2011 at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, where, Brown recalled, “he just felt the care was better.” That was at the height of the cash-for-surgery scam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The surgery did not go well. During the first attempt to drill screws into Brown’s spine, the doctor drove special hardware 9 millimeters into his spinal cord. Even heavily medicated, the pain was unbearable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would have taken my own life if I could have,” Brown said. “It was excruciating pain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He underwent a second surgery to fix the problem but emerged unable to drive or even work. Brown relies on a caretaker to help him each day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The doctor who advised Brown to undergo the surgery in Long Beach has been accused of taking kickbacks from Michael Drobot, the executive who pleaded guilty to bribing doctors to operate at his hospital. Another surgeon who assisted in the case faces the same accusations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown was so disgusted by the care that he sued for malpractice in April 2012. He didn’t get far before he decided to drop the case. As for the civil bribery accusations against his doctors, “I never heard anything like that,” Brown said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if Brown had known about the illegal profiteering allegations over his medical care, it’s not clear that it would have gotten him anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers who’ve sustained medical harm under workers’ comp have little recourse, according to Irvine attorney Kevin Liebeck, partly because there is so little money in it for patients or lawyers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers are reluctant to take medical malpractice cases due to caps on payouts in place since the 1970s, said Liebeck, a partner in a firm that takes such cases. Attorneys who want to help workers also are unlikely to go after a doctor for fraud because doctors’ liability insurance usually does not cover fraudulent care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And most lawyers, he said, know that means they’ll be left struggling to get money from a doctor who can easily hide it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you do stuff that is beyond the pale … and make a lot of money on it, even if you get caught and get a lot of grief, you will ultimately get out ahead,” Liebeck said. “Crime does pay for a lot of this stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cases Move Forward for High-profile Defendants\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nWhether coming out ahead is the case for some of the high-profile defendants in workers’ compensation fraud cases remains to be seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drobot, the Long Beach hospital executive, faces sentencing in June for paying bribes to pack his surgery suites with workers. He also pleaded guilty to bribing former state Sen. Ronald Calderon, who is fighting accusations in a separate case for delaying legislation that cut into the astronomical profit Drobot and others made on\u003ca href=\"https://www.revealnews.org/article/medical-firm-profited-on-pain-in-alleged-spine-surgery-hardware-scam/\"> spinal surgery hardware\u003c/a>. Drobot declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cyrus Sorat, the pain-cream businessman who made the audio recording of his friend Kareem Ahmed, went to prison in 2013 following his stint as a confidential witness for prosecutors. The judge who sentenced Sorat described his undercover work as active and significant, saying it would be valuable in multiple cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he faced a possible sentence of up to 6½ years, Sorat ultimately served two years in federal prison in California for mail fraud. He pleaded guilty to selling worthless billing rights to a third-party firm for pain creams that never were delivered to workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sorat now faces new insurance fraud charges, also over his pain cream business. He has pleaded not guilty in the case, and his attorney did not return calls seeking comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahmed is fighting the case prosecutors filed against him in 2014. His attorney, Benjamin Gluck, said their early success in throwing out most of Ahmed’s indictment speaks “loudly about the quality of the allegations and, needless to say, we emphatically dispute them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gluck noted that the undercover tapes obtained by Reveal contain no incriminating statements by Ahmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From what Ahmed told Sorat in their freewheeling conversation in 2010, criminal charges were not a fate he expected. Ahmed confided then that he had a plan for his millions. He wanted to build a children’s hospital in San Bernardino County -- a Cedars-Sinai for kids. But, he lamented, “nobody believes me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahmed faces another legal challenge. Priscilla Lujan filed a civil lawsuit against Ahmed and her doctor in 2013. Lujan declined to be interviewed for this article, but a transcript in Ahmed’s criminal case details the hours of Andrew’s death and all that her encounter with Ahmed’s company cost her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After losing her baby, she testified, Ahmed’s companies kept sending the pain cream to her home and billing insurers for them -- $33,000 in all. She threw the boxes in her garage. She also lost custody of her older son. Child welfare officials declared her home unsafe, she said, because they believed she fed the toxic cream to her baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">\u003ci>Contact the reporter at cjewett@cironline and follow her on Twitter \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/by_cjewett\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">\u003ci>@By_Jewett.\u003c/i>\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/10937451/profiteering-masquerades-as-medical-care-for-injured-california-workers","authors":["byline_news_10937451"],"programs":["news_6944","news_72"],"categories":["news_457","news_6188","news_8"],"tags":["news_19377"],"featImg":"news_10939801","label":"source_news_10937451"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.","airtime":"SUN 2pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.possible.fm/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Possible"},"link":"/radio/program/possible","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"}},"1a":{"id":"1a","title":"1A","info":"1A is home to the national conversation. 1A brings on great guests and frames the best debate in ways that make you think, share and engage.","airtime":"MON-THU 11pm-12am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/1a.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://the1a.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/1a","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=1188724250&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/1A-p947376/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510316/podcast.xml"}},"all-things-considered":{"id":"all-things-considered","title":"All Things Considered","info":"Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/all-things-considered"},"american-suburb-podcast":{"id":"american-suburb-podcast","title":"American Suburb: The Podcast","tagline":"The flip side of gentrification, told through one town","info":"Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"13"},"link":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"}},"baycurious":{"id":"baycurious","title":"Bay Curious","tagline":"Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time","info":"KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"\"KQED Bay Curious","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/baycurious","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"4"},"link":"/podcasts/baycurious","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS9iYXktY3VyaW91cy1wb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdA","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"}},"bbc-world-service":{"id":"bbc-world-service","title":"BBC World Service","info":"The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service","meta":{"site":"news","source":"BBC World Service"},"link":"/radio/program/bbc-world-service","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/","rss":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"}},"code-switch-life-kit":{"id":"code-switch-life-kit","title":"Code Switch / Life Kit","info":"\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />","airtime":"SUN 9pm-10pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"}},"commonwealth-club":{"id":"commonwealth-club","title":"Commonwealth Club of California Podcast","info":"The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.","airtime":"THU 10pm, FRI 1am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Commonwealth Club of California"},"link":"/radio/program/commonwealth-club","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"}},"considerthis":{"id":"considerthis","title":"Consider This","tagline":"Make sense of the day","info":"Make sense of the day. Every weekday afternoon, Consider This helps you consider the major stories of the day in less than 15 minutes, featuring the reporting and storytelling resources of NPR. Plus, KQED’s Bianca Taylor brings you the local KQED news you need to know.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Consider-This-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"Consider This from NPR and KQED","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/considerthis","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"7"},"link":"/podcasts/considerthis","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1503226625?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/coronavirusdaily","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM1NS9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbA","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3Z6JdCS2d0eFEpXHKI6WqH"}},"forum":{"id":"forum","title":"Forum","tagline":"The conversation starts here","info":"KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal","officialWebsiteLink":"/forum","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"8"},"link":"/forum","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"}},"freakonomics-radio":{"id":"freakonomics-radio","title":"Freakonomics Radio","info":"Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png","officialWebsiteLink":"http://freakonomics.com/","airtime":"SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/freakonomics-radio","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/","rss":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"}},"fresh-air":{"id":"fresh-air","title":"Fresh Air","info":"Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.","airtime":"MON-FRI 7pm-8pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/fresh-air","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"}},"here-and-now":{"id":"here-and-now","title":"Here & Now","info":"A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. 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