Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Home › News › Local News

Rep. Salazar wants action to help sick Flats workers

By Laura Frank, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 21, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

Text size  

More Local News

More stories »

Map my news

U.S. Rep. John Salazar Thursday entered the controversy over new rules for compensating sick Rocky Flats workers, saying Congress may act if federal officials don't "fix this problem."

Salazar was reacting to the plight of a constituent, Loa Richards, widow of a Rocky Flats nuclear weapons worker who died of stomach cancer, a disease linked to radiation exposure.

She was told in December that she would be eligible for federal compensation due sick workers or their survivors. But officials of the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees the compensation program, changed the rules before the widow could be paid.

"It is clear that not everyone who should have been monitored for radiation exposure has been monitored and that new rules serve to keep those that deserve compensation from receiving it," said Salazar, D-Manassa.

"I have serious concerns about the Department of Labor adding red tape to the special exposure process."

That process makes some ex-Rocky Flats employees who develop radiation-related cancer eligible for automatic aid if they worked at the now-demolished nuclear weapons plant during the early years and should have been monitored for a certain kind of radiation.

Salazar said he would team with other members of the Colorado congressional delegation on legislation if the Labor Department doesn't fix the rules.

"What should be a simple process, following established guidelines, is being needlessly bogged down by bureaucracy," Salazar said. "The matter has the full attention of my office and, if necessary, I will work with my colleagues in the Colorado delegation to pursue legislation to permanently fix this problem."

Labor spokesman Loren Smith said "it would be irresponsible to comment on legislation which does not exist."

A panel appointed by President Bush to oversee the compensation process also is looking into the Richards case to determine if workers eligible for compensation have fallen through the cracks.

The latest controversy in an ongoing saga revolves around how Labor officials are determining who deserves a fast track to compensation and who must endure a years-long process of trying to link their illness to their exposures.

Comments

  • March 25, 2008

    10:21 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ABlock35 writes:

    Senator Salazar should know first hand of the problems with the "red tape" inside the Department of Labor ( DOL) because I contacted his office with my allegations that some employees at the DOL were illegally and arbitrarily denying claims.

    In December 2007, I sent Sen. Salazar's Office a letter letting him know that some employees inside the DOL were arbitrarily denying claims. In fact, I mentioned just two examples in my letter but assured him that I had many more to tell. On example was a senior examiner demanding that I write a Recommended Decision (RD) to accept a widows claim under Part B and Part E for $275K even though evidence showed that the employee had several children who appeared to be eligible under Part E. In her words" you were not hired here to be a lawyer, you were hired to be an examiner. Do as you're told"; for which I replied, " I hold a WA Bar license which prohibits me from breaking the law" Another example of arbitrary behavior inside the DOL was when the Asst. District Director (Seattle) called a special meeting around fiscal year end and said " We have 200 + cases showing up on our Aging Lists, and I know that 99.9 % of those claims are denials, so I would like each examiner to "pump out" at least 4 RDs denials a day". The problem with that statement was how did she know that the all 200+ cases were denials? After all, it takes at least 1/2 the day to go through one file, and since Asst. District Director is seldom in her office, I found that statement to be an arbitrary command to deny claims so that Seattle's stats would look the best in the US.

    When I first went to work at the DOL, I had a completely different belief in the way government worked, and after one year of employment and my many experiences of watching illegal activities being performed by federal employees at taxpayer expense, I now believe that when federal employees arbitrarily perform, Americans should have legal recourse to sue federal employees. Right now some of us ( former federal employees) enjoy such rights to sue federal employees, like under Title VII, but only because Congress said so. However, what we need is for claimants who have arbitrarily denied to be able to sue each and every federal employee who denied their claim.

    Senator Salazar, there is one of two simple solutions; (1) remove all EEOICP claims from DOL and contract them out to private industry, or ( 2) take away federal employees qualified immunity so that claimants who were arbitrarily denied can sue the federal agency from the top down.

    Anne Block is a former examiner inside the Seattle DOL EEOICP, a licensed WA attorney, and a Blog writer

    Anne welcomes your emails at lifeisgood357@comcast.net