The Alabama Judicial System Continues to Face Severe Funding Threats

Posted on December 28, 2009 by Jeff Blackwell

Yesterday, Times Daily writer Dennis Sherer addressed the looming budget cuts again facing Alabama's judicial system.  His column, Courts Face '10 Budget Cuts, paints a true and troubling picture of the financial problem at hand.

As Dennis noted, just a few years ago, the Office of Courts had to suspend jury trials temporarily due to a lack of state funding.  As a result of continued funding problems, the judicial system has already scaled back to the bare minimum necessary simply to keep open its doors.  Another issue created by this long-term lack of proper funding is that growing counties, like Madison County, no longer have enough Judges even to serve the local population.  In an earlier entry, I noted the special problems facing Madison County with too few Judges.  According to a recent New York Times editorial, other states now face similar funding problems.

Any additional funding cuts would severely threaten an already overburdened system.  I have often heard the phrase "justice delayed is justice denied."  In reality, the citizens of our community who most need the legal protections of our judicial system are also the ones who pay the heaviest price when that justice is not delivered.

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U.S. Supreme Court Addresses Wrongful Conduct by Workers' Compensation Carriers

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Jeff Blackwell

On December 7, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition seeking to reverse the 6th Circuit decision in Cassens Transport Co. v. Brown.  That 6th Circuit decision allowed several injured workers to pursue Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims against their employer and its workers' compensation adjustor.

RICO makes it a Federal crime to engage in interstate commerce through a pattern of "racketeering activity."  Racketeering activity includes such wrongful conduct as witness tampering, mail fraud and wire fraud.  RICO also allows individuals injured by such activity to sue for damages.  In Cassens, the plaintiffs were injured workers who had submitted workers' compensation claims.  They alleged that their employer and its workers' compensation adjustor had then engaged in false or fraudulent communications in an effort to obtain false medical opinions that would be used wrongly to deny their claims.

What is the significance of this 6th Federal Circuit decision?  The 6th Circuit does not geographically include Alabama.  However, in Alabama, the employer and its workers' compensation carrier control the medical process.  They pick the physician who can provide medical care.  They then often employ case nurses who attend appointments and meet privately with that physician to discuss the patient.  They can also review requests for medical care by the physician through an administrative process that is largely one-sided in their favor.  The pressure on the chosen physician by the carrier is often enormous.

I continue to believe that most people in this process are truly motivated by a desire to help injured workers receive the medical care they need to recover.  We all benefit when workers obtain complete medical care.  Yet, a small minority of those involved in the system don't share this goal.  In my practice, I have seen first-hand the additional damage these "bad apples" can inflict on an already injured worker and his family.  Recently, in one case, I discovered that a case nurse falsely told the treating physician that my client was addicted to drugs.  In another recent case, the physician received false employment information which implied that my client was refusing to seek employment.

Alabama's Workers' Compensation Act justly protects employers and their insurance carriers from liability due to simple errors or oversights.  However, intentional misconduct should not be protected.  I am hopeful that this new decision will halt some of the worst practices in our system.

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