L to R: Donna Onodera, Director SFO Regional Office, OWCP; Michael Kerr,
Deputy Ass'nt Secretary; Shelby Hallmark, Deputy Director, OWCP. Thomas
Markey, OWCP Director, was conspicuously absent. |
OWCP Officials were grilled by
Rep. Horn in his July 6 hearing in Long Beach, California. The hearing was called in
response to the Susan Yake case, the Perez controversy, and local federal injured workers
in Long Beach. The FedupFeds Director and webmaster traveled cross country to meet
with officials there and report back to members online.
FedupFeds advocates reform of the FECA (Federal Employees Compensation Act),
and will continue to promote a legislative agenda to guarantee the proper
protections to all injured federal workers.
The Director's letter to Rep. Horn is below. |
FedupFeds Statement to the Committee
About OWCP Reform
From: Barb Sweeney, Director
FedupFeds
director@fedupfeds.org
To Representative Stephen Horn
Chairman, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and
Technology:
Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you and testify in your hearing
July 6 in Long Beach. Your concern for workers' welfare and fairness is evident. We feel
that your local constituents who testified represent a true cross section of these
problems nationwide, as their testimony mirrors what our FedupFeds members have been
saying all along. Your hearing publicized astounding revelations of abuses from injured
federal workers as well as frank admissions from OWCP officials.
On behalf of our FedupFeds members and all injured federal workers, we thank
the Committee for the opportunity to present actual workers' viewpoints on OWCP problems,
including all our members' statements submitted for the hearing record.
We now ask your assistance to arrange hearings by the Workforce Protections
committee with actual jurisdiction over FECA and OWCP operations. While we support Mr.
Perez' recommendations for internal reform in OWCP, FedupFeds advocates strengthening the
laws over OWCP, not just telling them to "do a better job".
Hearing evidence backed up FedupFeds' position all along on these crucial
points:
(1) a large part of total claims aren't even filed, because of intimidation and reprisal,
(2) the highly publicized handful of employee fraud cases show that employee fraud is
almost nonexistent,
(3) the system is adversarial, deceptive, and very difficult for injured workers to deal
with,
(4) agency wrongdoing denies the injured much of the laws protections and benefits, but
agency wrongdoing has never been prosecuted.
Congress is judging OWCP by the wrong standard: how much have they cut total
costs and compensation payments to the injured? By this standard, how many are forced to
endure the pain, humiliation, and suffering needlessly? The standard to judge OWCP by
should be how well they are protecting and compensating all those covered by the law.
Give back the right to sue and use real lawyers to cope with all the red tape
in this adversarial system, as well as.the right to sue any company doctor or referral
doctor for malpractice or collusion. Federal agency officials who delay or intimidate
claimants should not be above the law. Agency wrongdoing should be prosecuted by the
Justice Department. Make tougher laws on handicap discrimination in work related medical
conditions, and assign prosecution for violations to that new office in the Justice
Department. Make realistic schedule awards. Require the posting of employee injury rights,
benefits, and procedures, with a hotline for management wrongdoing, delays, and
falsification on claims and for handicap (injury) discrimination.
Laws to ensure these things would offer a reasonable chance at fair treatment
for injured federal workers who have given their lives and made the ultimate effort.
FedupFeds is a free online self help and advocacy organization for fair
treatment of injured federal workers.
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