Murray Center As Well As Centralia And Big Muddy Prisons Top Million Dollar Mark In Workers Comp Awards For 2007 Through 2010

An analysis by the Associated Press finds that a dozen state-government work sites in Southern Illinois, including the Murray Center in Centralia and the Centralia and Big Muddy Prison, account for $41-million in workers' injury-impairment awards in recent years.
That's nearly one-third of all the awards and settlements for state employees injured at work from 2007 to 2010.
The Menard Correctional Center led worker payments at the 12 facilities. Taxpayers paid 19-million dollars on 321 injury claims at the lock-up. The average settlement was $59,175. The Associated Press analysis found $1,476,494 paid out for claims at Murray Center. Of the 128 claims filed, 45 resulted in awards averaging $32,811 dollars. At the Centralia Correctional Center, there were 49 claims and 27 awards totaling $1,055,081. That averages $39,077 per claim. At the Big Muddy Prison, there were 50 claims resulting in 32 awards totaling $1,280,348 or an average of $40,011 per claim. Murray Center was seventh out of 12 in workers comp payouts at Southern Illinois facilities. Big Muddy was tenth and the Centralia Correctional Center 11th. The AP's line-by-line analysis of about 7,800 claims is the first comprehensive review of a program now under federal investigation. It showed $127-million paid on 3,700 state-worker claims during the four-year period. Many were still pending at the end of 2010. Andrew Nalefski is a former arbitrator deciding long-term impairment in injury cases. He says the state did too little to defend against claims. Chicago workers' comp lawyer Gene Keefe says the state is too understaffed to combat them. Anne Spillane is chief of staff to the Illinois attorney general. She counters that the state vigorously defended claims but state law makes it fairly easy to show work contributed to an injury that deserves state compensation.  http://bit.ly/tenSb0