By Nick Buglione
Between 2000 and 2004, an average of about 50 officers received full pay and benefits for work-related injuries, some for as long as eight years, according to the report, which was released last Thursday.
"Fifty correction officers out on extended medical leave -- approximately 5 percent of the staff -- is an unacceptably high number," Comptroller Howard Weitzman said. "Either the jail did not properly evaluate whether the officers were entitled to this benefit, or it did not have appropriate tools in place to lower the risk of work-related injuries."
Under state law, municipalities must pay full wages, and all medical and hospital expenses -- known as Section 207-C benefits -- to correction officers whose injuries or illnesses directly result from work-related duties.
A 1998 county comptroller audit first found that the jail was not properly monitoring the administration of 207-C benefits, and this new audit reaffirmed those findings. It revealed that independent medical examinations to confirm the nature and extent of the disabilities claimed by officers' physicians were not regularly performed, and that some officers failed to appear for scheduled medical exams, though their benefits continued anyway.
It also discovered that the Medical Investigation's Unit only sporadically conducted home visits to officers on disability leave, and performed surveillance rarely.
Weitzman estimates that work-related disability leave cost the county about $3.8 million in 2002 and $3.4 million in 2003 in salary payments alone. Factoring in medical costs and fringe benefits would significantly add to those totals, he said. "This follow-up audit found that many of the same weaknesses identified in 1998 continued until 2004," Weitzman said. "In some cases, the department had not adequately documented the medical basis for granting the benefits in the first place."
A December 2004 audit ripped the jail administration for granting unauthorized overtime, which cost the facility $20 million in 2003. Covering 2002 through April 2004, that audit found that overtime was granted to correction officers without proper verification of the hours worked, and had increased 100 percent in four years. The jail paid $10.3 million in overtime in 2000, which ballooned to $20 million in 2003, Weitzman said.
It was enough to prompt some in the Nassau County Legislature to call for the head of the jail, Sheriff Ed Reilly, to resign.
Weitzman pointed out, however, that the jail began implementing procedures in February 2004 to better monitor disability pay. "The point we want to make is that there is a new program in place that the sheriff has managed very well," said Timothy Driscoll, deputy county executive for public safety, which oversees jail operations. "As a result, the number of officers on 207-C has decreased dramatically -- over 30 percent -- in the last year."
John Duer, president of the Sheriff Officers Association, the union that represents Nassau County jail correction officers, said the union deserves a measure of credit in eliminating 207-C abuse. "Only through the leadership of the union has a medical examination policy been included in the current collective bargaining agreement to eliminate 207-C abuse, as well as protect those who have suffered debilitating injuries on the job," Duer said. "The continued failure of the Nassau County Sheriff's Department to properly manage operations at the Nassau County Correctional Facility has become too commonplace."
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