Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

CT reaches tentative deal with unions on disability pay controversy

  • Money
  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • July 16, 2015
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"
Lisa Grasso Egan, undersecretary for the Office of Policy and Management's labor relations unit.

CTMIrror File Photo :: CTMirror.org

Lisa Grasso Egan, undersecretary for the Office of Policy and Management\’s labor relations unit.

Negotiators for the state and its employee unions have reached a tentative agreement that could resolve a long-running controversy over state disability pension payments, the state’s chief labor negotiator said Thursday.

Lisa Grasso Egan, who heads the Office of Labor Relations, also told the State Employees Retirement Commission that she expects the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition to consider the tentative deal later this month.

At issue is a requirement that disabled employees unable to return to their original jobs be considered for placement in “suitable and comparable” positions. Injured workers specifically are supposed to receive medical exams and be considered for alternative job placement to receive disability pensions for longer than two years.

State Auditors Robert M. Ward and John C. Geragosian reported last month that the state hasn’t been conducting medical reviews since the fall of 2013. That report stemmed from a whistleblower complaint filed by a former attorney for the state’s retirement system.

And for several years before the state had employed a weaker standard for returning to work that — according to the auditors — probably resulted in the improper payment of millions of dollars in disability benefits. Connecticut had allowed injured workers to continue receiving disability benefits as long as they were unable to return to their original job.

Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo, whose office administers pension benefits, said this practice was established before he took office in January 2011.

Lembo said he immediately raised concerns and urged the administration and unions to address the matter through negotiations. In 2012, when the matter still was unresolved, the comptroller undertook his own review of the “suitable and comparable” standard.

The state’s Medical Examining Board, which performs medical reviews for disability benefits, followed the more stringent standard espoused by Lembo in September and October 2013. The auditors noted this resulted in a “significant increase” in denials of disability benefits.

But after it also prompted complaints from state employee unions, the comptroller suspended the medical reviews and again urged the state and the unions to negotiate and reach agreement on a re-employment standard for disabled workers.

“It’s encouraging to hear that an agreement is imminent. I continue to urge labor and management to immediately finish their work to protect the interests and integrity of the State Employees Retirement System,” Lembo said Thursday of Egan’s announcement.

“The parties have reached a mutual understanding on the correct interpretation of the ‘suitable and comparable’ standard in the agreement,” Hartford attorney Daniel Livingston, chief negotiator for the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, said Thursday. “SEBAC leadership is expected to take action at their August meeting.”

Virginia Brown, an attorney for the retirement services division within the comptroller’s office from September 2012 through November 2014, filed a lawsuit in federal court in May alleging that she was pressured by Lembo and his top staff not to disclose these and other problems with the pension system. She also filed the whistleblower complaint with the auditors.

Lembo denies any coercion or retaliation occurred.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith M. Phaneuf A winner of numerous journalism awards, Keith Phaneuf has been CT Mirror’s state finances reporter since it launched in 2010. The former State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Keith has spent most of 31 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks. A former contributing writer to The New York Times, Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Ned Lamont’s year in the shadow of COVID
by Mark Pazniokas

Ned Lamont has been the face, voice, and interpreter of the COVID crisis, mourning deaths, explaining setbacks and cautiously celebrating.

With billions in federal relief on the way to CT, legislators assert their role in deciding how to spend it
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Mark Pazniokas

With an unusual bill, state legislators are reminding Gov. Ned Lamont they have significant role in disbursing federal coronavirus relief.

Rep. Patricia Billie Miller wins vacant Senate seat
by Mark Pazniokas

Rep. Patricia Billie Miller, D-Stamford, won a special election to the state Senate.

CT hasn’t started collecting new payroll tax from state workers
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Connecticut established a new payroll tax surcharge on Jan. 1 but still isn't deducting it from state workers' paychecks.

Lamont’s budget offers another round of tax amnesty
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal waives penalties and caps interest at 3% over each of the next two fiscal years.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion The public health bill no one is talking about, but should be
by Brian Festa

On February 16,  the legislature's Public Health Committee conducted a public hearing on two bills, S.B. 568 and H.B. 6423, both of which would eliminate the religious exemption to mandatory vaccinations for Connecticut schoolchildren.  The hearing was capped at 24 hours, depriving nearly 1,500 members of the public who had registered for the hearing their opportunity to be heard.  The vast majority of those who did testify, and who submitted written testimony, opposed the bill.  The committee is expected to vote on the bill as early as  today. 

Opinion Students need more resources, fewer officers
by Tenille Bonilla

"School resource officer" is just a nice way to say cop. But what students really need is more resource and less officer.

Opinion The Board of Regents’ changes must not shortchange its students or faculty
by Carrie Andreoletti, PhD

As a university professor and a lifespan developmental psychologist, I tend to approach my work from a developmental perspective. This means I aim to foster a lifelong love of learning and to help others find a sense of meaning and purpose, as well as confidence in their ability to reach their goals. My approach to higher education is shaped by my desire to provide the best possible education for my students. This is why the recent Board of Regents’ proposed changes at the four state universities have me worried.

Opinion How to close schooling opportunity gaps created by the pandemic
by Carol Gale

We ask school district leaders to trust your public servants whose daily work life involves assessing student needs and planning or modifying instruction to meet those needs. Listen to their voices, as we have, and allocate precious resources on interventions that will offer increased opportunities for Hartford students to succeed.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO