[NOTE from another member: Some doctors will forbid you to have a witness present during the exam. If you have an attorney, consult with your attorney about what to do in this situation. Of note is that the CA Labor Code has a provision that you have the right to bring a "doctor" (which includes physicians, psychologists, chiropractors, and others) to observe the exam. You could hire a doctor to be present or bring a friend who happens to be a doctor. Also, you could call the QME doctor's office in advance and ask if your friend/spouse can be present to take notes for you during the exam. If they refuse, ask them if they would prefer have your friend/spouse there or Doctor X. They will sometimes capitulate and let your friend be present. Under no circumstances should you allow the QME to have a witness present, including his staff or a nurse case manager (who is paid by and works for the insurance company). Politely ask them to leave the room.]

LA County Bar Association Attorney Referral Service

Workers' Comp Lawyers

Rose, Klein and Marias in LA on Grand by 8th, 213/626-0571. This is a big firm of WC lawyers but we are told they are "principled, honest, and have integrity." Marvin Shapiro specializes in RSI cases in the LA office. This firm also has offices in other Southern California cities.

Dabbah and Haddad at 215 N. Marengo in Pasadena, (626) 431-2950 was recommended to us by a group member.

The California Applicants' Attorneys Organization (CAAA) says it is "...the most powerful, most effective, and most knowledgeable legal voice for the injured workers of California." This site is definitely worth a visit. The CAAA has now set up an injured worker info-line: 1-800-459-1400. Callers will receive a pamphlet about injured workers' rights and a list of applicants attorneys who are CAAA members in their geographic area. The service is free. Callers will not be given specific legal advice.

And this info from a member of LA RSI:
"I called the workers compensation appeals board (WCAB) and was informed that unrepresented injured workers can ask to speak with the office of information and assistance. However not every WCAB office has a information & assistance department. INFORMATION & ASSISTANCE DEPARTMENTS are managed statewide by BOB WONG (415) 703 4676."

Disability Rights Law

  If you have a workers' comp. case pending, you'll find it immensely helpful to learn as much as you can about the ins and outs of the system. These books may be able to assist you in informed decision-making when dealing with the complexities of your legal situation.

Take Charge of Your Worker?s Compensation Claim: An A to Z Guide for Injured Employees (California), Christopher Ball, Nolo Press, Feb. '00, 2nd ed. (California Edition), ISBN #0-87337-393-6. The author is a California attorney. This is THE CA wc book, with more information about wc than most of us will ever want (or hopefully need) to know. The LA Public Library System has multiple copies of this title. If your local branch library doesn't have this book in their collection, they can get it for you within the system. The book runs around $25 so, if you're currently off work due to injury, the library is a great alternative to purchase. The very helpful Nolo Press employment law page is at www.nolopress.com/category/emp_home.html

California Workers' Compensation, Basic Stuff, A Survival Guide, Dorsey Hamilton, 1991. This title is nine years old but, though some of the information in this book is dated, Hamilton's overall approach is not. Unlike Ball's book, mentioned above, this book is very readable and, at 124pp, can be finished in an evening. The book is written by someone who went through the workers' comp system and lived to tell the tale. Hamilton quotes the state's answers to your questions, which he calls BS (Basic Stuff). Then he gives you his answers, which he calls NO-BS (New Observations on Basic Stuff). Hamilton covers when to get a lawyer, medical evaluations, settling your claim, vocational rehab, uninsured employers, other benefit programs, dispute arbitration, and more. This book is $9.95 + state tax and $2 shipping. Orders may be sent to: Paupers Publishing, P.O. Box 506, Novato, CA 94948. Delivery takes three or four weeks. We found out about Basic Stuff through A.R.M.S.

And from another angle, Workers' Comp for Employers, James Walsh, Nolo Press, 1994, 2nd ed., ISBN # 1-56343-073-8.

The Evaluation of Industrial Disabilities, 2nd ed., Packard Thurber, Oxford University Press, ISBN # 0-19-501143-0.

The Schedule For Rating Permanent Disabilities, Southern California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Workers' Compensation.

Workers' Compensation Laws of California, Matthew Bender, 1996, ISBN # 0-256-18647-2. This title is available at your local Workers' Comp. office and you'll probably be allowed to photocopy needed information.

The California Workers' Compensation Handbook, Stanford D. Herlick, Parker's, 15th ed., ISBN # 1-55834-294-X. This book pulls heavily from the labor code but in a readable format for the layperson.

California Workers Rights: A Manual of Job Rights, Protections, and Remedies, 2nd ed., is "a 250 page, easy-to-use guide to the special and distinctive rights of California employees." It "covers hiring, job-related privacy rights, pay, benefits, safety and health in the workplace, workers' compensation," etc. and is published by the Center for Labor Research and Education at the Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.

Job Damaged People: How to Survive and Change the Workers' Comp System Information about ordering this book can be found on the NYU Health and Safety Committee site. This book is "*national* in its approach." It's "put out by the Louisiana Injured Workers Union" and "has some good info about forming injured worker groups which will also work for support groups."

The specialty bookshops below carry legal books which might not be readily available at other bookstores, though Crown and Barnes and Noble carry several of these. Also check with your local library. If they don't have a title in their collection, they may be able to get it for you through interlibrary loan. You can search for titles and reserve books from home on your computer at the Los Angeles Public Library website. Or you can purchase books online from Amazon Books and several other vendors.

Legal Book Store
316 W. Second St.
Los Angeles, 90012
(213) 626-2139, (213) 626-3494, (310) 777-0404

Law Book Center
3004 W. 7th St.
Los Angeles
(213) 385-4035, FAX (213) 385-4037

Technical Book Company
2056 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 89925
(800) 233-5150
They carry both medical and technical books.

The Law Guru site provides a list of FAQs relating to law and legal issues, a database of 4000 prior reader inquiries and answers, and the capability to ask your own question, circulated to over 300 volunteer law firms. FAQs include workers' comp, state disability and social security disability.

The Prairielaw site has a section on Work Life which encompasses Workers Comp information - an excellent site.

At Work With Julie is provided by The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), a regional planning agency owned and operated by the cities and counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. ABAG offers a Workers' Compensation Administration Program designed for public employers who already self-insure for workers' compensation. The program manager and all claims examiners are state-certified workers' compensation administrators and one of the program's stated aims is to "control clients' costs." Keeping that in mind, there's a lot of useful information to be found here. Julie Carroll is the manager/director of the ABAG Workers' Compensation Administration Program and she addresses "your questions regarding the California workers' compensation system" on this page. Though many questions don't deal with RSI specifically, most answers give insights into the workings of the system.

The California State Compensation Insurance Fund "State Fund is California's largest provider of workers' compensation insurance and has served California employers since 1914."

LAW OFFICES OF RICHARD H. JORDAN HOME PAGE Mr. Jordan "advises California employers on how to successfully manage their workers' compensation injury claims, and defends them before California's workers' compensation court, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board", and he's got a lot of interesting info available on his site. Get an employer's view of WC here at Important Information for Employers. And see the links at Important Internet Sites for "useful and up to date information on legislation, administrative agency action, and court decisions."

David J. DePaolo, Inc. is a California Law Corporation specializing in small business general counsel. Mr. DePaolo has a background in "Workers' Compensation defense for insurance companies and employers." These pages have a web version of Mr. DePaolo's California Workers' Compensation Flowchart. With this flowchart, DePaolo says you can "instantly access all Labor Code and Regulation sections, and forms at a single place." He claims, "The theory behind the Flowchart is that Workers' Compensation IS A PROCESS and as such can be systemized. Despite illogical construction of the Labor Code, there IS A PATTERN! The Flowchart taps this pattern to make Workers' Compensation law logical and easy." It's also searchable and it works on all platforms. Sounds like just what we need! Have a look. It's what the opposing lawyer in your case may be using.

Jeff DeMarco, a workers' comp lawyer in Monterey who represents injured workers, has an informative page on WORKERS' COMPENSATION LAW.

The Nolo Press site has a good page devoted to general information about Workers' Comp - The Workers' Compensation FAQ. Relevant books can be purchased on the site.

Applicant attorney Edward Singer has a new, informative website, The Work Injury Help-Site.

The firm of Goldberger & Associates has a big website devoted to California Workers Comp. This firm also represents workers.

The Center for Office Technology (COT) is an association of employers and manufacturers "dedicated to improving the office working environment and promoting informed approaches to safety and health issues associated with computers and office technology." COT would have us believe that the numbers of RSI cases as a result of working on computers are vastly overstated. These folks strenuously opposed California Assembly Bill 1127. Their site has information on RSI litigation and features COT's self-serving slant on RSI. We give you the opposition.

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Government Links

California Department of Industrial Relations
Workers' Compensation
Navigating the California Workers' Compensation System: The Injured Worker's Experience, prepared for the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation by the Labor Occupational Health Program University of California at Berkeley.

Occupational Safety and Health

United States Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
NEW! The Workers' Page Explains how to file a complaint with OSHA, etc.
OSHA'S Draft Ergonomic Proposal

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

The Electronic Activist: An email address directory of congresspeople, state governments, and media entities

Union Links

The AFL-CIO's Home Page
STOP the PAIN! updates are on this page.

UAW International Union
Does your job make you sick? That little pain could become a big headache!

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Related Links

"WORKSAFE! is a statewide coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to promoting safety and health in the workplace in order to preserve the health of all Californians.
    The coalition includes labor and community groups as well as individual workers, occupational safety and health and other professionals, environmentalists, and other interested persons. WORKSAFE! is an all volunteer organization; we have no paid staff. We welcome member participation and we'd like you to join us."

The Americans With Work Related Injuries site has information on workers' compensation laws across the country. The group was originally founded by an injured worker in Texas (a very bad state in which to suffer an RSI) as "a Political Action/Injured Worker help organization to increase the awareness of computer related injuries and help the injured worker through the Workers' Compensation process." The group's operations are currently suspended but we hope to see them up and running again soon.

Visit the Canadian Injured Workers Alliance, a national network of injured workers groups, which exists "to support and strengthen the work of local, provincial, and territorial injured workers groups by providing a forum for exchanging information and sharing experiences."

BraveNewWorkWorld and NewWork News   NewWork News features headlines from around the world concerning workers' issues.

GLOBALCIRCLE.NET provides "Networking and support for all injured workers." They write:
    "We are providing a noncommercial site for networking and resources for everyone involved in workers comp and safety and health on the job. Many state organizations and injury groups are linked there, yet most injured workers are in states and countries with no organizations at all. We are providing a new mailing list there on that page for everyone to discuss the problems common to all.
    We are not an organization, but support the IWIN Injured Workers International Network and conference, and all injury groups. Pages are offered with extensive links to injury and health-related union arms, labor organizations worldwide, and occupational safety and health organizations and resources worldwide. All injured workers organizations are welcome to contact us and use this site to promote the work they do.
    This is from our companion site, FedupFeds.org, which is injury comp support for federal workers in the US. We are completely noncommercial and free of charge. We are not promoting any one solution, but all groups, and knowledge sharing and the democratic process. We do not advocate any ism or party, and are not connected to or funded by any organization.
    Why network? In the US, workers comp insurance companies operate nationwide and dominate state legislatures, and work closely with the giant corporations that dominate the economy. Separate state organizations should find common cause and work together. Worldwide, international corporations and industry organizations dominate trade, workers rights, and working conditions. Keeping workers separated and in the dark is part of the agenda. Separately, we cannot reform the "race to the bottom" in workers'protections in one area at a time. Corporate globalization is a fact. We want to globalize workers' connections.
    We especially support the work of Rory O'Neill, for European Trade Union Technical Bureau (TUTB) of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) which will coordinate a Europe-wide strain injuries campaign in 2000, the work of professor Ilise Feitshans from Cornell on nuclear lab workers, Dr. Mary Schweitzer on CFIDS, and authors Penny Kome in Canada on musculoskeletal injuries and Bonnye Matthews (US) on multiple chemical sensitivities."