Does your boss make you sick?

VII. Attention, Utah residents: Employee abuse (bullying) is okay
      in Utah.
  The Utah legislature passed a labor law in 1995 that defines mental illness caused by working conditions as an industrial disease. (Utah Code Annotated § 34A-3-106) At first it appeared to be a much needed, pro-worker law similar to laws that have been enacted in other states. However, in practice it is an unconstitutional law that prevents mentally injured employees from having any recourse whatsoever against abusive employers. 
   First, the law designated the Labor Commission (workers' compensation) as the ONLY recourse for mentally injured employees, which saves companies the high costs of defending themselves in lawsuits. The legislative discussions before the law was enacted makes it clear that was its purpose.
   Now the commission is doing its part for business by denying all claims for benefits under that law. 
   I took my claim for mental health benefits, which was the landmark case, all the way to the Utah Supreme Court and lost. (Labor Commission Case no. 961162 and Supreme Court Case No. 990273-SC) The Supreme Court refused to even consider my case, in spite of the fact that I presented solid evidence that I was denied benefits only because of corruption in the Labor Commission.
   I proved with an abundance of evidence that I qualified for benefits on all points of the law, and it doesn't take a legal mind to see that what the administrative law judge in my case foisted off as "findings of fact" were no more than his own biased testimony, sometimes as though he were an expert witness. In fact, the judge literally made a case against me with his own testimony!  By actual count, two thirds of his facts were blatantly and undeniably NOT facts, and more than half of those misstatements were his only "evidence" for denying my claim. He would not have had to have done that if I truly did not qualify.
   Now that fraudulent document is THE case law for UCS § 34A-3-106. A single administrative law judge made sure NO ONE in Utah can collect workers' comp benefits for mental damage caused by a job or an employer. 
   The problem is that Utah is one of the most pro business states in the country, with a powerful business lobby and influence in every part of state government. The labor commission answers only to the pro-business governor, and the agencies that oversee judges have no jurisdiction over administrative law judges. The state senate can investigate, but first it has to be convinced the problem is important, the investigation could take years, and there's no reason to think the pro business senate, where the law originated,  would be objective if it did investigate.
   My case is closed and I have nothing to gain by taking my fight any further, but I can't stand the injustice that allows Utah companies to mentally abuse and disable their workers and not have to take responsibility for the damage they cause. The only way to correct such injustice is for the public to demand a fair, public, criminal investigation into the alleged corruption behind it. But that can't happen until the public knows about it.
   Local media won't touch the story because they can't afford to offend the business community that buys their time and space for advertising, so we have to get the interest of out-of-state media, and I need your help to do that.
   My case alone is not enough to get that interest. I've talked to attorneys who won't touch mental health workers' comp claims because they have to work on contingency and they know they can't win. I've talked to many people who know people who have been screwed by workers' comp, but I didn't know I'd need names when I heard the stories.
   If you have been wrongfully denied workers' compensation benefits and are willing to go on the record with your story, please fill out the section at the end of my questionnaire. (See directory.)