NEWS

Deters' firm, Hunter shoot back at investigation

Fatima Hussein
fhussein@enquirer.com

The subject of an Ohio Inspector General report shot back Friday, after administrators at an Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation office claimed Thursday that an employee had improperly accessed confidential personal information.

A worker in the workers' comp office in Symmes Township is facing investigation for providing her boyfriend, Doug Hunter, a paralegal at the Deters Law Firm, access to injured worker files.

Hunter says the Bureau of Workers Compensation in Cincinnati is retaliating against him and his girlfriend after he was fired as a special investigator from the BWC in July 2010 for allegedly violating orders to stop investigating politically sensitive fraud cases, involving undocumented workers' compensation claims.

He also claims he was retaliated against when he filed a complaint with the Inspector General Sept. 2015 for  "exposing the director for falsifying her employment." Hunter claims Jennifer Saunders, the interim director of Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation's Special Investigation Department in Columbus, does not have an educational background in criminal justice, which Saunders claims to have a minor.

Bill Teets, a spokesman for the BWC in Columbus, told The Enquirer, "we are satisfied with her credentials and have a letter from Ohio State University stating she had a minor in criminology."

The inspector general's report found Cheryl Gatto, a claims service specialist at the bureau's regional office, accessed injured workers’ claim files without authorization or a valid business reason more than 130 times.

Also named in the investigation were managed care organization Sheakley Unicomp Inc., a Springdale human resources firm that represents employers, the law firm of Deters & Associates and Hunter, who was employed by both Sheakley and Deters.

According to the report, "In 61 of the 131 instances of unauthorized CPI access, the Office of the Ohio Inspector General determined Gatto accessed injured worker claim files in which Hunter was involved as a representative of either the injured worker (through their attorney) or the injured worker's employer."

Hunter said the allegations are baseless.

Adding that he received clearance from Deters, Sheakley and the BWC in June 2012 to work for both firms simultaneously, Hunter said, "the practice there (at the Bureau of Workers Compensation) is that when a worker was out sick, or workers were behind, management would instruct workers to go through co-workers files. The Inspector General didn’t uncover that. And I don't blame them, BWC management should have put them (investigators) on notice of normal practices in the office."

"If anyone is at fault, it's the BWC management."

Teets said in the matter of accessing confidential personal information of others, workers are instructed to notate the reason for doing so, and Gotto did not note why she was accessing private information.

Hunter has a history of accusing the BWC of wrongdoing.

In February 2014, Hunter testified before the Ohio Senate Commerce and Labor Committee in support of a law that would prohibit undocumented workers from collecting BWC benefits. Hunter testified that he had discovered over 20,000 claims with “problematic” data in southwestern Ohio alone, and had led numerous investigations into fraud cases involving faked or forged workers’ comp documents.

Hunter said he had worked on cases involving "illegal immigrants using falsified or stolen information to file for compensation benefits."

"Mr. Hunter has flung accusations at our office for numerous years," Teets said. "We are looking into whether there was a breach of contract with Sheakley and whether administrative action is warranted for the individual (Gotto) in question.

Eric Deters, a spokesman and former attorney with the Deters Firm, said he stands in support of Doug Hunter. "We did nothing wrong," he said.