Embattled ex-UC worker seeks lawsuit

Thursday, April 8, 2010

MIKE SAVINO
Published: March 2, 2010
Embattled ex-UC worker seeks lawsuit Chronicle Staff WriterHARTFORD - A Coventry woman and former University of Connecticut Health Center Employee will be looking for permission Wednesday to sue the state for wrongful prosecution over an allegation of worker's compensation fraud.Priscilla Dickman and her attorney, John Geida, will appear before the state legislature's joint judiciary committee as they seek to file the suit against the state for wrongful prosecution. Dickman had been charged with worker's compensation fraud, but the charge was dismissed during an appearance in Hartford Superior Court last week.The Office of the Claims Commissioner dismissed a suit filed by Dickman and Geida and the judiciary committee will examine a proposed resolution to confirm the dismissal during a public hearing Wednesday. "That's just the way the statute goes," Geida said about the dismissal, adding the claims commissioner typically denies all suits against the state,leaving decisions in the hands of the judiciary committee. Dickman had been facing a fraud charge in regard to a worker's compensation claim while she worked at the health center as a medical technologist. Dickman said she suffered a back injury while working in October 1979 and claimed the injury left was permanent and left her disabled.According to a decision by the state Worker's Compensation Commission in 2006, the health center accepted the claim but denied " the extent of the injury or disability as claimed by" Dickman.The health center had questioned the validity of documents provided by Dickman's doctor, but the doctor said Dickman never intended to file a fraudulent claim.Her doctor said Dickman did complete a portion of the form for timeliness reasons and added Dickman always planned to remain at work.In the 2006 decision, the WCC ultimately awarded Dickman disability payments from the timeof the injury through November 2005, when she retired from the health center.Geida noted the decision was a sign the state never had a case for worker's compensation fraud against Dickman, calling the case fraudulent, although she still faces other charges.According to the state Department of Justice's web site, she is due in Hartford Superior Court March 30 for four counts of second- degree forgery.She has also appealed a guilty verdict for a charge of third-degree forgery in Rockville Superior Court in 2008.Meanwhile, Dickman is also facing a $15,000 fine from the state Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board for charges she used state time and resources to operate businesses while working at the health center. Dickman has denied the charges, claiming the health center had no policies regarding such activity at the time and also accused the state of manufacturing evidence.Geida said he filed an appeal last Friday.


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Mike Savino