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Letter
# 19
Subj.: Repetitive
Motion injury
Sent: Wednesday July 19, 2000 10:27 PM
From: # 19-LV @worldnet.att.net
To: <ncda@fiax.
net>
Dear Sirs, I have been a casino dealer for 19 years. I
spent the last 13 dealing roulette. My right arm is usually
cold from the elbow down. My hand often tingles or feels
cold. By lifting my arm over the wheel to spin the ball on
an average of 250 times in an 8 hour shift, five nights a week, I
have real trouble with my arm. My Doctor told me to get used
to it or quit dealing. I spent a few years flinging my right
arm out at the elbow to lay bricks, (deal Blackjack) and several
ruining my lower back bending over a dice game. I have no
other choice but to continue to deal. If I can be of any
help to you, please contact me at:
<# 19-LV>
Sincerely,
# 19- LV
***NFGE
Response***
To # 19-LV:
There are several questions I have regarding your
condition.
1. Do you want to continue dealing?
2. Are you physically able to do so?
3. If you are unable to continue to work, (either now or sometime
in the future) will your doctor confirm that the physical
condition which is preventing you from working was actually caused
by dealing.
If you answer the questions:
1. yes
2. no
3. yes
...then you should apply for disability. But I must warn you
that most casinos will fight you tooth and nail. They will
get their own doctors to swear on a stack of bibles that your
condition is completely unrelated to the job of dealing. We
strongly suspect that there is collusion between the medical
community and the gaming industry in matters like this but this
would be very difficult to prove. Most doctors in Las Vegas
know that the fastest way to get their names pulled from a
Preferred Provider List is to testify on behalf of a dealer in a
case involving a job related injury. The problem is, how do
you prove it? What you are seeking is a medical opinion, and
that gives the doctor plenty of room to maneuver.
I guess what I am saying is that under present conditions
the chances of success in a disability claim in cases like yours
are somewhere between slim and none.
This is just one of the reasons why we at the Federation
want to see dealers unionized. A union would be able to seek
and get an honest medical evaluation and use every legal means to
give disabled dealers the benefits they are entitled to.
I hope this sheds some light on the subject.
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