Report: No Headset for Illinois Prison Clerk Cost $128K

Illinois taxpayers will have to pay more than $128,000 because a state employee didn’t get the telephone headset she asked for, according to a published report Sunday.

The Belleville News-Democrat, citing workers’ compensation records, reported a prison finance clerk had complained that not having an ergonomically sound work station or a headset made her strain her neck, causing pain and worsening her spine problems.

The newspaper reported that Angela Grott, a clerk at the Menard Correctional Center, testified in a hearing in December that not having a headset was the primary reason for her pain and she said supervisors repeatedly denied her requests for a headset or altered work station.

A surgeon who operated on Grott said she had “a pre-existing disc degeneration that was aggravated” by holding the phone in an awkward manner, according to a summary provided by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

Now, the clerk’s worker’s compensation claim in medical bills is $128,424, according to the News-Democrat.

Grott, who has been a state employee since 1989, declined to comment to the newspaper.

Illinois Department of Corrections officials said they are waiting for headsets to arrive, which will then be given to any employee who wants them.

The News-Democrat has published a series of reports based on its own probe of workers’ compensation claims. The newspaper reports that its probe has led to five investigations, including two criminal probes.