Mansfield OBWC employee accused of improperly accessing workers' comp claim files

MANSFIELD - An employee of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation Mansfield Office has been accused of improperly accessing injured workers' confidential personal information, according to the Ohio Office of the Inspector General. 

According to the state report, completed Dec. 14, and available at watchdog.ohio.gov (case number 2016-CA 00019), employee Lina Dumbaugh had a close, personal relationship with a Mansfield attorney and in some instances accessed claims files in which the attorney was a legal party.

The OBWC reported to the office of the inspector general that it had identified 749 accesses from May 1, 2015, to Feb. 27, 2016, where Dumbaugh had improperly accessed injured workers' claims, according to the inspector's report.

OBWC also reported to the office of the inspector general that Dumbaugh had a relationship with injured workers' attorney John "Jack" Donaldson, who owns Donaldson Law Offices LPA.

According to OBWC, in 181 of the 749 accesses, "Dumbaugh had accessed a total of 63 injured workers' claim files either once or multiple times in claims to which she was not assigned, and failed to enter a note indicating the business reason for her access," according to the report. "Additionally OBWC further discovered during its review that, in certain instances, Dumbaugh was the assigned claims service specialist and accessed injured workers' claim files when Donaldson was a legal party," according to the inspector general's report. 

Interviews with supervisors indicated Dumbaugh had been given guidance since at least 2000 that she was not permitted to access claims in which Donaldson was involved, and that before performing work in a claim, she was directed to verify that Donaldson was not the legal representative for that claim, according to the report.

The inspector general's office determined 499 instances of access in which Dumbaugh had accessed injured work claim files that indicated John Donaldson was representing either an injured worker or employer. In many of these instances, investigators found Dumbaugh had performed work in injured workers' claim files that she was or was not assigned, accessed claim files without a business reason to do so, or accessed claim files after requesting reassignment of the claim, according to the report.  

After becoming the godmother to Donaldson's child, Dumbaugh confirmed to investigators that she continued to interact with Donaldson about OBWC claim matters, and that Donaldson called her at work about injured workers' claim files. Dumbaugh added that the Donaldson Law Office personnel would also call her when filing a lump sum settlement application to ask her how much medical and indemnity compensation had been paid in the claim. Dumbaugh said she would answer the questions and that was the extent of the conversations. However, Dumbaugh told investigators that Donaldson himself did not call her directly about injured workers' claims while they were living together, and added that they both knew it was a "no-no," according to the report. 

During the course of the investigation, the Office of the Ohio Inspector General consulted with the Ohio Ethics Commission. The report will be forwarded to the City of Mansfield law director for consideration.

The allegations by the Ohio Office of the Inspector General regarding Dumbaugh are: failure to comply with state law or regulations; failure to comply with state or department rules, procedures or policies; and misuse of abuse of state property or equipment, according to the report.

in the final pages of the report, the Ohio Inspector General made several recommendations, asking the administrator of the OBWC to respond within 60 days with a plan detailing how the recommendations will be implemented. One of the recommendations was to "review the conduct of the employees identified in this report and determine whether administrative action is warranted."

lwhitmir@nncogannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir