VENTURA — The 2025-2026 Ventura County Civil Grand Jury Announces Release of its Investigative Report: “Setting the Record Straight on Presumptive Workers’ Compensation Claims”
For most Ventura County deputy sheriffs, every day is a risk, where they may experience the possibility of a serious work-related injury or illness, known in workers’ compensation terms as a “presumptive” injury or illness.
In interviews with the Ventura County Civil Grand Jury, deputy sheriffs with presumptive claims described their frustration with minimal communication, confusing delays, denials of claims that were later reversed, and long waiting periods.
Ventura County Risk Management executives, supervising presumptive workers’ compensation claims, explained the complex, sometimes contradictory, and convoluted California Labor Code and the difficulty finding ways to make the presumptive claims system work for whom it was created and intended to serve. The Civil Grand Jury found many aspects of processing presumptive workers’ compensation claims have improved during the last three years, due to ongoing changes initiated by Ventura County Risk Management.
The improvements have resulted in a more supportive environment for employees and more timely medical treatment with greater flexibility in accepting new treatment protocols. But the leftover perceptions concerning presumptive workers’ compensation claims are still with us, and the system is not fixed until the perception of the system is fixed. Read the entire report @ https://vcportal.venturacounty.gov/GDJ/docs/reports/2025-26/WC/GDJ- FY2526-Report_Claims.pdf
The Ventura County Civil Grand Jury is a panel of 19 local citizens established to examine public complaints and generate internal investigations about county, city, special districts or Joint Power Authorities government management, practices and processes. More information about the Ventura County Civil Grand Jury can be found at https://www.ventura.org/grand-jury/