INJURED US CONGRESSMAN TOLD TO GET IN LINE FOR HIS OWCP CLAIM

Federal employees injured, diseased or killed on the job are limited by federal law to one remedy: they must file their claim with the USDOL Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP).
A US Congressman recently injured on his job apparently has been startled to learn that he does not stand above or any different from any other common federal employee.
US Congressman John Sullivan (R - Oklahoma) was injured in a vehicle accident while serving in his federal job. Apparently under the belief that the woefully bureaucratic OWCP system was not for himself or others of similar high status, Congressman Sullivan chose instead to directly sue the United States in federal court for compensation of his injuries.
The Federal Court was unpersuaded by his lofty status as a Congressman. The federal court promptly dismissed the Congressman's lawsuit and sent him packing back to the OWCP for compensation on his injury claim. Click here to read the Court Order: Sullivan v. United States of America, D.D.C. Civil Action No. 05-1418 (CKK), 4/13/07.
The Federal Court ruled that not withstanding the Congressman's personal complaints that he "has not received a penny to date" from OWCP for his injuries, federal law mandates that the OWCP bureaucracy is the exclusive remedy for federal employees injured on their federal jobs.
As such, Congressman Sullivan, must dutifully get in line with the hundreds of thousands of other injured, diseased and dying federal employees and wait his turn for compensation from the OWCP just like everybody else.