Labor Department Sued by Cold War Workers

Shannon Weidemann

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People that worked in nuclear factories during the Cold War era have sued the Labor Department in a class-action lawsuit over workers compensation. They claim that the government is taking too long to decide on their claims. They were exposed to nuclear materials in their jobs mining uranium and assembling nuclear weapons.

Greg Austin, president of Professional Case Management, the in-home nursing agency that provides skilled nursing care to these former nuclear workers, said the government's delays can be costly for sick patients - for whom time, in many cases, is of the essence.

"Recently we've seen the Labor Department arbitrarily reduce the amount of care ordered by our patients' doctors," Austin said. "At the same time the department has made patients and their families wait for up to 7 months to have their care approved. For many of these seriously ill and elderly patients, care delayed is in fact care denied, with life-threatening consequences."

A law was passed in 2000 to give the exposed workers care and medical benefits. The lawsuit was filed in Denver.