Testimonials | California Coalition for Injured Workers

Patient Letters

I gave my mind and body and blood for my community and have felt
really forgotten about once they retired me….
I need you to help me now, please send me a backup.

Retired Deputy Sheriff

Kern County, CA

Dear Mrs. Senator Shannon Grove:

I am writing to you in response to Ca legislation attempting to overhaul SIBTF . I have major medical issues and no opportunity to work with my disabilities.

I was a Kern County deputy sheriff for 22 years . The sheriff’s department medically retired me for my neck, back, PTSD, anxiety, shoulder and multiple other permanent injuries.

I settled WC case for $137,000 dollars with an 81 percent total disability. I was making $90,000 a year. This happened in February of 2018.

My case took ten years to even settle. My wife and I had to sell our home in east Bakersfield and move to Oklahoma because I could not afford my medication or health insurance, taxes, PGE. I retired making $3,600 dollars a month. Just above poverty where I cannot get free medical insurance. Today I got a tax lien for back taxes of $1,300 dollars for the state of California.

I am a man of God and have trusted him for eight years to provide for my family. We have gotten by but are in major credit card debit and struggle each month to get by. We had to move to Oklahoma to use my Choctaw Indian card to get medication and treated through my tribe.

I have been Patiently waiting for 8 years on my SSA disability case that a federal judge and council of appeals have remanded twice. I have waited since 2022 on my SIBTF claim. This claim will help us make our bills and pay off credit cards. I have been waiting to get a stem cell for my back and a surgery on my neck and shoulder.

We just have not caught a break in 8 years. Now I am being told the SIBTF case could be going away. I gave my mind and body and blood for my community and have felt really forgotten about once they retired me. I have volunteered my life pastoring, coaching kids and protecting my fellow citizens.

I need you to help me now, please send me a backup. Watch my six for me. I worked since I was 12 years old in the fields, grapes, oranges, potatoes. If I could work I would please fight for me. I am 58 years old not old enough for regular SSA.

Without this fund I would not be able to afford the care or equipment I need.

Terry Pelton

Former Firefighter

April 24, 2026

Subject: Email sent to State Representatives.

I am contacting you regarding the subsequent injury benefit trust fund, SIBTF. I understand this fund is under scrutiny and is at risk of being eliminated. Without this fund I would not be able to afford the care or the Disability equipment I need.

People do not realize that being disabled is very expensive. I was a good worker and use the 401(k) program which has come to assist me at this point in time of my life. However, the cost of Support personnel and equipment are chewing into this retirement fund much quicker than I expected.

SIBTF is going a long ways to helping the quality of my life and remove the worry associated to running out of money. I believe the disabled are not well represented and this would go a long way to helping people like me afford to live a longer and more fulfilling life.

Thank you for your attention to this detail.

Terry Pelton

Please leave my benefits alone!!!

I have earned them!!!

James H. Hartsock

Retired School Teacher

April 16, 2026

To: CCIW

Message: I have been receiving benefits for several years now. I depend on these funds to cover my living expenses every month. Since I have paid into this fund for many years, I don’t understand why these funds might be reduced or eliminated.

Please leave my benefits alone!!!

I have earned them!!!

James H. Hartsock

I am relying on this SIBTF benefits to pay bills, foods on the table and support myself…

Cassie K. Pham

Former Office Administrator

April 14, 2026

To: CCIW

To whom it may concern:

My name is Cassie K. Pham, and I have Degenerative Disc Disease for 8 years. This caused neck pain from C5, C6 and C7 radiated to my shoulders through both arms, carpal tunnel and 10 fingers are numbness and tingling. I also have herniated discs from my lower back of L3, L4, L5 and S1 which sciatic nerve runs down from the back of both legs.

In addition, with pre-existing conditions of GERD, IBS, skin rashes, and vertigo. I have been working for 3 decades, and I got neck and back injuries on April 26, 2018. I am wear and tear and unable to work due to chronic pain.

I am relying on this SIBTF benefits to pay bills, foods on the table and support myself… Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Best regards,

Cassie K. Pham

Wendy Thompson

Former Fundraising Professional

April 1, 2026

Dear Governor Newsome-

I am writing to ask you to please keep and protect the SIBTF fund for special cases like mine.

The state eliminated the vocational rehabilitation program for injured workers, leaving very few options for people who are hurt on the job and trying to survive. As Californians — especially single elderly women with no children — we do not have many options. The cost of living is exorbitant. Rent is through the roof. We need your help keeping funding for programs that protect working Californians from a system we paid into through deductions taken from our paychecks. We had no choice in paying into it. When I settled my case, I also repaid my employer — that is where the fund money comes from.

If you are injured, you can no longer contribute to Social Security the way you would have, reducing your benefit when you retire or file for SSDI. In my case, I lost the ability to contribute at all, and at a very early age. Social Security Disability is only three-quarters or less of your former income, and it is very difficult and stressful to file for. You are left with limited wages and many legal and physical challenges, trying to navigate a disabled world you now must fight for survival in.

In my situation, I was injured and did return to work. I modified my work due to my injuries and took a big pay cut. At the time I was in a relationship and had some financial support, so I could afford that loss. But later, when my injuries stopped me in my tracks and required surgery, I had no insurance and no wages unless I accepted workers’ compensation — and then I only received two-thirds of my wages for a limited number of weeks. I would not regain feeling or use of my arm for over a year. I had no choice. I could not afford my house payment. I had to move 600 miles with my ex-husband. He would not help me keep the house, and I lost everything.

My first injury was to my neck, and I could not use my arm, but workers’ compensation would not accept my hands. My lower back was also injured — all while I was working. Two years earlier, I had been in an auto accident and diagnosed with PTSD, which was not properly treated. I was rushed to settle by the workers’ compensation representative from a large company. The workers’ compensation doctor was not helpful and never warned me that my condition would continue to worsen.

Over time, I lost total use of my arm. I underwent a cervical fusion and removal of a bone spur. Two years later I developed cervical neuropathy. I could not raise my arms or hold a pen. I had untreated lumbar spondylolisthesis that progressed until I lost feeling in my legs and feet and required two back-to-back spine surgeries. I still cannot sit for long or write easily, and I walk with difficulty.
While waiting years for disability to be approved, I lost my home and exhausted my savings. I had to ask my elderly mother to release part of my inheritance early so I could survive. I lived at poverty level, received food from my church, and did not buy new clothes. My case kept getting postponed
before, during, and after COVID. I had three surgeries and dedicated 16 years of my life to workers’ compensation proceedings.

I am grateful that after many years of struggle, I was awarded SIBTF benefits. That award will continue for me. I am not writing because my own benefits are in jeopardy. I am writing because I know firsthand what this fund means to injured workers who come after me.
Without the SIBTF award, I would not have survived financially during the most difficult years of my life. It allowed me to stabilize and pay for basic needs and medical assistance related to my disability. I am deeply concerned that if this fund is reduced, restricted, or altered, others in situations like mine will not have the same protection I was fortunate to receive. The SIBTF does not make people wealthy. It provides dignity and a measure of security when someone has already lost their health, career, and financial stability. Making it harder to obtain or eliminating it will make life that much more difficult for people who were forced to return to work, became more injured, and had no other incentive options available. Small businesses hire part-time workers to avoid paying workers’ compensation premiums. For businesses, those premiums are tax deductible. Injured workers do not get to deduct the loss of their health, home, or future. This issue disproportionately affects women, especially single women who are sole breadwinners. If you are disabled and cannot work full time, you lose employer-sponsored insurance. If you attempt to work, you risk losing disability eligibility. It becomes a Catch-22. When I was finally awarded SSDI after more than two years, I had already lost my home and my savings.

Please protect the hard-working citizens of California and preserve the SIBTF fund as it is. It is one of the last protections left for people who paid into the system and then became too injured to continue working. It is your responsibility to stand up for injured workers — your constituents — who cannot stand up for themselves, some of us literally. We worked hard. We paid into the system. Now we need your support and protection.

Thank you,

Wendy Thompson

I am writing to ask you to preserve the lifeline that SIBTF offers to the small proportion of workers who, like me, become significantly disabled as a result of more than one injury.

Sharon Angell

Former Nonprofit Professional

Dear Senator Padilla,

I am a beneficiary of California’s Subsequent Injury Benefits Fund (SIBTF). It is my understanding that a proposed budget bill would significantly restrict access to SIBTF for future injured workers.

I am writing to ask you to preserve the lifeline that SIBTF offers to the small proportion of workers who, like me, become significantly disabled as a result of more than one injury.

Prior to my injuries, I worked for 31 years raising private donations for higher education and medical research. The work I did continues to benefit thousands of people today. I never dreamed I could become disabled. Then my car was rear-ended on the freeway. After a few weeks of rehabilitation, I went back to work. As my healing steadily progressed I took on a multi-million dollar building campaign. We were understaffed so I took up the slack, working such long hours that it was impossible to get adequate sleep. After nearly 3 years, our building campaign was a success but I was left with severe pain from cumulative trauma.

I did not want to give up my career so I took a job with normal hours, hoping to get back on the road to recovery. It was too late. After 6 months the pain was so bad my doctor took me off work. Even with complete rest, my orthopedic injuries and severe pain persisted, rendering me permanently disabled. Thank God my husband is kind enough to care for me in addition to doing all our driving, shopping, and housework.

The Agreed Medical Examiner on my case attributed 70% of my disability to work injuries and 30% to the auto accident. Partial disability payments were not enough to cover our mortgage. We had to sell our home in Ventura, California and high rents forced us to leave the area. Finding enough money to support ourselves was difficult until we received coverage from SIBTF. The SIBTF pension that I now receive is a great help.

Thank you for doing all you can to remove proposed restrictions to SIBTF from your new budget.

Your constituent,

Sharon Angell

“This isn’t merely a reform; it’s a betrayal.”

Former U.S. Navy SEAL

17-Year Los Angeles County Firefighter Paramedic

Dear Governor Gavin Newsom and Honorable Members of the California State Legislature,

Four years ago, I responded to a raging apartment building fire as a Los Angeles County Firefighter / Paramedic. While fighting through flames and smoke to rescue possibly trapped residents, the roof suddenly collapsed on me. That single moment shattered my life—those injuries, compounding with the countless other physical injuries and mental traumas I had already carried from 17 years of front-line service with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and my prior career as a U.S. Navy SEAL.

Before I ever put on a firefighter’s uniform, I served our nation as a Navy SEAL. The selection and training process is legendary for its brutality, designed to forge warriors who can operate in the harshest conditions on earth. We conducted direct-action raids, special reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines, counter-terrorism operations, hostage rescues, and underwater demolition missions in some of the most dangerous combat zones in the world. The mental and physical toll is relentless—traumatic brain injuries from blast waves, shattered joints from high-altitude jumps and brutal patrols, chronic pain that never fully leaves, and the invisible scars of PTSD that so many of us carry silently. It takes a rare caliber of person to become a Navy SEAL: someone driven by unbreakable duty, sacrifice, and the absolute refusal to quit when others’ lives are on the line.

I have always felt a profound calling to help others. After returning home from combat, that drive only grew stronger. I joined the Los Angeles County Fire Department, advanced to Firefighter Paramedic, and later became a T.E.M.S. Medic, providing tactical emergency medical support in high-risk situations. Even with the accumulating mental trauma and physical disabilities from my military service, I pushed through every single day. I managed my conditions with vigilance and sheer determination so I could continue saving lives on the front lines.

Every shift as an LA County Firefighter Paramedic carries real risk: racing into burning structures to pull families from flames, treating critical trauma patients on highways after horrific crashes, responding to hazardous materials incidents, and performing life-saving interventions in active shooter or violent scenes alongside law enforcement. We do it knowing that one wrong move, one collapsing roof, or one unseen hazard could end our careers—or our lives.

That apartment fire did exactly that. The roof collapse, combined with the cumulative injuries I had sustained over years of public service and my prior SEAL injuries, left me permanently and totally disabled at 45 years old. The Department had no choice but to medically retire me after 17 years of dedicated service while I was still actively helping the public. Despite my years of service, I am unable to collect a retirement that can sustain the rest of my life.

The fallout has been devastating. I was forced to file for bankruptcy, sell everything we owned— including our home—liquidate my retirement savings, and move out of state to a family property. Today, my wife and I, with a baby on the way, live in a 20-year-old motorhome. The financial and emotional toll has been crushing. California’s Subsequent Injury Benefit Trust Fund (SIBTF) was created precisely for cases like mine—where prior disabilities from military service or earlier injuries combine with a new workplace injury to create total permanent disability. My SIBTF claim is currently pending amid an estimated backlog of 30,000 Californians waiting for the state to process what they are rightfully owed.

Now a proposed budget bill, being rushed through the Legislature disguised as a simple “trailer bill,” threatens to erase that lifeline entirely. This legislation would redefine “disability” in a punitive way that makes me—and thousands like me—completely ineligible. It brazenly requires a disability to “incapacitate in the workplace without control by medication or medical devices.

Think about that for a moment. As a Navy SEAL and a Firefighter Paramedic, it was literally impossible for me to allow any previous disability to incapacitate me on the job. Lives were at stake every single day. My duty demanded that I manage every condition with vigilance and control when necessary. This proposed change to SIBTF would punish me and countless other veterans, firefighters, law enforcement officers, union members, and first responders who consistently push past pain and manage their conditions to serve the people of California— simply because we refused to be incapacitated on the job.

This isn’t merely a reform; it’s a betrayal. Using a “trailer bill” to quietly shut down a decadeslong program that has supported injured workers, veterans, and first responders is wrong and unjust. This budget bill isn’t designed to save money; it’s designed to erase a backlog of 30,000 claims and sweep the state’s bureaucratic failures under the rug. I suspect it will only shift the burden of care for permanently disabled workers onto other state welfare systems, creating no real savings. Even if I wanted to continue fighting my case, the bill’s language would purge me from the system entirely.

Workers’ compensation and SIBTF were invented to support people like me—those who have given their bodies, minds, and futures in service to this state. This change would abandon not only me, but thousands of deserving Californians: combat veterans, firefighters, and first responders who lose everything while protecting the public. It is a cynical maneuver that punishes service, ignores administrative negligence, and betrays those who have given their all for California.

Governor Newsom and our legislators must recognize the profound and unjust impact of this provision. You must remove this harmful language from the budget bill immediately and stand with California’s disabled veterans, first responders, and injured workers. Using a trailer bill to dismantle this vital program is simply wrong. This cannot be allowed to pass.

We answered the call when California and our nation needed us most. Now we ask you to answer ours.

Sincerely,

A Former U.S. Navy SEAL
17-Year Los Angeles County Firefighter Paramedic and T.E.M.S. Medic
Disabled Veteran and Public Servant

“These benefits are not a windfall; they are a lifeline for those whose bodies paid the price for service.”

Drew Whyte

Retired Firefighter

May 5, 2026

Dear Senator Cortese,

I hope this message finds you well. My name is Drew Whyte, and I am a retired San Jose firefighter. You and I have met numerous times over my time with the SJFD as I served from 2001 to 2024 and was forced off my line firefighting position due to numerous on-the-job injuries including 5 separate surgeries. I am now relegated to a desk job as the physical demands of my final rank as an Arson Investigator with SJFD were too much to continue that role or any on the front line as a firefighter.

I am writing to you regarding the upcoming vote on the budget trailer and its impact on the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund (SIBTF). This issue is deeply personal and extremely important to me and many others who have devoted our careers to public safety. Allowing this item to pass via the budget trailer could have devastating impacts on those of us currently in the filing process as there is a retroactive piece of this bill that could be catastrophic and does not allow for the Bill itself to get the scrutiny necessary to be fairly addressed.

I have long respected your leadership and public service—from your time on the San Jose City Council to your role as Santa Clara County Supervisor and now as our State Senator. I also want to share that I personally marched districts in support of your campaign when I was an active firefighter, and IAFF Local 230 has always stood behind you, as we believed in your commitment to working families and first responders.

As an injured, retired SJFD firefighter, the potential loss or restriction of access to SIBTF benefits would be devastating. My claim has just been filed and as I know you’re aware any firefighters—especially those forced into retirement due to injury—experience increasing pain, medical complications, and long-term disability as we age. These benefits are not a windfall; they are a lifeline for those whose bodies paid the price for service.

While I understand that reform may be necessary, disallowing or restricting these claims will have real and lasting consequences for deserving individuals—particularly first responders who were injured protecting their communities. For those of us no longer able to work in our capacity as firefighter (I am now working an office position not with the SJFD and working through a disability retirement process), these benefits provide stability, dignity, and essential support.

I respectfully ask that you vote against allowing this Bill to be a part of a budget trailer. I hope there can be a path forward that addresses concerns and potential reform that will not adversely impact injured workers who have already sacrificed so much.

Thank you sincerely for your time, your consideration, and your continued service. Any attention you give to this matter is truly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Drew Whyte
Retired Firefighter, San Jose (2001–2024)
IAFF Local 230

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Patient Letters

Retired Deputy Sheriff

Terry Pelton

James H. Hartsock

Cassie K. Pham

Wendy Thompson

Sharon Angell

Former U.S. Navy SEAL

Drew Whyte

Stand with Injured Workers