Who does Mike Conners really watch out for?

From the Albany Times-Union
Section: CAPITAL REGION
Page: B1
Date: Friday, November 14, 1997

SIDELINED AFTER GAME, CONNERS FILES A CLAIM
KATE GURNETT Staff writer

Pride. Teamwork. That's what County Comptroller Michael Conners had in mind when he gathered a group of co-workers for a basketball game. Instead, all Conners got was an injury. Then surgery.

And now he's filed a claim for workers' compensation.

[snip]

Conners filed the claim last week for the ruptured right biceps tendon he suffered in an ``intra-departmental basketball game'' Oct. 24 at St. Vincent Community Center. [snip] Conners said he filed the claim on the advice of his attorney. ``He told me that to be safe that I should notice them, because there's the potential that I might have the medical portion denied by Blue Cross and Blue Shield,'' Conners said. Conners, who oversees the county's financial affairs, said he organized the court match as an ``intergenerational esprit de corps'' for 10 employees. The game pitted employees over 40 against the younger set.

So was the game, held after business hours, a work activity? ``That's an insurance company issue,'' Conners said Thursday.

[snip]

A basketball injury, even involving co-workers, is ``a disability, not workers' compensation,'' said Adrian Gruber, assistant workers' compensation examiner for the state Workers' Compensation Board. An employee must be performing work duties when injured for workers' compensation coverage, Gruber added.

Watchdog? Watching out for number one.