Disabled Rider Receives Awaited Payment from Guild

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A permanently disabled jockey that claimed the Jockeys' Guild wasn't reimbursing him for medical and Guild-related expenses because of his public criticism of Guild management has been partially compensated.

Gary Donahue received a reimbursement check Feb. 2, two months after he first requested compensation for prescription medication, dental work, and airfare to the national Guild assembly in Texas last December. The check, however, didn't include reimbursement for a $3,000 wheelchair Donahue purchased in August.

Guild spokesman Eric Banks said Donahue's wheelchair claim hasn't been denied and is still under review by the Disabled Jockeys' Benefits Committee.

A former co-chair of the Disabled Jockey's Fund, Donahue claimed the Guild was withholding payment as a way to reprimand him for speaking out against the Guild's management of finances and said that is a violation of his rights under the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959. Donahue, who also is part of a lawsuit against the Guild along with former Guild treasurer Eddie King, said the Guild sent him a check only after he went public with his concern.

"I am satisfied that I have received money from the Guild which I rightfully should be reimbursed for," Donahue told the The Blood Horse Feb. 3. "But I should not have waited almost eight weeks. That's unacceptable."

Gladys Oliveras, wife of disabled jockey Jose Oliveras, said she also waited two months to be reimbursed for her prescription medicine and sunglasses. She also claimed the Guild had purposely withheld her payment after she publicly expressed concern regarding Guild financial management.

Donahue and Oliveras said waiting two months for reimbursement for routine medical expenses was not "normal." But Banks said the amount of time was standard.

The Guild spokesman said the Disabled Jockeys' Benefits Committee was established when the Disabled Jockeys' Fund was dissolved in December and is made up of Donahue's peers, not Guild administration. He said the committee takes adequate time reviewing and honoring financial requests.

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