The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that shutting down Nevada’s workers’ compensation courts for two months during the COVID-19 pandemic created a two-month backlog of cases.

The newspaper said workers’ compensation attorneys in the state report that it is taking three or four months to get a hearing scheduled when cases are supposed to be heard within 30 days, or 90 days for appeals.

The report cites anonymous attorneys who said they hired a private investigator to follow the Department of Administration’s senior appears officer in June and July and found she was at the office a little more than one-third of the time it was open.

A spokesperson for the department said the agency “learned out of absolute necessity to successfully implement more flexible policies for employees” during the pandemic and that “appeals and hearing officers are available at any time should counsel need assistance.”

The department spokesperson also said the agency’s request for two additional hearing officers and two legal support positions was approved in August and the extra staff will gradually eliminate the backlog.