Workmans comp/unemployment (work, claim, money, how much)

[brad8668]

Well we were allowed to take a loa anytime because you stay gone for over a month.

Basically I hurt myself in june and didnt think anything of it at the time, plus I was very dedicated,

worked hard for my boss,had a good relationship with her and didnt want to let her down etc. As

timepassed by I began to realize what I had done wasnot going away and was actually getting

worse.The things that led to me being terminated is basically why I shouldnt have been workin with

a back injury in the first place, you gotta be physically fit and not in pain like I was or the stress will

willbecome overwhelming. Anyways at this point 4 months after the injury I had worked and worked

and never reported it and took a loa because I just couldnt do it, was struggeling majorly. At this

point I never reported it,is too late to say anything now I thought, cant work anymore, was

transfered off my mngr board, they think im half crazy because some of the irrational things I said

over qc and was fired upon my return ecause I tried to email her to say sorry, they said they told

me to not contact her (untrue but dsnt matter,is what they said and I was termntd)and said it was

harassment. So one thing I knew for sure when I was on loa is I didnt report it when it happend and

I couldn't do my job anymore in the shape I was in. Could either quit or come back and get med

insur when they had open enrollment, which was the next week. Basically I got hurt in their

equipment, didnt report it, worked til my mind and body couldnt take it no more, came back and

was terminated. No job, cant work, no med insur, cant sleep and bout to go insane from the pain,

no income..Its like, if I wouldnt have been hurt I would still have my job as I was very good at it,

extremly good. I guess they think oneday I just woke up and decided to not know what I was doing

anymore and was just crazy or whatever and was terminated. Which I emailed the lady and told her

what happend and why I had acted the way I did and was sorry but that email never came up on

in the sitdown when I was let go. I mean I told her exactly what happend so they knew I had been hurt

in their equipment because they said they had all the msgs printed out. Maybe they wanted to get rid of me to

avvoid having to deal with workman comp? maybe,i dunno? I do know that email was sent to her at the beginning

of my loa and when I came back from loa I was called into the front office to discuss a careless driving ticket and

a speeding ticket that were issued in the same month. I sat down and told the person that I had got the careless ticket

dismissed and she said ok because what we're looking at"thats not good". Anyways what im sayin is maybe they had the emails

the whole time and was just going to fire me for the tickets or was hoping I was going to quit? I was issued a truck

after taking care of the tickets, called my new mngr and told him I wanted the same kind of truck I had before i took loa, he said ok

no prob talk to flt assnment in morning, said ok. Came back next day and no trucks so I went home and came back in afternoon before they

left, said no trucks be here First thing in the morning, come back the next day and was terminated. I know she got my emails before I was terminated

because I had contacted her via comapny email she used on a daily basis...anyways thats how I was terminated. And yes, hinesight is 20/20

and I see now what workmans comp is for but is too late and something I should have known before. I got hurt while working for them and if all was fair,just

and right I should get wc but because I didnt report it, its as if I didnt get hurt at all. Cant do what I used to for sure, cant sleep at night, cant work, just

can't do anything besides hurt. No med insurance, no nothing. And basically the same reasons I lost my job in the first place are the same reasons I cant work

now if that makes any sense.
sry for the long post.

[annerk]

It sounds to me like there was a lot of other things that were going on which caused you to be fired--some of them that were likely grounds for terminiation had you been working at full capacity.

Figure out what you can do with your limitations and move forward, you can't turn back time.

And I'd suggest seeing if there is a free or sliding scale clinic nearby that you can go to for your back. If nothing else they might be able to give you some pain medication and/or muscle relaxers.

[brad8668]

Originally Posted by annerk

It sounds to me like there was a lot of other things that were going on which caused you to be fired--some of them that were likely grounds for terminiation had you been working at full capacity.

Figure out what you can do with your limitations and move forward, you can't turn back time.

And I'd suggest seeing if there is a free or sliding scale clinic nearby that you can go to for your back. If nothing else they might be able to give you some pain medication and/or muscle relaxers.

yep, but being 23 years old I cant take pain killers for the rest of my life..
Yea..the things I was terminated for wouldnt have happend if I didnt continue to work after being hurt..
I dunno, I did get hurt and if all was just and right I should get workmans comp since I was hurt on the job
but since I didnt report it, its as if it never even happend when infact it did. Why I need it is why it exists..hehh i dunno..
I just wish I wasnt in pain all the time, cant sleep, cant do anything. I mean even if I were to try and go to school to get
into a career that isnt as physically demanding, you still cant work in pain no matter what you do. And it would be ok if I were
50 years old and had only 10 er 20 years left but..am 23 and havent even started my life.. got myself into a big mess to say the least..

[annerk]

Originally Posted by brad8668

yep, but being 23 years old I cant take pain killers for the rest of my life..
Yea..the things I was terminated for wouldnt have happend if I didnt continue to work after being hurt..
I dunno, I did get hurt and if all was just and right I should get workmans comp since I was hurt on the job
but since I didnt report it, its as if it never even happend when infact it did. Why I need it is why it exists..hehh i dunno..
I just wish I wasnt in pain all the time, cant sleep, cant do anything. I mean even if I were to try and go to school to get
into a career that isnt as physically demanding, you still cant work in pain no matter what you do. And it would be ok if I were
50 years old and had only 10 er 20 years left but..am 23 and havent even started my life.. got myself into a big mess to say the least..

I hate to say it, but live and learn. You made a huge mistake by not reporting it, you now know that. You can't turn back time, so make the best of what you've got and move on. Seriously, at this point you aren't going to get w/c, so it's time to come up with a plan B.

[brad8668]

Originally Posted by annerk

I hate to say it, but live and learn. You made a huge mistake by not reporting it, you now know that. You can't turn back time, so make the best of what you've got and move on. Seriously, at this point you aren't going to get w/c, so it's time to come up with a plan B.

Well thanks for your help. You cant really..just move on from

a back injury,is always there every waking moment driving you to the

edge of insanity sometimes. If it were that easy I would have already done that.

Thats the thing, i've alwayys been a resiliant person etc.

But I think somethings dont exactly have a "plan B". I dunno..I appreciate

your advice and your right, I maynot get wc but theres really no

plan B or anything to do for back injurys besides surgery, and yhat

isnt alwys 100%. It's like ppl will look at a person with back pain and

think o so very ignorantly, o they just need to suck it up, just a crybaby

but look at a guy with say an amputated leg and give him the shirt off of their

back when he isnt in pain, can run, work, lift weights etc..I dunno,it

wouldnt be so bad if I wasnt so young. Cant take pain meds all my life, no insur.

cant sleep much less try and get and keep a part time job and

possibly go to school cuz I know im never gonna be able to excel with

anything physical. Its not that I am lazy or whining, sometimes

there are no plan B's or answers, sometimes I think you are just screwed.

In my case getting hurt working ,not reporting it and now not being able to work anymore.

Or having med insur for treatment. I guess this is why wc was setup. When your

workin,get hurt when u were workin and need medical becuz you cant work anymore.

Ya..hehh..it'd be good if I just didnt have pain in my leg and back 24/7, atleast then

I could think straight and rationally and figure out what is goin on and what to do.

And ppl who you ask for advice like you guys,

which I appreciate the advice , i really do, i think know just as well

as I do that theres not much you can do.

I dunno, unless you've had severe severe back pain, the problems im goin through

would be hard to relate with. Im a prety tough person and for something to halter

me it takes alot, and this has stopped me in my tracks.

[Finger Laker]

in many states you have up to a year to report a WC claim

to me the tricky aspect as I don't know your state and I don't know if you no longer being employed makes a difference

WC is a state regulated coverage and the rules of the game vary state to state

My first step would be to check with the state department of insurance and see what the rules are ... if it's still too fuzzy from there, than talk to a lawyer

however a lot of state DOIs are "consumer/worker" friendly and will have resources and the ability to inform you of your rights without the use of attorneys (the attorneys will be able to help you make a case though)

[annerk]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

in many states you have up to a year to report a WC claim

This is true--but--and it's a big but--you also need to be able to PROVE that the injury happened on the job.

Because he didn't put the employer on notice that he was injured, it's going to be difficult to do so. If he had told a coworker or two at the time of the injury, maybe. But it doesn't sound like that was the case.

Had he been in an accident with a piece of equipment or a vehicle, where there was a record of it, he might ahve a pretty good chance. But an injury that wasn't reported for over six months until after the employee was terminated for cause (harrassment of a co-worker/supervisor, moving violations (not sure how those can be blamed on an on-the-job injury), etc.)? I'm not sure any attorney in the world would win that one.

[stevemorse]

you can also drop the wc claim and just go file ue.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by brad8668

yep, but being 23 years old I cant take pain killers for the rest of my life..
Yea..the things I was terminated for wouldnt have happend if I didnt continue to work after being hurt..
I dunno, I did get hurt and if all was just and right I should get workmans comp since I was hurt on the job
but since I didnt report it, its as if it never even happend when infact it did. Why I need it is why it exists..hehh i dunno..
I just wish I wasnt in pain all the time, cant sleep, cant do anything. I mean even if I were to try and go to school to get
into a career that isnt as physically demanding, you still cant work in pain no matter what you do. And it would be ok if I were
50 years old and had only 10 er 20 years left but..am 23 and havent even started my life.. got myself into a big mess to say the least..

What exactly was your injury? Because at 23 years of age, you should be able to have healed by now from an injury in June. A lot of back injuries are just pulled muscles, but if you really messed up your back permanently like broke the vertebrae or something and they healed all wrong, then you'd better find a job that you can handle.

I knew a woman who was 65 and was only out of work 5 weeks after open heart surgery and she is disabled from some post-polio syndrome.

[brad8668]

Originally Posted by annerk

This is true--but--and it's a big but--you also need to be able to PROVE that the injury happened on the job.

Because he didn't put the employer on notice that he was injured, it's going to be difficult to do so. If he had told a coworker or two at the time of the injury, maybe. But it doesn't sound like that was the case.

Had he been in an accident with a piece of equipment or a vehicle, where there was a record of it, he might ahve a pretty good chance. But an injury that wasn't reported for over six months until after the employee was terminated for cause (harrassment of a co-worker/supervisor, moving violations (not sure how those can be blamed on an on-the-job injury), etc.)? I'm not sure any attorney in the world would win that one.

Because I told my sup via personal email and company email(which I know she checks) before I came back from loa. Were going to fire me for moving viol,told them they were taken care of, came back day after next and they fired me for harassment because they said I contacted her via email when they asked me not to, and in one of the emails I told her that I had injured myself in jun and that was what was wrong with me. Cuz we had a very good relationship and I was basically destroying it more and more every week due to just how I was after getting hurt and she thought I was just bein a jerk for no rsn probably, in reality I was struggeling to make it thru each day. Didnt have any co workers persay..worked by myself in a truck. And what happend was more violent then
getting in an accident with another vehicle but the equipment is so heavy duty it didnt break or cause any damage,except to me.
Prety much, what I got fired for wouldnt have happened if I wouldnt have been hurt. Before i had got hurt I was out of 100 drivers in the top
5 most productive/no mistakes etc, within 3 months I was makin mistakes, pain was drivin me crazy, told my dptchr something along the lines of
"I gotta lotta stuff on my mind, is too much sometimes" got taken off her board and with every thing combined that had happened in the past 4 months,somethings were a result of others but took a loa.