Workers Comp Help
Ruptured Disc After Slipping At Work
My story begins in July 2001 when I was at work enjoying what I had been doing for 20 years. I am a Restaurant Manager who enjoyed working with the kids and the customers each and everyday.
I was going up the steps at work when I slipped in a water leak that had been present for over 2 years. At first, I thought that I had just sprained my back and that I would feel better after a couple af days. I reported this to my Supervisor who ridiculed me about not being able to walk. He actually acted as though it was my fault the leak was there.
For the following days i was in a lot of pain but continued to work. A few days later again I fell in the same leak, this time I myself started to wonder if I had a "Walking Problem".
That day, I had a friend of mine come in and look at the leak and told me what was wrong. For less than $4.00 and 5 minutes of time the leak was fixed. Something that My Supervisor did not want to spend the money to fix to began with.
My whole life came tumbling down two days later when I went to stand up at work and no longer could feel my feet. I felt this agonizing pain shoot down my legs that I couldn't even stand up. I went right to the emergency room where they diagnosed me with a herniated disc. I left there and went home and was told to go see a specialist in 2 days.
On Monday I called the main office and told them that I needed a list of Doctors to choose from so I could go to a Specialist. They could not provide me with one so I chose a Doctor that I wanted.
He took me out of work with bed rest and he wanted to see if the herniation would heal on its own. That is when I learned what the true meaning of "Workmans Compensation" meant to the injured employee.
Needless to say I was denied because I wouldn't tell them every Doctor visit, every prescription, every hospitalization since I was born. I did not believe it was any of their business because it did not relate to the fact that I Fell At Work!! I filed a claim with the State Board and they said it would take 4 months to get a hearing. Well in 4 months that could mean the difference between starving to death. I didn't even have the money for pain medications.
My Employer who had considered me an "Excellent" employee now turned their back on me. I finally got reinstated 3 1/2 months later, but it was hard on me financially. Even after that, I still had trouble getting checks because my claim adjuster would "forget" to draft me a check. She just "forgot" every week.
I Hurt everyday and every night. I have not had a good nights sleep since I got hurt. I have to have someone else do my house work, wash my clothes and go grocery shopping for me. My life as it was is gone. I think back on what a good employee I was to them and for $4.00 this all could have been fixed. Now, my Supervisor will not even talk to me because I am unable to come back to work. He still thinks I am faking the injury.
Surgery was given to me as an option, but they said it would follow up with other surgeries in the future. I can't believe this has happened to me. I use to be so active, working out 4-5 times a day. Now my days are filled with pain meds and praying that my insurance claims adjuster will not call and harass me today.
I wish the State would take a more active roll in all of this. I feel that the rights of the injured employee are not protected. I do understand that there are people out there that are trying to scam the system but there are good honest people that just want to get what is due to them.