One of the guys I have worked with for the past few years, I’ll call him Dale, got sick a couple of months ago with hyperthyroid. He had to be hospitalized and his supervisor, I’ll call him Steve, basically lived at the hospital for a couple of days, running errands for Dale, making sure Dale knew that his job was safe.
Everybody likes Dale a lot. He’s been really dependable and nice. He generally worked afternoons, so I don’t know him that well.
So he was out for a couple of weeks, then came back to work. He stayed for a half an hour, said that he had a sore throat and felt weak, then he left. A couple of days later, it turns out that he filed a Worker’s Comp claim against the company, saying that he was exposed to toxic chemicals that gave him a sore throat. A couple of days after that, he filed another claim saying that the company gave him hyperthyroid. Ooookay.
Steve kept trying to call and see if Dale was doing any better. He didn’t get any answer. This went on for a couple of weeks. BWC denied the sore throat claim. Most of my coworker’s got a raise two weeks ago, and one guy, Ed, saw Dale at the supermarket and told him about it. Dale calls Steve and says he wants to come back to work. Steve is delighted. Dale comes in and acts all sheepish about the BWC claim. Steve waves that off and wants Dale to start the next morning.
Dale says he doesn’t want to work mornings. Steve says it’s temporary, just until everyone feels confident that he’s well enough to handle the job again. Dale agrees.
He comes in the next morning (yesterday), stays for about an hour, tells Steve and Chuck, another supervisor, that he wants to work afternoons and his wife wants him to quit so he’s quitting. Steve is upset because he says Dale is a good guy and this area is depressed and the job is a lot more money than most.
This morning when I come in, it turns out that Dale called BWC after he left yesterday and claimed that he tripped and fell and hurt his leg and that’s why he left work.
It’s a small company, and it’s been a struggle this past couple of years. The rumor had already started out on the floor that one of the previous workers who was collecting BWC was running a scam and that he was fine. By late last night, apparently everyone on the floor knew that Dale had filed (even though the supervisors didn’t know until today) and since they all saw him leave yesterday they all know that he wasn’t hurt.
It sounds so small, but the effect on morale around here is extreme, especially out on the floor. Work is a very depressing place to be right now.