What do you do when your life has been stolen?

[JFLuvly]

If I understand correctly, they allegedly were able to backdate the coverage which allowed him to get the 75% disability and pension. Without the coverage he’d have really been screwed, but would’ve retained the right to pursue a long shot lawsuit for millions.

Yes that is correct. My issue is that after spending four years in school and working my ass off to get to the top, they cut the legs out from under me. First, this would not have been long shot lawsuit, without coverage they are liable. Second, stop thinking about this as millions of dollars. I said that that was how much money I was losing just based on 100,000 dollars a year, over the period of when I got hurt until I would have retired at 65. And yeah it sounds great, I’m 75% percent disabled and will probably never work again, but hey I have a pension coming in for the rest of my life that keeps me just below the poverty level. Yep that’s great, but I’ll bet my bottom dollar that most of you would fight tooth and nail to make sure you did everything you could before you just walked away and accepted it.

That’s the essential ‘bargain’ between workers and employers. You get insurance coverage for accidents but you’re not able to sue your employer on top of it.

Absolutely correct, but when you go to work each day, you assume that they have coverage and you are protected. They didn’t, I wasn’t and it cost me everything, hell I don’t even have a phone in my house anymore, they disconnected that last month.

(that said, my interpretation makes it sound like even more of an situation)

Are you sure about that?

[JFLuvly]

Who owes you a living then and for what reason? Are you kidding me?

I’ve never been injured at work, but I’ve been laid off a few times and I worked my fucking ass off to find new work. I currently commute 160 kilometers each way to work and back every day to pay the bills.

I think you need to man-up and take some responsibility.

I guess I should have been a little more specific. All the doctors say that there is something wrong and that I can’t return to work, what they can’t say is exactly what is wrong with me. So no, I have no idea. I really don’t want to go into all the symptoms I suffer from, but I will if necessary. I will tell you that I have not been able to think straight since the accident. I can’t concentrate for any amount of time and I am easily distracted. I have absolutely no confidence in anything I do anymore. This is due to a long list of fuckups that I have made over the last 8 years. I can’t stand loud noise unless it’s music. My eyes sometimes don’t work quite right, but that seems to be getting much better, and that’s just some of it. The thing is I am about as stubborn as anyone you will meet. I have not let this stop me from trying. I haven’t even mentioned the pain. My right shoulder,the one the electricity came up, is a mess. I can only put a small amount of pressure on it when it’s over my head. My neck from C-2 to C-7 has crushed, degenerative, bulging disks. All from the accident, but I don’t complain about the pain, I just push through it, if I didn’t I would have lost my mind long ago. I make myself go to hockey, the gym and baseball. It hurts, but I make myself do it. If I could just man up and take some responsibility, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. That much I can promise you.

[Leaffan]

The doctors say there’s something wrong but they can’t say exactly what it is.

You can go to hockey, the gym, and baseball and it hurts, but you can’t go to work?

You’ve had 8 years to rehabilitate or retrain?

Seriously?

[JFLuvly]

The doctors say there’s something wrong but they can’t say exactly what it is.

You can go to hockey, the gym, and baseball and it hurts, but you can’t go to work?

You’ve had 8 years to rehabilitate or retrain?

Seriously?

Yep, dead serious. I can go to the gym for an hour, or hockey for an hour or baseball for an hour, sure. Hell, WCB pays for my gym membership every year. Not sure where I can get a job for maybe two hours a day where they don’t mind babysitting everything I do, and if I don’t feel up to it I can stay home, all the while making 50,000 grand a year.

Not sure what you mean by the eight year thing, I’m pretty sure I have been clear so far. Returning to work was not my decision, that was there decision. Not going back to school was not my decision, that was there decision. they are the ones who don’t think I am fit to return to school or work. There are safety issues and liability issues involved here.

[JFLuvly]

The doctors say there’s something wrong but they can’t say exactly what it is.

I completely realize how ridiculous this sounds, I really do. I have sat down with more than one doctor and said “So what is wrong with me?” and all they do is shrug there shoulders. The Engineering professor said it best I think when he used the analogy of, years ago when you had a back injury, they would give you an xray, it usually showed nothing, now they use an MRI and they can see the problem. The issue with injuries such as these is, we have no such tool to be able to see what is wrong.

Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

[Leaffan]

@JFLuvly

I completely realize how ridiculous this sounds, I really do. I have sat down with more than one doctor and said “So what is wrong with me?” and all they do is shrug there shoulders. The Engineering professor said it best I think when he used the analogy of, years ago when you had a back injury, they would give you an xray, it usually showed nothing, now they use an MRI and they can see the problem. The issue with injuries such as these is, we have no such tool to be able to see what is wrong.

Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

So, what are the symptoms?

[JFLuvly]

So, what are the symptoms?

These are some, from my previous post.

I will tell you that I have not been able to think straight since the accident. I can’t concentrate for any amount of time and I am easily distracted. I have absolutely no confidence in anything I do anymore. This is due to a long list of fuckups that I have made over the last 8 years. I can’t stand loud noise unless it’s music. My eyes sometimes don’t work quite right, but that seems to be getting much better, and that’s just some of it. The thing is I am about as stubborn as anyone you will meet. I have not let this stop me from trying. I haven’t even mentioned the pain. My right shoulder,the one the electricity came up, is a mess. I can only put a small amount of pressure on it when it’s over my head. My neck from C-2 to C-7 has crushed, degenerative, bulging disks. All from the accident, but I don’t complain about the pain, I just push through it, if I didn’t I would have lost my mind long ago. I make myself go to hockey, the gym and baseball. It hurts, but I make myself do it. If I could just man up and take some responsibility, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. That much I can promise you.

[JFLuvly]

Sorry about the above, I just copied and pasted it.
Here is a link to the Diffuse Electrical study. The symptoms are on page 3 of 4 and a quick look tells me about 90 - 95 % of what is written there, all medically documented.

[JFLuvly]

sorry again, getting tired, here’s the link

http://www.electricalinjury.com/publications/MORSE_EMBS_DEI_03.pdf

[Sparky812]

There’s some problems with your story.
First of all, what province are you in?Workman’s compensation was sent a bill for a workplace accident that wasn’t reported by the hospital? If so, why was there a bill at all?
The Ministry of Labour wasn’t notified?That is a serious violation.

WCB doesn’t stop you for suing your employer, if they were negligent.

You still haven’t supplied any reason why you haven’t returned to work in 8 years. I’m with Leaffan. If you can’t return to your previous occupation, find something else.

I also have a wife, a house with a mortgage, and 3 young kids so I would dig ditches, sling burgers, clean houses, fix computers, or anything to support them. By now you could have been a manager at Tim Horton’s, Home Depot, CT, etc…

[Doggo]

I’m sorry to hear about your problems, but the bottom line is that life is a bitch and there will be problems. Obviously some will have worse problems than others, but however bad it gets, there is always someone worse off than yourself.

I know that doesn’t help you one iota, but I’m just comparing your problems with mine.
While I didn’t have a serious accident like yours during my working life, I certainly had more than my share of medical/ health problems, I have been stabbed in the back by almost everyone that I knew and trusted in my life, including my parents, lost everything to the bitch from hell and had to start all over from nothing at 35, been sabotaged by work colleagues, lied about, been generally exploited and abused by most managers I ever had, and due to bureacracy find myself at the twilight of my life facing poverty and a horrible lonely future.

As someone once said though, “it could be worse”.

[Fuzzy_Dunlop]

@JFLuvly

Yes that is correct. My issue is that after spending four years in school and working my ass off to get to the top, they cut the legs out from under me. First, this would not have been long shot lawsuit, without coverage they are liable. Second, stop thinking about this as millions of dollars. I said that that was how much money I was losing just based on 100,000 dollars a year, over the period of when I got hurt until I would have retired at 65. And yeah it sounds great, I’m 75% percent disabled and will probably never work again, but hey I have a pension coming in for the rest of my life that keeps me just below the poverty level. Yep that’s great, but I’ll bet my bottom dollar that most of you would fight tooth and nail to make sure you did everything you could before you just walked away and accepted it.

It sounds like a real raw deal that your long term disability policy was canceled and from what you’ve said you certainly sound like you deserve to prevail in that lawsuit. That said I’m pretty sure $50,000 / year isn’t below the poverty level for a small family, or even close. “average” comes to mind.

@JFLuvly

Absolutely correct, but when you go to work each day, you assume that they have coverage and you are protected. They didn’t, I wasn’t and it cost me everything, hell I don’t even have a phone in my house anymore, they disconnected that last month.

But they did backdate the coverage, so you’ve received all the benefits you would have received had it been in place at the time of the accident. I can’t see how the backdating has done anything except get you the benefits you’re entitled to from the employer/worker’s comp without the need to go to court.

@JFLuvly

Are you sure about that?

Yes, because you already got the benefits you were counting on (except the long term disability policy you’re litigating now). You got them all along. It’s even possible they committed some shenanigans to get the coverage backdated for you. Sounds pretty phenomenal to me.

Like Sparky812 said, you’re already entitled to sue the employer if they were negligent, but you’ve made it pretty clear it was an innocent accident.

In short, you’re getting the worker’s comp benefits you would’ve been entitled to if they had coverage at the time of the accident, so what difference does it make that it was backdated?

[PunditLisa]

You’ve already committed 8 years of your life trying to fight a battle against Goliath. You have no one to support your claims, including your former company, WCB, your own lawyers, and your own doctors.

But instead of accepting the 75% disability, brushing yourself off, and starting down a new path, you are considering extending this un-winnable war, and continue fighting.

My opinion? That’s stupid.

Ask yourself this: How’s the fight working out for you? Seriously. How is it working out for you? From what I’m reading, you’re: a) nearly bankrupt; b) bitter; c) frustrated; d) alienating your wife and kids.

Sounds like it’s not working at all.

…I’ll bet my bottom dollar that most of you would fight tooth and nail to make sure you did everything you could before you just walked away and accepted it.

Dude, you’ve already bet your bottom dollar, and you lost. Your only good choice is to walk away and accept it.

And I have complete faith that my family wouldn’t have put up with my “Woe is me, I’ve had my life stolen” schtick for very long, and most certainly not for eight years. Yeah, what happened sucks, but it is what it is. It is what it is. There IS no adequate compensation. Just like there’s no adequate compensation for the millions of people in the world who’ve been injured in accidents, or diagnosed with dread diseases, or been victims of senseless, horrible crimes.

You’ve already ceded 8 years of your life to this accident. How much more are you willing to lose? Your family? Do you honestly believe that they are going to excuse your irritability and preoccupation for much longer? How much more damage are you willing to inflict on yourself, on them, before you wave the white flag already and admit defeat? Because you need to close that chapter on your life before you can move to another.

Even if you someday “win,” it’s already cost you far too much. My advice is to act as if the accident was a stroke. Rebuild your life the way you would have had there been no one at fault, no one to blame. At the end of the day, you’ve got one body, one mind, and one life, and you’re wasting them. Shit happens to everyone. How you deal with it is what defines you as a man.

[VinylTurnip]

@JFLuvly

I haven’t even mentioned the pain. My right shoulder,the one the electricity came up, is a mess. I can only put a small amount of pressure on it when it’s over my head. My neck from C-2 to C-7 has crushed, degenerative, bulging disks.

I can understand there being residual pain from the injury, but how does an electric shock cause crushed disks in your neck?

[Lucas_Jackson]

I will tell you that I have not been able to think straight since the accident. I can’t concentrate for any amount of time and I am easily distracted. I have absolutely no confidence in anything I do anymore. This is due to a long list of fuckups that I have made over the last 8 years. I can’t stand loud noise unless it’s music. My eyes sometimes don’t work quite right, but that seems to be getting much better, and that’s just some of it. The thing is I am about as stubborn as anyone you will meet. I have not let this stop me from trying. I haven’t even mentioned the pain. My right shoulder is a mess. I can only put a small amount of pressure on it when it’s over my head. My neck from C-2 to C-7 has crushed, degenerative, bulging disks. All from the accident, but I don’t complain about the pain, I just push through it, if I didn’t I would have lost my mind long ago. I make myself go to hockey, the gym and baseball. It hurts, but I make myself do it.

I have every bit of that - and more. It’s from old age.

[JFLuvly]

I guess I’ll start with the easy ones.

I can understand there being residual pain from the injury, but how does an electric shock cause crushed disks in your neck?

They think it was caused by the sudden snap and stiffening when I came in contact with the bussbar.

I have every bit of that - and more. It’s from old age.

I wish that was all it was.

Yes, because you already got the benefits you were counting on (except the long term disability policy you’re litigating now). You got them all along. It’s even possible they committed some shenanigans to get the coverage backdated for you. Sounds pretty phenomenal to me.

Yes, backdated behind my back, illegally.

In short, you’re getting the worker’s comp benefits you would’ve been entitled to if they had coverage at the time of the accident, so what difference does it make that it was backdated?

Because I would not have lost everything and I would not have to live in relative poverty for the rest of my life. This money only lasts until I am 65, then I have nothing. I no longer have the means to invest in my retirement, and what I had put away is gone now.

It sounds like a real raw deal that your long term disability policy was canceled and from what you’ve said you certainly sound like you deserve to prevail in that lawsuit. That said I’m pretty sure $50,000 / year isn’t below the poverty level for a small family, or even close. “average” comes to mind.

I agree, average, but the problem is that I don’t make that much on my pension. I was just making the point about making enough to survive only working a few hours a day.

But they did backdate the coverage, so you’ve received all the benefits you would have received had it been in place at the time of the accident. I can’t see how the backdating has done anything except get you the benefits you’re entitled to from the employer/worker’s comp without the need to go to court.

You are missing my point. I would not have been suing for workers comp, I would have been suing for lost wages. With a settlement I could have tried to go back to work and supplement my income with a part-time job. A few hours here and there. And if I could not do it at least I would have had money to live off of. If I had of tried to go back to work on compensation and failed I would have lost my pension, then where would I be, I would have no income at all.

[JFLuvly]

There’s some problems with your story.
First of all, what province are you in?Workman’s compensation was sent a bill for a workplace accident that wasn’t reported by the hospital? If so, why was there a bill at all?

What problems? I’m pretty sure it is not the hospitals responsibility to report a workplace accident. In my province the hospital asks if it happened in the workplace because if it happened at home they bill the provincial medical coverage, if it happened at work they bill workers compensation. That is why the bill went to comp approximately 30 days after the accident. I assume that when they are billed they put it with the file that has the accident report in it. The problem was there was no accident report.

The Ministry of Labour wasn’t notified?That is a serious violation.

No shit! I know and that was a part of the cover up. As I said earlier, I called them about 8 months after the accident and they had no idea what I was talking about, 12 months after that they told me the report was in my WCB file, it’s not. There was no investigation done at all. And as I also said earlier, how could they conduct an investigation without talking to the only two people that where there, me and my co-worker, the one that returned to Europe three days later.

You still haven’t supplied any reason why you haven’t returned to work in 8 years. I’m with Leaffan. If you can’t return to your previous occupation, find something else.

I also have a wife, a house with a mortgage, and 3 young kids so I would dig ditches, sling burgers, clean houses, fix computers, or anything to support them. By now you could have been a manager at Tim Horton’s, Home Depot, CT, etc…

I live in an economically depressed area, there is very little work available. Most available jobs here are in the $10.00 an hour range, I had a lot of debt at the time of the accident and they would not have covered my bills. This does not take into account the fact that I am unable to work as I have pointed out all through this thread.

[JFLuvly]

I’m sorry to hear about your problems, but the bottom line is that life is a bitch and there will be problems. Obviously some will have worse problems than others, but however bad it gets, there is always someone worse off than yourself.

I realize this, and I am grateful that I am not worse than I am.

I know that doesn’t help you one iota, but I’m just comparing your problems with mine.
While I didn’t have a serious accident like yours during my working life, I certainly had more than my share of medical/ health problems, I have been stabbed in the back by almost everyone that I knew and trusted in my life, including my parents, lost everything to the bitch from hell and had to start all over from nothing at 35, been sabotaged by work colleagues, lied about, been generally exploited and abused by most managers I ever had, and due to bureacracy find myself at the twilight of my life facing poverty and a horrible lonely future.

As someone once said though, “it could be worse”.

Most people do not realize what it’s like until they have to live it themselves. I feel for you and I’m not trying to make you feel bad, but that is exactly what I am trying to avoid because that is the way my future looks right now. I agree it could be worse, by most accounts I could very well be dead because of the accident. Not that it’s all that relevant, but I’m pretty sure it was my Doc Martin Industrials that saved me that day.

[HoneyBadgerDC]

I have been following this thread hoping some experts on electric shock might wade in. I have had my share of industrial electric shocks and have witnessed a couple of nasty ones. I can’t figure out how you were injured if you didn’t get burned, your heart didn’t stop, you didn’t fall etc. You didn’t take any amperage or you would have burned somewhere. 600 volts can be fatal but if it’s not fatal you should be fine, it kills you by stopping your heart or burning you.

I could see some level of temporary disability due to a phycological fear of electricity maybe. I have just never heard of anything like this before from electricity. Of courcse there are a lot of things I have never heard of.

[Fuzzy_Dunlop]

@JFLuvly

Because I would not have lost everything and I would not have to live in relative poverty for the rest of my life. This money only lasts until I am 65, then I have nothing. I no longer have the means to invest in my retirement, and what I had put away is gone now.

Most long term disability policies last until 65 or less, because they’re not designed to compensate you beyond the work you would have done had you stayed healthy. I’m not sure why you think you’re entitled to more than that.

@JFLuvly

You are missing my point. I would not have been suing for workers comp, I would have been suing for lost wages. With a settlement I could have tried to go back to work and supplement my income with a part-time job. A few hours here and there. And if I could not do it at least I would have had money to live off of. If I had of tried to go back to work on compensation and failed I would have lost my pension, then where would I be, I would have no income at all.

I understand you’d be suing your employer for the accident at work.

Correct me if I’m wrong. You’re legally 75% disabled. Your employer’s worker’s comp policy pays you for the 75% disability, because the accident happened at work. Why would you be entitled to any more lost wages than that? Why does it matter if they were able to get the policy back dated to get you your benefits if the outcome is equitable and to your benefit?

The description of your accident is that you bumped the bus bar with your arm shocking yourself. I’m really sorry you got hurt. I work with people who work on power systems up to 345 KV and I can’t imagine doing it, frankly. But I’m not seeing anything at all suggesting your employer was negligent in causing the actual accident.

Of course I can’t tell what happened with the worker’s comp policy but from everything you said, all their “fraud” was to make things right for you by getting the policy backdated.