They can pull this BS?!

[lilkimmiek]

So 2 days before my trial my employer magically creates a job for me. I recieve the letter in the mail 1 day after I was supposed to work. THis is because the dumb arses put the wrong postage on the letter and it got sent back to them.

Anyways, at trial my lawyer brings this up with the judge. She aggrees that it was a sneaky move and lets the trial carry on. Then all of a sudden the comp lawyer whips out a docet from years ago that he tried and took all the way to Supreme Court. Supreme court ruled that at any time during a trial process, an employer can send an employee back to work.

Here's the thing. In this state if an employer offers an employee a job within restrictions the employee has to take it. This also postpones the trial for 6 months to allow the employee time to adjust to this new job. So the judge aggreed that I should go back to work and rescheduled the trial next year but instead of waiting 6 months she (thank god) said that we can reschedule for January.

So here I am...going into work full time (of which I have not done in 3 years) to be a .... drum roll please...a door greeter, like at WalMart. I am supposed to walk in there everyday with a fake smile and greet the people who are walking into Satan's butthole. EVERYDAY.

They are doing this to make me quit or get fired. I can't believe that they are allowed to do this to people. Do they realize that they are screwing with someone's life?? These people are cold hearted and have no souls.

[backless]

Unfortunatly it is a game and you have to be a player.DON"T let on like your angry,complain to anyone etc. Not knowing your injuries doesn't give me much to advise on.Im not any type of professioonal,except for,I was an injured worker too.You need to work whithin your restrictions,and if the Dr. gave you time limits,like stand for X amt of time sit for x. Do it.If you hurt,be sure to tell your supervisor and if need be ,go to the Dr.What about your pay?are they going to pay your salary as it oncewas,or is w/c going to make up the differance. Most states have different laws,If I recall ,here in Fl. w/c would have to pick up the differance,they are called supplimental benefits.Also,most states have right to hire,right to fire. Dont give them a reason.Be vigiliant,it might be the idea.Idoubt any company wants to pay a greeter a higher salary than the job would dictate.What does your lawyer say.I do hope you have one. My guess is this is a temporary game.Good luck.

[lilkimmiek]

Thanks Backless. I appreciate your response.

I have a back injury. I had artificial disc replacement at the L5/S1 level and I also have a bulge at L3/L4 that will need further surgery.

I do have a lawyer. These knuckle heads have been playing games with me since day one. I was sent to their IME's, actually, 3 of them and all 3 said that my back is messed up. One said that I should be disabled, one said that I should be able to do light duty with lifetime restrictions and the other one said that my back is messed up and that my heart and lungs are good (whatever that supposed to mean?!! LOL)

After I had a functional capacity evaluation it was determined that I will not be returning back to the line of work that I was doing before. So all of these factors pretty much sealed the deal in my favour. Compensation is doing this in hopes that I'll quit or screw up and get fired so they don't have to pay me.

It's nuts,
Kimberly

[Dabbadoo7]

Kimberly,
The primary objective of your medical treatment, Comp. or otherwise, is to get you back to being productive, and earning a living. I have to ask myself what your complaints are really about. Your description of your injury doesn't seem to be something that would leave you unable to work at all. And I can assure you that, after many years of being off work, that at some point you are going to be wattering at the mouth to be able to go back to work, and be around people again.

Have you had an evaluation to determine if there is any residual disability? If this has been determined, then you should be getting money from Comp. to make up for the difference in your pay. Regardless of any hearing. Are you still receiving any medical treatment?

I have talked to many of the greeters at the local WalMart here. They seem to be perfectly happy with being able to get out again. Most of them sit in a chair, and check receipts as shoppers leave. Nothing hard at all. After almost 17 yrs. of not working, I've even thought about taking, or trying, to get a position like that. It's good to get out of the house, and around people again.

At some point, unless you are or nearly a quadraplegic, you will be expected to go back to work. You always have the option of finding a job yourself that suits you. But, your employer has the legal right to find a job that suits your restrictions, and you do have to take it. The laws are meant for both the employer, and the employee. Unless your drs. say that you cannot work at all, you don't have much choice.

Give it a try! You may enjoy it!

Dabbadoo

[j*sunset]

I was on a "no upper extremity use" restriction.
so my work had me walking the parking lot - as a semi security person.

But the odd thing is I still had to drive to work and open the big heavy doors??
It was a big fiasco - but hey I got full pay for doing it for a couple of months.

Of course the HR lady made me check in with her every couple of hrs & asked me "how can you tie your shoes- if you can't use hands/arms ?"
how the heck did she think I was getting to work, eating and getting dressed in the mornings- geez!
or getting into the building!
I could tie my shoes but not many pairs of shoes {severe repetitive strain injury{TOS}}= very hard to prove and hard to get a firm dx on also.

I could use my hands and arms , very limited & occasionally, but as with most restrictions employer will end up having us do some odd job that wasn't taken into account- so dr wrote it as NO use.

anyway after a couple of weeks a few light duty jobs got OK'd to start adding in uses- but it wasn't long before it was too much again and I had a set back.
so then i was off work totally again with no pay of course - since claim was denied the whole time anyway.

SO- IF you can do the job that they come up with and it doesn't increase your pain or condition - Do it.
But they will be watching you so don't talk about anything concerning your claim or injury and follow all your restrictions.
If a restriction needs to be changed see your dr as soon as you can about that.

If you try the job and it creates a problem for you follow up with dr on that too.

Don't discuss anything with any bosses or HR or even coworkers- they will spill the info in some way if they aren't trying to trip you up on purpose!!
I learned this after the fact!
keep your mouth shut- unless you completely and totally trust the person.

Quote-
[At some point, unless you are or nearly a quadraplegic, you will be expected to go back to work. ]
of course comp wants everyone to work so they won't have to pay!
and-
There are many other reasons for disability besides being a quad- severe and uncontrollable pain like with severe RSD and nerve pain, and I am sure many others - I disagree with your statement the way it is worded.

[caudaequinasyndrome]

each state is different , i agree the
[At some point, unless you are or nearly a quadraplegic, you will be expected to go back to work. ] statement is wrong, at least in my state.
some employers do not want to accommodate, they don't have to

[lilkimmiek]

Don't get me wrong folks, I am very happy and very proud of myself for making it this far. I've put a lot of hard work into my rehab!!!

I'm 26 years old and I have been looking forward to going back to work for a long time. I realize and I know that I have to go to work. I WANT to. I NEED to. I want to be a part of the normal world again. I'm not complaining that I have job...I'm complaining about the shady way they did it and the job that they offered me.

I loved my job and I did it well. I can no longer do that job because of my injury. I made really good money doing it too.

Kimberly

[caudaequinasyndrome]

can you retrain gor a different job? at your age you need to retrain to find something you can do with your limitations.
your lawyer should give you all your options.
pursuing school may be the best option, that may remove you from having to look for work

[Booann]

I only wished my work would have offered me a job .. In away you are very lucky. Mine just plain fired me..Yes and they can do that at anytime while your on workers comp. All they have to say is they need someone now to do the job you where doing. Bingo your gone.
I would atleast give it a try.. are they paying you at the same rate you where getting ?
As for retaining as yonker said. I learned from Voc all about how to apply for another job and they dont care what kind of job it is as long as its a job :( and that is it.. no schooling they arent going to fork out big buck for a degree oh yes they would pay for a weekend course at a local computer store to learn a few basic but that was about it.

[caudaequinasyndrome]

each state is different, but you may be able to go to school and continue to receive comp, even though they offer you a greeter job, at 27 years old you need to go to school.
at 58 years a door greeter job may work out ok, let you add to your retirement fund.
you need to check with your state wc