Fired While On Workman's Comp (Walnut Creek, Walnut: lawyer, employment, movies)

[jaypee]

You're still out from a sprained ankle suffered 7 weeks ago? Wow.

[DocGoldstein]

Why are people criticizing this guy? He was genuinely injured on the job, received workers comp, and then was fired. That seems fishy to me.

As a doctor (now retired), a sprained ankle can have plenty of complications; synovitis, nerve injury, etc. Complete recovery for an ankle sprain even without those additional complications is 6-8 weeks depending on the severity of the injury.

Why don't we just stick to answering the question instead of attacking or criticizing the OP?

[rkwalton]

Originally Posted by DocGoldstein

Why don't we just stick to answering the question instead of attacking or criticizing the OP?

Exactly.

I used to work in this industry. I know he's covered, and if the doctor says he can't work then he can't work. Period.

OP, sorry but an online forum isn't really the right place to get opinions on these sorts of cases as they can get complicated when your employer fires you. Get a consultation with an attorney. At least you should still be getting disability. If you're not, definitely contact any attorney ASAP.

[Think About It!]

That's what wrong with this country. There is no work ethic anymore. If you work IT and have a sprained ankle...I'm sorry you can probably do your job.

I would say it more reflects your work ethic and that is why you got fired. Just throwing out a wild guess.

[ConfusedInCali]

@ThinkAboutIt: I was working. I wasn't out laying around. I just wasn't able to go out on the field. The owner had three other people as well as himself doing the field work. I stayed in and did all Remote work.

@Doc and @rkwalton - thank you for having my back.

My ankle is getting better but both the doc nor the physical therapist want me to avoid stairs as much as possible. The IT department was upstairs and I had to climb those stairs everyday. there were days when he would have me assemble a computer downstairs and that entailed me going up and down the stairs. At the end of the day, my ankle was hurting and would wake me up during the night.

Why am I pleading my case to the fool that thinks I don't have any work eithics. If I didn't have any work ethics I could have easily done and Oscar performance and got out on complete disability, but I didn't because it wasn't that severe. I could still walk on it and the way I look at it, if I can walk I can go to work, which I did. I was limited to what I could do at work, which was go out on the field. And I wasn't going to risk reinjuring or possibly breaking/fracturing my ankle.

The recovery has been longer than I expected and even what the doctor expected, so she put me on PT and I'm glad because it is helping my ankle more.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by jaypee

You're still out from a sprained ankle suffered 7 weeks ago? Wow.

I think a few of us are thinking the same thing....can we say, 2 sides to every story...??

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by ConfusedInCali

Why are you saying that? I did not sprain my ankle on purpose nor am I enjoying having a sprained ankle.

You have a sprained ankle from September and you are STILL not working? I would have fired you as well. You CAN work with a sprained ankle, I'm surprised Workman's Comp is still paying you.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by ConfusedInCali

@ThinkAboutIt: I was working. I wasn't out laying around. I just wasn't able to go out on the field. The owner had three other people as well as himself doing the field work. I stayed in and did all Remote work.

@Doc and @rkwalton - thank you for having my back.

My ankle is getting better but both the doc nor the physical therapist want me to avoid stairs as much as possible. The IT department was upstairs and I had to climb those stairs everyday. there were days when he would have me assemble a computer downstairs and that entailed me going up and down the stairs. At the end of the day, my ankle was hurting and would wake me up during the night.

Why am I pleading my case to the fool that thinks I don't have any work eithics. If I didn't have any work ethics I could have easily done and Oscar performance and got out on complete disability, but I didn't because it wasn't that severe. I could still walk on it and the way I look at it, if I can walk I can go to work, which I did. I was limited to what I could do at work, which was go out on the field. And I wasn't going to risk reinjuring or possibly breaking/fracturing my ankle.

The recovery has been longer than I expected and even what the doctor expected, so she put me on PT and I'm glad because it is helping my ankle more.

wow, this is getting more interesting as the time goes by: You are on workman's comp cause you can't work. You sprained your ankle at work, but you are still working, only inside..I am totally confused, and I think others will be as well...How do you get workmans comp when you are working and getting paid?

[ConfusedInCali]

Workman's comp is paying for my treatment. When I injured my ankle I called work right away and was told to go see a doctor because it could be more than just a twisted ankle (which is what I thought I had), but when I saw the ER doc, I was told it was a sprain. They took x-rays and found out there wasn't a fracture.

I am not getting paid Workman's comp, Workman's is only paying for my doctor visits.

I hope that clears things up.

[DocGoldstein]

This is why healthcare in the U.S has degraded so much in the past few decades. Sure there are a few individuals out there who will try and cheat the system to never work again, but this wasn't the case for this guy, he was simply getting compensation for treatments, not getting a full paycheck for sitting on his ass watching cable TV everyday.

Of course, the brave warriors in here who would go to work willingly with an injury, possibly risking chronic injury, will do so just to make their 9-5 W2 job everyday even in pain due to some misguided sense of corporate duty. I'm sure your corporate masters will reciprocate the same tender loving you show to them when their earnings reports are down, and stock holders start crying foul.

Who cares if risking a more severe injury is possible? As long as you earn your honest dollar, you're doing a great job! Until they lay you off because you're disposable to their bottom line. But what do I know? I'm only a lowly retired doctor who has seen the health care industry become more coporatized and robotic in the way it deals with patients over the past 20+ years.