Workers comp fight.

FIGHTING WORKERS COMP AFTER WORK RELATED INJURY. Please help me get a shot at what’s morally right.

Warning: Everything I have to show for my story will be posted below, including pictures of my hands which might be rough to look at. Also, I’ve crossed out locations and names of people involved to safeguard their privacy, as per law. Also, I circled or boxed important information on some of the pictures. These will show you that I’m not kidding about any of this.

Thanks in advance for reading through here, it’s been quite a ride.

Sadly, this has had major implications on my life in the past 2/2,5 years. As a dad of two with the third on the way, it’s been rough getting swung in between going out of a job, to finding out my third kid is on the way, to going nearly broke to getting good news (hope) from the running court case.

Right now, I’m in quite a rough spot again. Due to the court case now happening in August, plus the fact that I’m not getting paid by Workers Comp, not to mention the fact that I missed two mortgage payments, and due to the fact my families house is on my grandpa’s last name, and not in ours, we could get kicked out by next week if we don’t come up with a way to pay the bills.

I’m asking for your help right now, where every little goes a long way.

 

JANUARY 29TH, 2021 – DAY OF THE INJURY

I was working in a logistic warehouse operated by Amazon. At the time I was loading off trucks, bound to head out since I worked the 6:45pm till 5:30am MTTF shifts. (You’ll understand what MTTF is if you know night work).

I was asked to take a bulk-size corrugated box (a Gaylord) over to one of our outbound trucks. I distinctly remember the truck as I knew the driver, from handling shipments every night I worked, this truck was in bay 54 at the time.

It was just me transporting the Gaylord, since this version was practically a metal box on wheels. No biggie. The problem is how this Gaylord was stacked. Usually, I’d break it down and restack it. But since I had to load a 2400 piece truck, to be out in an hour, I couldn’t. I simply had to do my job.

Unfortunately, while trying to offload the Gaylord into the truck, due to it being unproperly stacked/secured, I had, what felt like a metal desk at the top of the stack slide off. Even though everyone who works in a warehouse will know; you’re supposed to put the heavy stuff on the bottom, medium in the middle, and the lightest on top for safety reasons alone.

Sadly, this wasn’t my reality. After trying to get the Gaylord down, this desk slid off the top of the stack. It got loose very fast, probably due to its weight, and almost like going down a slope to where I was standing. Out of an automatic response, I tried to block it from going for my face. In doing so, forcing my dominant hand into a lever on the Gaylord, turning the support gates open and smushing my hand in between this desk and the Gaylord, and whatever was still left inside it.

Now, I don’t know why I was alone in there. Hoping it was the wooden floor bed of the truck I was in, I heard a snap that I can never forget.

I was sent to Concentra Urgent Care. Walk-in care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional emergency room. Urgent Care centers primarily treat injuries or illnesses that can’t wait for your regular physician but aren’t serious enough for the ER. Even though the staff thought my hand was broken, due to the way it looked, which would have resulted in the need for an ER anyway.

I was given Tramadol (narcotics) that night. Now, anyone that lives in the continental U.S. and who’s old enough to work would know: you are not allowed to work under the influence of drugs/narcotics whilst working, per OSHA regulations for numerous safety guidelines. To my confusion (and that of my management), they sent me back to work, whilst having these narcotics in my system.

 

Those of you that know me know that out of and arising out of this injury, I was diagnosed with something called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome or "CRPS" for short.

 

 

CRPS is caused due to abnormality in the central or peripheral nervous systems and inappropriate inflammatory responses. Swelling, joint stiffness, pain, and changes in skin color and temperature are the main symptoms. There's no known cure for complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), but a combination of physical therapies, medication and psychological support can help manage the symptoms however the treatments are a hit or miss depending on how severe the injury was at the time of bluntness.

 

The symptoms include:

Sensation of burning and stinging

Sensitivity to heat or cold

Swelling

Changes in skin temperature - sweaty or cold at times

Changes in skin texture, which may become tender, thin or shiny in the affected area

Hair and nail Changes

Joint stiffness

Continuous and throbbing pain

Tremors and muscle spasms

Atrophy of muscles

Osteoporosis

Reduced mobility of the affected area which is why you are reading this.

 

 

 

In the rundown of things, the night the injury occurred, I was sent to Concentra Urgent Care. It is walk-in care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional emergency room. Urgent care centers primarily treat injuries or illnesses that can’t wait for your regular physician but aren’t serious enough for the ER.

 

Even though my staff due to the way my hand looked thought it was broken which would have resulted in the need of an ER anyway.

 

 

Ironically that night, i was given narcotics being, tramadols now anyone that lives in the continental united states and is old enough to work would know you are not allowed to work under the influence of drug use while working per OSHA regulations for numerous safety guidelines.

 

well funny enough they sent me back to work with them in my system least to say i was confused and so was my management.

 

JANUARY 29TH UP UNTIL MARCH 8TH

I went through practically a baseball game where workers comp insurance was the batter, me being the ball. The thing is, they never missed. I got bounced around during this time when they finally decided to start me on therapy. Even after my job’s medical staff continuously sent me home, due to color changing and abnormal swelling in my hand, even past the severe pain, to the point my face was constantly showing how annoyed I was.

 MARCH 8TH – MARCH 24TH

In therapy, I was given an in-house referral to a hand specialist in the same building. During the time I was going through therapy trials during which my symptoms progressively got worse, even the therapist was confused i once again returned to

therapy trials where my symptoms progressively got worse, mind you none of us knew this was CRPS at the time but i had all the symptoms from above, anywho come the 25th i went into concentra and seen the inhouse hand specialist, i was in a room for maybe 10 mins all he did was say what ever is wrong i cant fix surgically (He is right you cant) but at this time we didnt know what was wrong, all he suggested was to go back to therapy which we all knew wasn't working even more so the therapist was becoming highly concerned due to temp loss, function loss, and skin color change.

 

after the visit with the hand specialist i went back to therapy for a brief couple of mins before i had to report back to work, after telling my therapist what was said he even said i needed a second view of things, ironically i get to work still under the no weight restrictions which you will see soon, and was told to sit down and just watch netflix (this is not a joke i wish it was but its not) i was not allowed to do my job but they paid me to be there and do nothing for all of that i could have stayed home took pain meds and tried to relax due to extreme discomfort.

 

that night my warehouse GM (General manager) sent me home due to how ugly my hand got color wise i ended up going to an actual ER because i was told by my GM in my state i have the right to choose my medical place if i feel im not getting the right treatment funny enough at the time Workers comp even agreed something was wrong.

 

so that night i went to the ER, i wasnt even seen the head nurse and hospital litigation staff coordinator (lawyer in laminate terms) told me i needed to file a suit the next day and go see a ortho and General pain management specialist which i whole heartly did, the nurse took a photo of my hand and told me they needed to keep a record of this because it was absurd.

 

She wasn't wrong; unfortunately after getting the right referrals in order i went to see the Ortho and GPMS since they work together and found out i had CRPS or RDS however you want to call it as they are both the names medically its just that CRPS is the new used term as compared to the old one being RDS.

 

 

and this is where my fight begin, after the diagnosis and workers comp knowing they absolutely fucked up from misdiagnosis to fucking my pays over to just being absolutely a pain they sent me to what's called an IME.

 

The ime is supposed to be a unbias doctor which is the biggest crock of bullshit you will ever hear, they are company doctors; ironically, this doctor had the nerve to say i was faking my injury.

 

funny enough he has a public track record for bad reviews as far as workers comp anyway.

 

due to the IME putting in his report that i faked it, they cut my pay off they cut my medical resources off through the workers comp insurance making me result in my private insurance which didnt cover the Ortho since he didnt take my private plan however the pain management did so luckily ive been getting some help no fault of theirs.

 

 

fast forward to march of this year fighting for my pays im still not getting and blowing through the savings i luckily had built i went into a workers comp hearing for those of you who know workers comp hearings aren't local courts with jury's its a commissioner (judge) you your attorney and the opposing council, sadly i was given a commissioner who sides with companys as i was told by my attorney but due to covid i wouldn't get another hearing for a long long time, assuming you guessed it by now the commissioner had the audacity to say my Diagnosis came outside of my work place injury however ive NEVER had any issues with this prior to being hurt at work.

 

im not one to beg nor one to ask for things like this, but the reason ive made this and went so in-depth is that good people like me dont deserve this, im not in this lawsuit for money im in this to get my hand back, the whole acknowledgment of losing 50% of my motor skills in my dom hand is scary even more so any chance i had at recovery is gone due to them cutting the insurance out from under me for a doctor they practically paid for.

 

all that i ask if you cant help is please share this, i need to get this case appealed but due to the fact i haven't been paid and am still fighting for my pay, i cannot cover the 20% fee, which is what i asked to take this to a jury trial where people who aren't bias will be there.

 

i just want a chance to be able to return to work i could careless about money outside of my pay that's rightfully owed to me, i want to be the independent person i once was, I want to be able to do the things i enjoyed prior to this mess.

 

This isn't something I want to live with, and i sure as hell don't wish it on anyone.

 

In short, if any of you can, please give me a shot at what's morally right.

 

 

Everything i have to show will be posted below here it may not be in the best of order because I have to do a lot of digging, but it will be there.

 

Please note when they did pay me before they sent me to someone they knew would favor them since i was diagnosed with a severe injury it was only 60% of my pay and I barely paid the bills I have not been paid since AUG 5th of 2021 also note ive had to cross out locations and names per laws of privacy which you will see in light blue, there is also import items boxed or circled in the same color to show you im not kidding about any of this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a new update added (where another doctor supports my case and list my limitations additionally this is a screenshot of a video cap showing where Amazon LLC has changed my hours (even though im on LOA) which is illegal, im on leave of absence yet i have 200+ unpaid hours in the negative ? this is absolute ridiculous nobody should have to deal with this.