wcb-rub.net
ACT One
ACT Two
ACT Three
ACT Four
ACT Five
INTERMISSION – Office of BC Ombudsperson
ACT: ONE
To WCBe or Not to WCBe - That is the Question
TOPIC : Workplace Injury to Proper Recognition for WCB Assistance
The Stage is set for ACT One as I return to work, Monday April 12, 1999. This return followed two weeks of holiday. I am to work alone that that morning with a co-worker entering the spotlight at noon.
The old forklift, used in the paper cutting room, leaked every fluid it held.
The importance of cleaning up those spills, immediately after moving the forklift, was topic at several earlier Safety Meetings.
As I walked into the paper cutting room that Monday morning I slipped in an invisable puddle of that fluid.
Although I did not fall to the ground my quick reaction left me standing on one foot , with the other high up in the air. I found myself locked in this precarious balance until I carefully manoeuvred the foot that was elevated. I could not have come closer to falling to the ground but I did not.
As I cleaned up the oil slick I knew I held no blame for shortfall in proper clean up. I noted to myself that I had just returned from holiday.
In 1999 most every Office Supply and Hardware Store had a mandatory policy for all staff to wear back braces. No matter the task at hand every employee had to wear the same, full wraparound back brace.
I assumed such a wide sweeping back brace policy would have logical research behind it. I took to wearing a back brace while cutting paper.
Whether the back brace was tight or hanging loose during the slip I do not recall. If loose I would have tightened it, immediately after the slip, and started processing paper.
I was not until I stop for a coffee break that I release the tight Velcro of the back brace. At the exact same time an incredible burning pain flooded down the centre of my left leg.
Convinced the sudden pain will walk out I use the coffee break to walk in the empty field next door.
Feeling the pain only worsen over a very short period of time I was soon convinced I may be in very serious medical condition. The pain was deep in the core of my leg.
Because I was working alone I left a note for co-workers, I reset the burglar alarm, and drove to the Quesnel Hospital.
Reducing a year of medical appointments into one sentence, I had suffered a crushed disc that was protruding against a major left leg nerve root.
WCB immediately deny my Application claiming no worker can be injured by slipping unless they fall to the ground.
I was also denied, considered late in reporting, because I did not record the slip in oil during my hospital visit.
Since the forklift leaked five different fluids, onto a glossy floor, slips were a constant threat in the shop for they happened regularly. That is why cleaning up all the spots of fluid were of top concern during Saftey Meetings.
It was not until I remembered that my two weeks of holiday absolved me of any lapse in clean up that morning. That is when I knew, for fact, I did suffer that major slip on that exact Monday morning.
Even though five productive, trouble-free years had passed since I had suffered a previous back injury WCB then denied through a claim of “Previous Existing Condition”.
Rather than support me for sound precaution, WCB raised question of just why I would be wearing a back brace at the time of injury.
Now to condense almost two years into one sentence the Chair of my First Appeal found in my favor against every hurdle set up by WCB. I was found to be both injured and honest about it.
The Chair of 2001 researched every aspect of my health on the morning of injury. She interviewed my employer and co-workers to confirm my previous ability to work. As well she researched my medical history in detail.
After injury the employer refused to pay proper wages so the BC Employment Standards Branch (ESB) performed a payroll audit.
This allowed the Chair to access those ESB statistics. That audit proved I worked 78 hours in the one week prior to the two weeks of holiday. I could never have worked those hours, in one week, if not perfectly fit.
The Chair of the First Oral Hearing then concluded my proper right for WCB assistance; as clearly written in the “Findings” of Janurary 5, 2001.
As the curtain drops on ACT One the year 2001 starts with a promising backdrop, boasting a distant blue skyline.
Having been recognized for WCB five days into Janurary, the new year looked so hopeful. I believed I could survive this life altering injury, with great effort, through a proper rehabilitation program.
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REMEMBER
I certainly had no idea that I am to face a 15 year battle before I receive the 13 year retroactive LOE pension.
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TIP – Front Counter Staff.
During my street protest in Kamloops many people approached and suggested great violence against WCB employees en mass.
I was very clear with all those who approached that the majority of the employees at WCB are good honest people. Sure they know they work for a maniacal institution but they play no part in the mistreatment of injured workers. These staff photocopy or mail out posters and pamphlets. They keep the electric locks buzzing.
As mentioned, I am the only street protester allowed to use the WCB washroom throughout my seven months of protest. I would often find very frustrated people yelling at the girls at the front counter. Such behavior will never cast you in a good light.
Leave the Front Counter Staff alone.
The more you unload on them the better the chance they will develop the evil veins of bitterness needed to raise in rank at WCB. Before long your stress will cause more lower lips to quiver and that exact staff member will graduate to pulling your wings off.
ACT: TWO
WCB Labour's Lost
TOPIC : The six months, lost in the electronic file system, between my right to assistance, and the first appointment with WCB.
I was first declared eligible for WCB assistance through the conclusions of the “Findings” of Janurary 5, 2001, below;
“While Mr. S had previous back problems I am satisfied tat those problems in 1994 were at the L5-S1 level. There is no evidence before me that Mr. S’s previous L5-S1 back problems was causing him symptons immediately prior to April 12, 1999. Mr. S’s evidence is that he did not have problems with the L5-S1 level after he recovered from his 1994 surgery”.
“There is no evidence from Mr. S’s employer or coworkers that he had ongoing symptoms from the L5-S1 back problems”.
“I accept Dr. F, Neurosurgeon’s opinion as outlined in his letter of June 20, 2000 that Mr. S’s problem in April 1999 was not related to his L5-S1 problem for which he was treated in 1994”.
“Further, from the evidence now before me I am satisfied that Mr. S was not suffering from back problems which interfered with his work or required treatment at any level of his spine in the months prior to April 12, 1999. I base this finding on the medical evidence before me, on the reports of his co-workers and employer…..
….. In summary therefore I find that Mr. S sustained a compensable disc injury on April 12, 1999….. I therefore allow his appeal for acceptance of the claim”.
Shortly following the acceptance of my claim WCB began to set the stage for possible Vocational Rehabilitation (VR).
Before a VR plan is initiated WCB must first consider two options for a quick return to work. First WCB entertain a return to the same job, with various disability assistance. Second is inquiry of a new job , with the same employer, with or without assistance.
Once these two options for a return to the employer are exhausted, only then, is a customized VR plan entertained.
On March 19, 2001 WCB staff contacted the Accident Employer (AE) to confirm if any return to employment is possible.
Immediately after the Log Entry of March 19th VR staff pushed the wrong button on the computer. WCB lost my Case File in the electronic file system rather than forward it to the division of VR Sevices.
Ten weeks later, June 5, 2001, an automated computer scan found my dead file sitting dormant.
On the day my dead file is found the Log Entry re-quotes the feedback from the day the wrong button was pushed. Rather than supply the same quote twice, I supply only the later which refers to the Log Entry of “March 19, 2001”.
The March 19th entry records the welcome my ex-employer voiced;
WCB LOG Entry, June 5, 2001;
“Regarding: Vocational Rehabilitation Referral”
“As per the log entry of Mar 19, 2001, the worker does not have any job to return to even if he is fully recovered from his injuries, due to layoffs in the company….. Assigned to VR”.
One month after finding my dead file, six months after WCRB declared me eligible for assistance, I was booked for the First Appointment with a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant (VRC), July 9, 2001.
It took me quite some time to piece the facts together and find the appropriate WCB LOG Entries to prove this service delay.
Only through great effort on my behalf did I finally receive a WCB Letter of April 19, 2002.
This letter apologizes for the 10 weeks lost in the WCB system;
WCB Letter of April 19, 2002;
“first of all I would like to take the opportunity to appologize for any negative impact the service delays mentioned may have had on the delivery of either the Vocational Rehabilitation sevices or the VR Benefits you were entitled to”…..
….. “In closing, I would again like to offer my personal apology for the delays involved in processing the referral of your case to the vocational rehabilitation services department and for some of the delays involved in obtaining and sharing reports with you”.
The spotlight fades on ACT Two as I have no knowledge of the 10 weeks, lost in the system, or any understanding why the First Appointment took six months.
The backdrop on stage has not changed from the curtain drop of ACT One. Since I finally had a VR appointment arranged, the blue sky on the horizon may have glowed a slight more vivid.
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ACT: THREE
All's Well That Ends Denied
TOPIC : Actions of the Vocational Rehabilitaion Consultant (VRC)
Curtain rises, July 9, 2001, during my First Meeting with the VRC. A scan of my drivers license was entered into my file. I was then given task to compile a list of my rehabilitation effort to date. I was to supply the list at the next VRC meeting.
During the July 9th meeting the VRC said she will contact my employer in regards to a return to the same job, or a new position, under various levels of assistance.
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REMEMBER
At the time I knew nothing of the WCB June 5th LOG Entry below which records the feedback from the accident employer, as of March 19th;
WCB LOG Entry, June 5, 2001;
“Regarding: Vocational Rehabilitation Referral”
“As per the log entry of Mar 19, 2001, the worker does not have any job to return to, even if he is fully recovered from his injuries, due to layoffs in the company….. Assigned to VR”.
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The VRC took only three days to document the First Meeting of July 9th in WCB Letter of July 12, 2001.
The Second Meeting was on August 9, 2001 at which I provided the extensive catalogue of my personal VR effort to date.
While I had waited the six months for the first contact from WCB I approached the University in Kamloops (TRU). I paid for a Student Membership, a Skill & Aptitude Test and a GED Assessment (Grade 12 Equivalency). I included these TRU Tests in the catalogue during that Second Meeting.
However, five weeks then pass until the VRC records the details of the August 9th meeting in a WCB Letter of September 14, 2001.
The amount of mistakes within the VRC Letter of September 14th speaks to how delirious we all were from 24 hour news coverage of the
911 disaster in New York, three days earlier.
The amount of effort applied by the First VRC is best spotlighted in WCB Letter of November 16, 2001. This letter announces that the VRC has fulfilled her commitment, voiced four months earlier, to place a phone call to the accident employer.
WCB is so omnipotent the VRC can take four months to write;
WCB – VRC Letter of November 16, 2001;
“As per my July 12, 2001 correspondence….. I have confirmed with your employer….. unable to accommodate you with your disability”.
Research will show the VRC actually took only three months to place the phone call. The extra month was utilized to record the call.
While inspecting my entire Case File I found further evidence to prove how lame the VR efforts of 2001/2002 really were.
Throughout the box of loose paper I noticed several photocopies of an envelope stamped with “Return Canada Post – NO SUCH ADDRESS.
I then realized the photocopies are not all of the same envelope. There are actually five different envelopes in all.
Again, unknown to me at the time, I can now prove that the WCB VR Division mailed out five letters, over 15 months, to the incorrect address for my employer.
Every one of these envelopes was returned, within days by Canada Post, boldly stamped “NO SUCH ADDRESS” yet WCB would copy them and just mail more.
The envelopes display the dates of;
Mailed: February 23, 2001 – Returned: March 1, 2001
March 20, 2001 March 23, 2001
March 22, 2001 March 27, 2001
June 7, 2001 June 13, 2001
April 22, 2002 April 25, 2002
The VRC wrote a LOG Entry on October 7, 2001 stating that the TRU Tests, which I supplied, are of sufficient quality for VR planning. However, somewhere in the next five weeks, WCB realize that I wrote the TRU Tests, self directed, prior to first contact with WCB.
Five weeks later, November 14, 2001, rather than pay me VR Benefits for the week attending TRU the VRC decided to order all new tests.
I wrote the new WCB Skill Tests on November 22, 2001.
At the next meeting after Christmas break, in LOG Entry of Feburary 8, 2002, the VRC admits to never having seen the results of those new Skill Tests, written ten weeks earlier.
At that same Feburary 8th meeting the VRC allotted me two weeks to research a job potential which I had found.
During Christmas I phoned the Electronic Manufacturer in Quesnel, located atop the print shop in which I was injured. They needed to relocate closer to Vancouver.
I was very interested in the position they would soon have in Merritt BC for a Robotic Operator. The backbone of the company was a quarter million dollar “Pick & Place” robot for rapidly populating circuit boards with electronic parts.
Again, at this February 8th meeting the VRC alloted me two weeks to research the physical demands of Robotic Operator. I was to also research the Canadian Statistics for income and job placement.
As the President of the company was traveling throughout the province I was to meet with him somewhere in that two weeks. The VRC insisted I aquire a letter speaking to an “Intent to Hire” from the President.
However during that two weeks, alotted for the Merritt job I was blindsided with a secondary request. The VRC phoned me late on a Friday with a sudden demand that on Monday I perform a Work Assessment (WA) for the job as “Glass Tube Bender”. The career was with a Neon Sign Shop, which had been posted at WCB for ten weeks, yet only now spoken of.
The WA was scheduled for February 18, 2002 only, the same day I had arranged to meet in Merritt. While in Merritt I did help view a new building to lease for the electronic company. To fulfill the request of the VRC, I did obtain a letter speaking to an “Intent to Hire”.
A few days later, rather than sign the expected new lease for the robot, the President was served with divorce papers. The entire company was liquidated and assets dispersed. A company which I saw employ a dozen full-time workers in Quesnel, was suddenly defunct.
In WCB LOG Entry of, February 15, 2002 (Friday), the VRC assured me that if the job in Merritt did not develope I would continue to receive support whether I attend the WA or not.
Three days later, February 18, 2002 (Monday), the VRC pens a termination letter cutting my VR Benefits as of March 4, 2002. The reason for termination is noted as refusal to attend the WA for the career as “Glass Tube Bender”.
A week after cutting be from assisstance the VRC visits the Neon Sign Shop. She inspects the job site to complete the “Site Visit” and the “Job Dutties” Forms which were required to cut me off the week earlier.
WCB FORM – March 11, 2002 – Site Visit – Neon Sign Shop;
“Border tubing….. a lot of sitting….. crawling in confined areas with wire to install sign”.
At the time I am not provided these two WCB Forms until I find them in a complete Case File provided by WCB to prepare me for the Second Oral Hearing.
One year after termination I find two forms in the box of paper and provide them to my doctor who pens an appraisal. If I had known of these forms earlier I would have provided them to my doctor earlier.
My doctor records his concern;
Letter of Dr. H….. April 25, 2003: Review of Neon Job;
“Sitting….. Standing….. Driving….. Climbing ladders”.
The First VRC displyed the ultimate power to ignor my medical doctor and openly discard all input through the LOG Entry stating; “no new information….. will not provide….. response”.
WCB – LOG Entry of June 24, 2003 (First VRC);
“I have reviewed the submission….. No new information or issues….. so I will not provide a formal response”.
I have typeset as few quotes as possible in this ACT Three.
That is because in 2014 I was provided a New VRC who clearly records
the noncompliant VR effort of 2001/2002.
No matter the games played in those years the New VRC writes;
WCB Employability Assessment of June 16, 2014 – Page 5;
“Though I do not question any previous actions/decisions taken by the previous VRC. I cannot confirm that either the Neon Sign Factory job or the ceramics job meets the criteria under RSCM Volume 1 Chapter 11 that clarify a suitable rehabilitation plan and the assistance required to achieve an identified occupational goal. Neither is there documentation of some other deemed occupation on file that would meet these criteria”.
The spotlight is snuffed out in 2002 as I am abandoned by WCB. I could not comprehend how Neon Sign Builder can replace the career of a Master Printer, for either income or abundance.
As the curtain drops in 2002 I am wrongfully cut off VR assistance and not returned to to benefits until I protest on the street in 2014.
However, for the next fifteen years, I am still provided payment for all the Tylenol #3, EmTec, Morphine and Fentanyl allowable for an adult.
As I wait for all the mistakes to be judged at a Second Oral Hearing the stage backdrop, which boasted that distant blue sky, boils with cloud of grey.
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JUST BEAKING OFF
As proven throughout decades of WCB abuse, I am not a violent man.
I would, however, love to grasp the throat of every Teacher that told me I will be judged as stupid if I cannot learn to speell.
Teachers would often pontificate; “There Will Never be a Machine to Spell for you, will there? To snikers and jeers I would reply “There Just May Someday Be”.
Factor into the equation that when I first heard the word “Computer” it was housed in a four story building. In no time at all, even to a child, computers allowed man to “Walk on the Moon”.
My school years couched Dyslexia as “Stupid and Lazy”.
Just because I am Dyslexic dosn’t mean I am not a fart smeller.
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ACT: FOUR
The Gamming of the Shrew
TOPIC : The Findings Resulting from the Second Hearing
Date of Hearing : Janurary 17, 2003
NOTE : The WCRB Chair wrote the "Findings", on the eve of her unemployment, March 31, 2003. The next morning was the ribbon cutting for the new appeal system called WCAT.
The stage was set for this Oral Hearing as my Advisor to Injured Workers Representative (Rep) met me in the lobby of the Hotel.
As soon as the Rep and I entered the Conference Room the WCRB Chair began with rapid questions.
As the Chair set up the microphones she grilled my Rep. She was curious whether a short-list of new judges had been announced for the upcoming appeal system, due in three months, called WCAT.
She wondered aloud; If she is folded into WCAT will she adapt to the changes in the new system. She then turned directly to me and solemnly claimed, she herself, may soon be unemployed.
The Chair voiced great concern that the new judges for WCAT may not all be fully qualified Lawyers. She went on to argue that only those with full Lawyer status can quickly expose the raw truth. She made claim that Paralegals and Law Clerks could easily be fooled by missing the small details that a Lawyer would catch.
It became obvious the Chair feared for her job.
Once the microphones were turned on and the hearing began, all relevant information was read into the record.
As example of a Lawyer drilling into details the Chair then snapped one page from the thick file in front of her. This form was the WCB “Physicians First Report”. She began to tap her finger on a big black date, “April 16th” which was stamped in the middle of the page.
The Chair then posed the question; If I was so injured on April 12th, how is it that I wait four more days until I finally go to the Hospital on the 16th.
The Rep of the day knew little of my case so had no answer for this checkmate question. He immediately turned to me, with a look of great concern.
I did not wish to insult the Chair, or her Lawyer staus. I had no option but to explain that the stamp she taps her finger on reads “Received by WCB – April 16, 1999″.
With all the tact I could muster I pointed to the upper left-hand corner, “Date of Hospital Visit – April 12, 1999”.
I then politly pointed to the lower right corner stamp, beside the doctors signature, “April 12, 1999”.
Third, I dropped my finger on the fax confirmation line showing it was faxed from the Hospital the next day, “April 13, 1999”.
I carefully suggested that the fax must have sat in the inbox at WCB until stamped as “Received” and processed on the 16th.
The Chair quickly confirmed the dates and then threw the form back into the file, as if I had given her a speeding ticket. To the eyes of Lee Van Cleef and the jaw of Schwarzennegger the hearing then continued.
Minutes into the Oral Hearing the Chair slammed her fist onto the table and openly declared her contempt for me.
The Chair directly told me she is sick and tired of listening to people like me, complain about the mistakes made by WCB. She declared WCB is staffed by humans, whether I believe it or not. She then added the short adage; humans do make mistakes. She then stated that all the mistakes of WCB have actually brough her many years of full-time employment.
Her possible unemployment was all she could think of.
Both the Advisor Rep and I expected to have this diatribe recorded into the audio tape as evidence.
However when WCRB supplied the recording of this Second Oral Hearing all audio was marked as “Garbled”. The Chair had simply pulled a Nixon and destroyed all evidence of her ranting.
During my street protest in 2014 the WCB Interior Operations Manager called these “Findings”, of 2003, the most convoluted ever written.
I will now attempt to explain but a few of the many mistakes housed within the 2003 “Findings”.
I will then insert factual correction.
The 2003 WCRB Chair makes claim;
Findings of April 31, 2003 – Page 10;
“the worker declined to participate in a work assessment, saying that he felt that the board should provide a greater period of notice”.
The Chair refers to a WA which WCB gave me permission to miss so that I could pursue a job in Merritt BC as Electronic Technician (Robotic Operator).
The promise of the VRC to continue support is below;
WCB LOG Entry : February 15, 2002 (Friday – 4:00pm);
“I really hope the Merritt job works out….. if it doesn’t that he would be provided with a limited period of job search and a training on the job when he had a confirmed job oppertunity”.
The 2003 Chair weaves a tapestry combining the confusion of the appointments but then gets the previous booking delay correct when she writes;
Findings of April 31, 2003 – Page 9.
“examination had been delayed because the worker had refused to attend on December 11 and 12….. it was again delayed due… Imminent employment with Xxxxxx Electronics”.
The reason I was unable to attend the December 11th FCE was that I was booked for two appointments, on that same day;
WCB LOG Entry; December 11, 2001;
“Regarding: Appointment Conflict?
“Ron H. did call back to say he had a final appointment with Mr. S at 9:00am on Tuesday Dec 11”.
The 2003 Chair writes her version of thr Neon Sign WA;
Findings of March 31, 2003 – Page 11;
“In a March 14, 2002 decision letter, a board VRC terminated the worker’s VR benefits because, in her opinion, the worker had declined to participate in the work assessment….. with the prospective employer….. was to lead to ongoing employment”
“A Board VR manager advised the worker that in his opinion there had been no error in law or policy in the VRC March 14, 2002 decision”.
“The worker’s refusal to attend the work assessment for an appropriate, local job with a cooperative, reputable employer, constituted failure to participate”.
I was supplied a New VRC in 2014 who actually did the research that the Chair of 2003 failed to do. The New VRC utilized no greater hindsight in 2014 than was available in 2003. It is clearly recorded that no proper career replacement was ever identified by the First VRC.
The First VRC did not close my case in 2002 with proper Volume 1 paperwork so payment of my VR Benefits were reinstated soon after I began my street protest in 2014.
The New VRC of 2014 writes; Employability assessment below;
WCB Employability Assessment of June 16, 2014 – Page 5;
“Though I do not question any previous actions/decisions taken by the previous VRC. I cannot confirm that either the Neon Sign Factory job or the ceramics job meets the criteria under RSCM Volume 1 Chapter 11 that clarify a suitable rehabilitation plan and the assistance required to achieve an identified occupational goal….. Neither is there documentation of some other deemed occupation on file thar would meet these criteria”.
Why did the 2003 Chair not research the valitity of my verbal testimony, rather than merely record it in the 2003 Findings, below;
Findings of March 31, 2003 – Page 17;
“It was the workers evidence that the VRC never provided him a coherent VR plan between July 19, 2001 and March 2002, nor did she ever identify any employment opportunity other than the February 18, 2002 WA at Neon”.
While the Chair composed the Findings under a manic slant, the record of my effort reads very positive, as found below;
Findings of March 31, 2003 – Page 16;
“Made various efforts to change career direction….. The worker looked into employment as a goldsmith, watch repair, and security technician.. inverstigated jobs in motor rewinding, television repair and property inspection….. small engine repair”.
Findings of March 31, 2003 – Page 21;
“Although his efforts were scattered, and not terribly productive, it is clear that, once he realized….. could not return to his pre-injury employment, he undertook to find new employment. He saw employers, looked into self-employment, sought career guidance, and investigated ….. various careers I find that he participated in the vocational rehabilitation process as well as he was able without direction”.
However, on the bottom of the same page, the 2003 Chair then writes
her bipolar downhill conclusion as;
Findings of March 31, 2003 – Page 21;
“I find that the worker has consistently failed to participate in the VR, and has actively thwarted the Board in its effort to secure new employment for him”.
Findings of March 31, 2003 – Page 22;
“In short, the worker has not shown the interest or dedication to the vocational rehabilitation process”.
Findings of March 31, 2003 – Page 7;
“on July 9, 2001 it was agreed the worker would begin computer training….. At an August 9, 2001 meeting, one month later, the worker had not even researched introductory computer training”.
The July 9th meeting was my First Meeting with the VRC. There was no request for computer training made on July 9, 2001.
At that first meeting my Drivers Licence was copied and I was told to supply a list of my personal VR effort at the next meeting, August 9th.
The VRC recalled the computer request of August 9th incorrectly because she waited five weeks to document the details of that second meeting. She wrote the WCB Letter of September 14, 2001 by memory.
A multitude of mistakes, recalling the August 9th meeting, are housed in the September 14th letter. The entire letter can remind us all, how tired we were, from 24 hour new coverage of the 911 disaster in New York.
The Chair of 2003 cannot leave the misunderstanding of Computer Training alone, so she goes on to comment;
Findings of April 31, 2003 – Page 16
“although the September 2001 decision letter says that he did not do the computer traing, he began the course at the end of 2001″.
Every page of Computer Training correspondence, the Appointment Request, Purchase Order, Confirmation and Invoice will all reference a company called Panda Computing.
One entire page of my WCB Case File is my Diploma from Panda Computer Training, yes, with a huge Panda Bear Logo on the corner. The diploma shows I started the coarse September 27th and completed it October 19th with a 93% grade level.
The 2003 WCRB Chair then goes on to record further confussion;
Findings of March 31, 2003 – Page 16
“he said that he asked the board for training in website design”.
One of my most severe Physical Restrictions is “Prolonged Sitting”. All I can do here is promise that I did not ask to be trained in “Website Design”.
The computer coarse I did attend allowed me to understand the hierarchical file system. Prior to this training I would type a letter and never find it again. I learned the diffence between “Save” and “Save As”.
Then the 2003 Chair decides to quote from my medical records;
Findings of March 31, 2003 – Page 20;
“Finally, I rely most heavily on the opinion of Dr. L, an Orthopaedic Surgeon”.
If the Chair of 2003 truly chose to “rely most heavily” on Dr. L why did she ignor the following passage from the very same report from Dr. L;
Dr. L Orthopaedic Report of February 27, 2001 – Page 5;
“the pathological process in the lumbar spine will slowly progress and the current level of pain that he experiences will unlikey decrease over the years. There will be flare-ups of discomfort triggered by a sudden twist or lift performing basic activities of living”.
All the incorrect appointment facts and tainted judgment, found in the Findings of 2003, serve to muddy the water throughout the remaining years of my WCB case.
In the WCAT judgement below several muddy facts of 2003 resurface and, thirteen years later, become even more mixed up;
WCAT Decision of August 16, 2016 – Page 3
“In 2002, he refused to participate in a board sponsored work assessment for position as an electronics technician and his vocational rehabilitation benefits were suspended in March 2002″.
All the games of 2002 were put to rest when the New VRC of 2014 audits the effort applied by the First VRC. It became clear in 2014 that the paperwork required to honour Volume 1 Policy was absent in 2001/2002.
FACT : WCB would never have re-started my VR benefits and supplied me the New VRC in 2014 if proper procedure had been followed by the First VRC in 2001/2002.
It is so PIVITAL, I must now requote the 2014 hindsight, of the New VRC;
WCB Employability Assessment of June 16, 2014;
“Though I do not question any previous actions/decisions taken by the previous VRC. I cannot confirm that either the neon sign factory job or the ceramic job meets the criteria under RSCM Volume 1 Chapter 11 that clarify a suitable rehabilitation plan and the assistance required to achieve an identified occupational goal….. Neither is there documentation of some other deemed occupation an file that would meet these criteria”.
As the spotlight snaps off in 2003 I am in the dark as to how the job of Neon Sign Builder can possibly replace Master Printer. At age 17 I set lead type in my first position as Printer and I ran a digital, direct image, four color, print press when injured at age 41.
Due to the convoluted “Findings” of 2003 I faced a dimly lit fifteen year intermission, through a life of poverty, delivered with ample opiates.
I sent several letters and phone calls as lifelines, pleading for some understanding. While I lived on three meals a week I reached out to WCB, Advisor Office and several politicians but to no avail.
The “Findings”, written by the Chair on her final day with WCRB, allowed the curtain to drop directly on top of me.
WCB still did however continue to pay for all the Paxil, Tylenol #3, EmTec, Morphine and Fentenyl allowable for an adult male.
The 2003 backdrop was not just a dark sky, but a foggy black void.
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REMEMBER :
In twelve years time, when the spotlight re-ignites, I am lit while protesting outside the WCB building in Kamloops.
In February of 2014, having lost one quarter of my body weight, I faced fierce winds of -17c for weeks on end.
Due to my street protest I finally did receive an LOE pension for life. The LOE was delivered with a thirteen year retro-active lump sum payment in January of 2016.
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ACT: FIVE
Methinks I Doth Protest Too Tardy
TOPIC : My street protest in 2014 to the LOE payment of 2016
Days before Christmas of 2009 a computer glitch kicked me from the automated payment system for Fentanyl. Lucky for all I had the cash to purchase the prescription and enough gas to drive home.
Unable to get any WCB assistance during the holiday I spent the Yule reading and struggling to understand the WCRB “Findings” of 2003.
I had always found Fentanyl to be a very clean pain reief, harbouring far less cloud cover than the previous Morphine. Now that I recall my difficulty at understanding the Findings of 2003 it exposes the confusion induced through life in an opiod fog.
Once WCB issued the monthly LOE pension in 2016, along with the 13 year retro-active payment, I no longer needed to stay loaded on opiod to answer every possible call of employment.
I received the lump sum in January of 2016 so my goal was to taper off Fentanyl during the coming summer months.
Now with the decade of Fentanly well behind me I am shocked that I would get entrapped in reading the Findings of 2003 like Carrot Top caught in a fish net.
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DRIPPING ON
I do not know how it reflects on the legal profession but now that I use alcohol for pain control I find that the Findings are written crystal clear.
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The Office of Advisor to Injured Workers laughed me from the office when I expected them to battle for WCB to issue the LOE calculation as instructed in the “Findings” of 2003.
The only time I saw this particular Advisor pull himself free of his Jello-mold chair was to lean over his desk and tell me just how screwed I am.
I was politely told that the legal right to an LOE and reciving an LOE are two separate issues. It was clearly laid out before me that WCB can simply do as they wish, no one will hold WCB to policy.
That is when I began to send written request for the LOE to WCB myself, receiving replies as found below.
Within the following letter WCB clearly chastise me for not having full grasp of Volume 1 Policy at an earlier date;
WCB Letter of April 16, 2010;
“You state in your correspondence that you have just become aware of the fact that permanent disability awards are calculated using two methods. I would like to point out that that was mentioned on page 24 of the review board chair’s decision dated March 31, 2003″.
In 2012 the local MLA, Bob Simpson, was kicked out of the BC NDP Party.
Sitting as an Independant BS pretends to grow a spine like a little tadpole sheds it’s tail. Always deaf to my pleas under NDP BS suddenly chose to utter the initials WCB with the gusto of a request for more porridge in a Dickens novel.
The WCB letter below put me in line, similar to the diatribe that unloaded on young Master Twist.
WCB Letter of August 14, 2012
“in response to a written request from the MLA’s office of Bob Simpson…. Mr. S, this issue has already been addressed and you were provided a decision letter regard December 4, 2003″.
The so call “Honourable” Mr. Simpson began to lick the boots of WCB as if they had just stepped from Honeydew Mellon Creek.
As long as all BC Governments are given access to drain WCB bank accounts many injured workers will continue to be screwed over.
The face full of buttery government gravy had seeped in the ears of BS and dissolved the newly spouting spine. He fell drasticly short of full frog status but remains a mere guppy, sans tail.
The new MLA of Coralee Oaks however choose to lay at the bottom of the pond, more resembling the tail that is missing it’s guppy. MLA Oaks is quite simply a left-over will-not deposited in the Cariboo many years ago by Christy Clark. A true sociopath gravy sucker.
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DRIPPING ON
As expressed several times through this blog, expect no help from any gravy sucking politicians.
If all the decades of statistics for abuse of injured workers were compiled across Canada, the numbers would rival COVID for 2020.
The location of WCB in Kamloops displays the most appropriate named address of 321 Battle Street.
No relocation is anticipated by WCB until the City of Kamloops has completed the paving of “321 Destroy Your Life Boulevard”.
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Once I recognized the Office of Advisors as simply a pig of different colour I took charge of my WCB effort myself.
It was not until I was Drunk-Dialed at 8:30pm on a Saturday night, by the Advisor of the day, did I know I was on the right trail. Stand up to these filter feeding bullies, but do not expect them to stand up for you. These sociopaths plan to retire on your extended personal suffrage, inflicted by WCB.
I can actually thank my Advisor, here and now, for screaming “If you want free money go home and go on Welfare”. My brewing on that abuse, from an office of supposed support, is what induced the gumption to protest. I remember it like she yelled it at me yesterday.
In 2014, at 145 pounds, the choice to starve in public was preferable to that of death in a remote, snow covered house. I packed up my truck with the basics and headed out for Kamloops not sure if I will ever see my home again.
Until I actually approached the Kamloops RCMP I expected WCB to order a death by cop to end my protest. Sure enough, I soon found, even the Horsemen hate WCB.
Due to the different issues of each injured worker I am lapse in specific advice for protest but for polite, polite, polite. As well attempt to persevere for as long as is possible.
Decide to suffer publicly in the shadow of your oppressor.
If you are about to pass out from lack of food, medication or from the heat of the day do so within security camera coverage. The cameras in the WCB system are time synchronized so staff are legally obligated to call 911 in a timely manner.
If you pass out one foot beyond camera coverage you will die to a chorus of WCB laughing through shatterproof glass. Although I do claim the majority of WCB staff to be decent people, backbone cannot be displayed. The jelly-fish punks that tend to rise in rank at WCB rule the scum ridden pond.
Within days of my protest I began to be hassled by the Kamloops Bylaw Parking squad for not moving my truck every three hours. Once I explained my situation, sure enough, everyone truly hates WCB.
I thought all had come to boil as the most decorated Parking Squad Dude approached me one afternoon. His uniform reflected Kamloops banners and badges from every angle, many in a refective radiance.
I quickly distanced from this Brigadier for once he said “Good Afternoon” he then turned to unleash, two full minutes of, the most foul mouthed condemnation of WCB I have ever witnessed. He screamed so loud toward the WCB building his voice echoed off several surrounding structures as his face turned crimson. My jaw still drops to a rictus gape when I reflect on that soliloquy of profanity.
Because I was half a block away by the finish of his rant he approached me again. He explained that the Parking Squad Management are too cowardly to visit with me on the sidewalk regarding my truck.
As he was senior squad employee the Management decided to send him. Before he departed he shook my hand and wished me luck for he was quite sure no one will send him again. Sure enough before he walked away he shed a tear explaining the loss of a family member to WCB abuse.
This senior man also promised me that WCB was phoning the Parking Division, each day at noon, attempting to enforce the three hour rule. He also stated that this daily practice even brought his Management on my side.
For the remainder of summer the entire Parking Division refused to drive past my protest spot. I was able to stay in my key location, for ten hours a day, with never a ticket issued. Everyone hates WCB.
This is exactly how piss-assed WCB Management Staff are.
When WCB asked me how I could be contacted, while I was in Kamloops, I answered to part the curtains and tap on the window. I then walked out and stood on the roof of my truck for as long as my back would allow.
That was the time which, after eleven years, WCB decided to properly recognize my right to an LOE, as voiced in the letter below;
WCB Letter of March 25, 2014; (My protest began on Feb 11, 2014)
“The Review Board decision noted above indicated that it was premature to make a decision that you had not sustained a loss of earnings”.
So all the letters I received telling me that WCB decisions cannot be reversed should be added to the tall stack of other lies supplied. Again WCB can do as they wish.
Because I weighed 145 pounds during protest WCB provided me a cheque for travel expense every Friday. Voicing that I had no plan to travel home for some time I was told, by whisper, to buy some food.
Knowing I was being set-up I filed a letter stating that while I remain in Kamloops I do not deserve travel allowance. Then I cashed the cheques.
In time those funds may get clawed back but that letter isolates one from any possiblity of future fraud charges.
As soon as any WCB staff feign concern for your health or well being you can be sure you are being set-up for a fall. Simply protect yourself with more paperwork.
WCB is just like the outhouse, ample paperwork is key to avoid the risk of becoming shit ridden.
One of the trails of proof that WCB will not show true concern for the injured, begins for me, in the WCB Letter of June 10, 2014.
I do my best to not repeat entries but this is also far too pivotal;
WCB Letter of June 10, 2014, written by the New VRC;
“limitations….. Difficulty with prolonged standing, sitting, repetitive stooping, bending, flexion, rotation….. Restriction….. Repetitive lifting
over 50 pounds”.
“training to become a parts and warehousing person”.
When the New VRC first proposed the Warehouse Course the adgenda he suggested started with several weeks at the Vocational Building of Kamloops University (TRU).
He ordered me to meet with the Instructor at TRU to investigate the plausibility of this Warehouse Course. The remainder of training was to be online from my home with a couple of return trips to Kamloops for various testing.
The New VRC voiced concern that the TRU option would keep me as close to home as possible. He pretended to be sensitive to my difficulty with driving. What he was really doing was setting me up for a bait and switch routine similar to the Neon Sign Job of 2002.
The proof of his proposal for Kamloops based training is limited, but for the following two WCB Memos;
WCB Memo of March 31, 2014;
“We agreed he would pursue getting more information on Parts and Warehousing training at TRU. He seems quite interested”.
WCB Memo of April 29, 2014;
“He did speak to the Instructor at TRU”.
The New VRC quickly shifted all sponsorship from TRU and announced that I have five days to pick out a rental car and a motel in Surrey BC.
I was given five days to attend a WCB training facility in Surrey BC. This was yet another blindside haymaker, similar to the Neon Sign Job used by the First VRC of 2002.
WCB Rehabilitation Plan of June 11, 2014;
“I have offered you the assistance to training to become a Parts and Warehousing person….. I have received approval to sponsor you in the seven week Parts and Warehousing training at the Automotive Training Centre in Surrey BC. This begins on June 16, 2014″.
Well before the date of the above WCB letter I began to meet with problems of the increasing heat of summer. I was no longer in the cold climate of the Cariboo Mountains. My doctor diagnosed that the excessive heat of Kamloops transferred too much Fentenyl, too quicly through my skin.
I first raised the Fentanyl concern well before March 31, 2014;
WCB Memo of March 31, 2014;
“He has also raised the matter of his medications on more than one occasion. As I do not understand that process, I have asked the CM to provide some direction”.
The WCB letter below speaks to the difficulty I was experiencing with Fentanyl as the summer heat began to increase over six weeks. As well the letter frames how little concern the New VRC had since he would have me drive into Surrey BC while I still suffer from opiod problems.
WCB Memo of June 10, 2014;
“I met briefly with Mr. S on June 10, immediately he informed me that he has not had any Fentanyl today and was perspiring and not doing well….. Because he seemed to be having difficulty concentrating, I gave him a very brief overview of the plan….. now however, I see no reason he cannot attend school on short notice”.
Once adhered to the skin Fentenyl Patches are to last 72 hours. Summer heat however began to provide a Fentanyl roller coaster of accelerated absorption for 36 hours and a depleted supply for the remaining 36 hours. This is a good way to lose control of an opiod for one starts chasing the effect of the first 36 hours and dreading the accompanying depletion.
My doctor prescribed lesser dose patches of 12mg/hr but a much greater quanity of them. With that new dose I could replace patches daily rather than exchange patches of 25mg/hr every three days. As well it would provide ability for a half-step in dosage. My doctor and I were not attempting to reduce my Fentanyl consumption at this point, just be able to control it better.
WCB decided not to cover these patches of 12 strength or reimburse my purchase. WCB chose to only support the patches, as used in the last decade, in the dose of 2 x 25mg/hr.
WCB Team Meeting of May 7, 2014;
“He would like to get down to a lower level. He would like 25 and 12 mg patches so he does not have to 50 per day….. No medical on file to support this change”.
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REMEMBER
At this point in time I have yet to receive the LOE payment which arrives in two more years. During this time I am still told that I will never receive an LOE calculation. This allows WCB to threaten my stability further and torture me like a red-headed puppet. Again, reminiscent of the VRC of 2002.
Although WCB threaten my Fentanyl numerous times the automated supply stays consistent for three more years.
I do not become free of Fentanyl until I taper myself from the very drug that may be the sole factor that allowed me to survive the years of WCB abuse.
Following emancipation from Fentenyl the fillings in my teeth cracked and fell out from clenching my jaw due to pain.
I now carefully use the most ubiquitous pain killer known to man, Alcohol.
TIP
Keep a written log listing your consumption directly beside your alcohol supply with activity and action also noted.
If the use is not only for countering pain, but also for pleasure, map that demographic as well. The one great benefit for alcohol is that one can seek elevated enjoyment without risking interaction with any opiod.
For more than a decade I feared alcohol consumption due to the greater risk of opiod overdose.
If one utilizes minimal alcohol to assist in a productive workday, zero evening consumption will be required. The exhaustion of the day will then supply sound sleep.
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JUST BEAKING OFF
If facing flood or wildfire evacuation fill out paperwork claiming you are traveling with three dogs, four cats and a goat.
Even if you have no companions aboard this lie will guarantee that you stay with the finest of people.
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Intermission for the Office of BC Ombudsperson
During this intermission let the house-lights rise to cast a dim yellow glow over an audience, of the truly contemptuous, which are provided a perfect view from the low-level seat.
Bother not to illuminate the Balconies which isolate the Politician from the common suffering proletariat. Politicians live a different life as they exit, stage left, to the awaiting Government limousines.
Leave dark the Corporate Boxes because the seats of massive greed have never had interest in your plight, once you became injured.
Cast light only on the centre pit, welting box, of Government puppies, eyes still sealed shut.
Light only the division of Government for which the standard gravy is not creamy enough.
Bring focus to the acquiescence, which infect the true purveyors of evil, the Office of BC Ombudsperson.
Unable, or unwilling to investigate during your many years of abuse this staff promise a thorough overview at the completion of your flogging.
The BC Ombudsperson will then provide you with a sycophantic incompetence equal to the Army mentality of a M*A*S*H* episode.
The Ombudsperson conducts with a recipe built on a base proportion of the same esoteric view as from the Ivory Tower of Political Office.
They then add an essence of the sociopath, dead eyes, found in the Office of Advisor to Injured Workers.
Finally a dash of cowardice completes the river of butter laden gravy that flows to a glossy early retirement.
The package of written exchange which I hold with the Ombudsperson could feed an entire new Website, and it just may.
The letters of the BC Ombudsperson began to reflect such twist of fact and misquote of policy I began to hear the voice of Rosco P Coltrane.
All Government Management have rug-burns on their knees.
The real tell here is that the Staff of the BC Ombudsperson also display rug-burns on their elbows.
Anyone can easily read that body language.
I soon met with such shear, blind incompetence I grew suspicious of the actual motivation of the Ombudsperson. I somehow could sense that an extrapolation of Government bullshit was afoot.
Sure enough quick research soon proves that the Ombudsperson build their Government Pension at a rate that is 150% greater than the standard issue gravy-sucker.
FIRST: Google – “BC Ombudsperson Act”.
SECOND: Touch on “Content” – Item #5; Pension.
THIRD: Note Clause #2).
2) When calculating the amount of a pension….. each year as sevice as Ombudsperson must be counted as one and one-half years of pensionable service”.
There it is in black and white.
The Ombudsperson has yet to graduate to a taste for the greasy trough of standard issue gravy.
The entire litter is still nursing on the pearly elixir from, that which we best here call, the one loan Government teat.
Kafka would have me simply cast the whole lot as an office of ever surviving cockroaches.
I supply the above proof to define why I chose the silhouette of the Little Dog under the Big to represent the toothless bone suckers of the Ombudsperson.
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JUST BEAKING OFF
If you wish to stop the Parole Board from releasing pedophiles and killers, to continue to prey on society, replace them with WCB Staff.
Install WCAT Staff and just weld the cell doors closed.
Have the Office of Ombudsperson atop the pile and all serving sentence would starve to death in total darkness.
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