Part Timer Injury - Getting Stonewalled

[as75ups]

Hey guys, I made a post a few months back about facing intimidation and harassment about my speed while working the preload shift. I was running to keep up with the belt and they had me on the hardest pull on the belt, with 1500+ packages between 4 cars.

I'm having a much more serious issue now and everything I have worked so hard for in life is in jeopardy. I could really use some advice/insight on how I should handle my situation...

Back in September, I distinctly remember my wrist feeling "strange" upon completion of my shift. I thought nothing of it and fell asleep. When I woke up, my wrist was in pretty serious pain. Swelling, discoloration, it even hurt to turn the damn door knob leaving the house.

I notified my supervisor of the issue and he gave me a couple days off to let it heal up. I came back later on that week wearing a cheap wrist brace and let him know that if still felt off, but I was ok.

It wasn't getting better, or worse - until peak. Not even a week into peak season, my wrist starting flaring up again. I immediately called my general practitioner to set up an appointment and notified my preload supervisor of the issue again.

He asked me if I was ok to work, I figured since I could still use it - then I would be ok in the meantime. He required me to update him verbally whenever it got better/worse.

My GP diagnosed it as wrist tendonitis and wrote a referral to a Hand Specialist. Again, I notified my supervisor about the outcome and appt for the Hand Specialist coming up.

I worked up until last Friday, when the pain became debilitating after I felt a CLICK in my wrist. I had to call it quits mid-shift. I talked to the preload supervisor and said that I needed to file an injury report.

He called my union steward in and told me a few things...

1) He had no knowledge that my injury was this bad
2) He would not have worked me if he knew it was this bad
3) He had no way of knowing if I did it at home
4) I didn't have an exact date at the time for when it all started (I figured it out from my paystubs today actually)
5) I saw my own doctor

My steward agreed with him and basically said I'm out of luck. They did not allow me to file the injury report. I was told to not come back until I'm 100% better and my job will still be here.

I went to my Hand Specialist appointment and I have a TFCC tear in my wrist. I will be out of work from anywhere between 1.5-4 months... I have bills and I have no idea what to do.

I spoke with the business agent at union hall and he told me to contact an attorney that specializes in these situations, but it sounded like I have grounds for disability + unemployment benefits.

What do I do?

 

[PiedmontSteward]

First of all, let this serve as a lesson to always file an injury report when you suspect you might have hurt yourself at UPS ASAP. An actual, written report with a copy you keep.

This is a tough one, as you essentially "woke up" suffering from an overuse injury. Workman's Comp laws vary by state, but in my state overuse injuries (tendinitis, carpal tunnel, etc.) are rarely paid out unless there's an exact instance (lifting a box, a slip coming down a later, or some work related action) when the injury occurred.

That being said, I don't know how workman's comp works in your state. I'm not a lawyer.

You need to look into going on short term disability. At least that way, you're getting a paycheck (roughly 60% of your 52-week avg gross.) If you're simply being coded as a layoff, you'll lose your benefits as you require 1 report/week for UPS to make your healthcare contributions to TeamCare.

 

[jumpman23]

1st thing you should have done was report it as a work injury when it happened with a shop steward present and document it on paper to cover your butt. Even if they document it and you do take a couple days off and it doesnt get better you then fill out the paper work you need to go to the hospital or doctor to get it checked out. Your probably out of luck now since time has gone by and passed and you never documented it and have no way of proving it that it happened at work. in other words YOU BUCKED YOURSELF son by not going about it the proper way. You already went to the doctor and used your insurance to pay for it so your definitely probably out of luck. Never do that again if you get hurt on the job, you dont accept the supes deal of taking time off and see how you feel in a couple days. Thats their way of BUCKING YOU with their dishonest shady game.

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

The fact that your supervisor let you take off a couple of days in September to let it "heal up" tells me you notified management of your injury. They will try and say you did it away from work to keep from paying a comp claim. I basically did the same thing as you, only with my shoulder. Hurt it late one night towards the end of my shift. Didn't hurt too bad. Next morning I couldn't lift my arm. They asked me why I didn't report it when I did it, and I said I didn't think it was serious at the time. I ended up on TAW for several months, and taking therapy, it didn't heal. My Dr ordered surgery and then I went on comp. In my opinion you are entitled to workman's comp. And it also my impression you can go to a doctor of YOUR choice initially. You will be required to visit the company doctor eventually. Don't let the company bully or intimidate you. Also, while stuff like timelines and names are fresh in your mind, document everything you can remember by writing it down. I should have filled out at the very least a precautionary injury report, but I didn't. Luckily it worked out for me. Good luck to you.

 

[Skooney]

He didn't just "wake up" with an overuse injury. Obviously, it was misdiagnosed. A GP is not a hand specialist.

However...

1. Because you didn't report it. And he didn't follow the correct process when you casually mentioned it to him.
2. If he, and you knew the extent, he wouldn't have a choice to not work you. Again, you should have followed the correct process reporting an injury.
3. If you would have filed a report right away, home or work is really a moot point. They can't say you did, or did not.
4. Again, you didn't report it. They would have had that info.
5. You don't have to see their doctor.

Piedmont is correct, you most likely will need to seek short term disability. We had a case like this at my center, that went on for a year and a half, for an ankle, and almost the exactly same situation you are in. She lost in court a year and a half later.

 

[10 point]

To my understanding, you have up to and including 30 days to report an OSHA recordable injury.

Call the nearest OSHA office and ask them about your situation.

Disability and unemployment will apply but workers compensation is the better route to pursue depending on what OSHA says.

 

[andrsnbkj]

Maybe they can find light duty work for you in the building till your wrist gets better like stuffing empty bags or using your good hand to scan packages

 

[cosmo1]

I'm sorry, but back in September, when you felt some thing strange in your wrist, you should have notified a supervisor. You may have been told to keep on working, but you would have established that moment when you believed you were injured.

Waiting a day or two to report an injury basically negates any proof you may have of it happening on the job.

Good luck.

 

[as75ups]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I admit that I made a mistake by not reporting it when it happened. I'm going to learn from it and move on.

In the meantime, how do I go about filing for short term disability?

 

[PiedmontSteward]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I admit that I made a mistake by not reporting it when it happened. I'm going to learn from it and move on.

In the meantime, how do I go about filing for short term disability?

Get the forms from local HR. Have your doc fill them out. Return them to HR.

Barring that, call the HR Service Center. You can file retroactively for the days you missed so you won't miss any reports for insurance reasons. Just be aware you'll probably lose some vacation time (people missing more than 60 reports and not out on workman's comp do, in my area), depending on how long you're out and how your supplement handles it.

 

[Mst3k]

I have tendinitis, lots of employees do. get a good wrist brace, take a week off and heal up, if you take care of yourself then you can keep it from getting worse.

I wore a brace on each wrist for over a year, at work, in bed, and now work brace free with few issues

This brace is my favorite

Don't hurt yourself to keep up. Work safe, let the supervisor worry about production.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

1st thing you should have done was report it as a work injury when it happened with a shop steward present and document it on paper to cover your butt. Even if they document it and you do take a couple days off and it doesnt get better you then fill out the paper work you need to go to the hospital or doctor to get it checked out. Your probably out of luck now since time has gone by and passed and you never documented it and have no way of proving it that it happened at work. in other words YOU BUCKED YOURSELF son by not going about it the proper way. You already went to the doctor and used your insurance to pay for it so your definitely probably out of luck. Never do that again if you get hurt on the job, you dont accept the supes deal of taking time off and see how you feel in a couple days. Thats their way of BUCKING YOU with their dishonest shady game.

Several years ago I rolled my ankle while on road. I called it in and told them that I felt that I could finish the day, which I did. This was on a Thursday. My sup gave me the next day off to rest it which did the trick as I was good to go come Monday morning.

First of all, let this serve as a lesson to always file an injury report when you suspect you might have hurt yourself at UPS ASAP. An actual, written report with a copy you keep.

This is a tough one, as you essentially "woke up" suffering from an overuse injury. Workman's Comp laws vary by state, but in my state overuse injuries (tendinitis, carpal tunnel, etc.) are rarely paid out unless there's an exact instance (lifting a box, a slip coming down a later, or some work related action) when the injury occurred.

That being said, I don't know how workman's comp works in your state. I'm not a lawyer.

You need to look into going on short term disability. At least that way, you're getting a paycheck (roughly 60% of your 52-week avg gross.) If you're simply being coded as a layoff, you'll lose your benefits as you require 1 report/week for UPS to make your healthcare contributions to TeamCare.

You don't necessarily need a specific injury date to have your injury covered by comp. I had carpal tunnel in both of my elbows and my surgeon was able to get the surgery and follow up treatment classified as comp.

To the OP: As was stated above, it is imperative that you file an injury report immediately.

 

[bbsam]

Several years ago I rolled my ankle while on road. I called it in and told them that I felt that I could finish the day, which I did. This was on a Thursday. My sup gave me the next day off to rest it which did the trick as I was good to go come Monday morning.



You don't necessarily need a specific injury date to have your injury covered by comp. I had carpal tunnel in both of my elbows and my surgeon was able to get the surgery and follow up treatment classified as comp.

To the OP: As was stated above, it is imperative that you file an injury report immediately.

Have to check state by state. At one time we did not need a specific time/date incident but that changed about three years ago.

 

[browned out]

If you notified your supervisor and he stated that's all you need to do then you might be OK. Do you have a witness that would state that your supervisor told you that you did not need to call it in? From now on; as stated earlier in this thread, everyone needs to call in injuries when they occur.

 

[undies]

This is always a tough lesson for many employees to learn. Most will want to suck it up and downplay it and even more won't even say anything! I wish you luck. Worst case scenario talk to a lawyer and get a free consultation, they should be able to advise you best on what your options are here.

 

[Jkloc420]

Never tell the supervisors you hurt something at home. Ups does not want workman comps. If your get hurt at home come to work and fake it like u got hurt at work or report the injury. Never tell your co worker either. Now you screwed yourself because Ups isn't going to work you until they know your better. The union is right best thing you can do is get a lawyer. I gurantee ups didn't document them giving you two days off for your hand. Second the numbers ups tells you about pph are not your problem. Honest days work for an honest days pay.

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

If your get hurt at home come to work and fake it like u got hurt at work or report the injury.

We had a driver that comes into our building that tried this. Don't know how the company found out, but they did. He was fired for dishonesty and lost his job. Threw away close to 20 years service. Not worth it, in my opinion.

 

[Jkloc420]

We had a driver that comes into our building that tried this. Don't know how the company found out, but they did. He was fired for dishonesty and lost his job. Threw away close to 20 years service. Not worth it, in my opinion.

Will considering they don't believe you most of the time for anything regardless what it is. It don't surprise me they wouldn't investigate it. Just means he told someone that told on him at ups. I broke my foot and they tried to accuse me of doing it at home and faking it. Ups does everything it can to not admit liability. Just like this poster who told his supervisor that it was hurting while he was working and the supervisor denied it.

 

[251]

California, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island.

If you work in one of the states I just mentioned, research that states Temporary Disability Insurance (T.D.I.) laws. If not, follow your business agents advice and call a Lawyer that specializes in Workers Compensation Insurance.

I wanted to express that because most Lawyers (like Doctors) have a specialty. Just like you wouldn't go to an E.N.T for your plantar fasciitis, you don't want to be going to a personal injury lawyer with a workers comp case. You're gonna have a bad time.