shady attorney practices

alt1268 · 09-06-2011, 07:57 PM

Long story short, I was hurt May, 2009 at work, had over 5 fractures right ankle. Plates and screws put in. Downhill from day one. Plates and screws removed March, 2010. Put on rollabout February, 2011. Saw atty.'s dr. March, 2011 rated me at 65% disabled with RSD, (3 dr. to give RSD dx) Saw Workers comp. dr. for 3rd visit in July, 2011 and he says he disagrees with dx. but admits there is nerve involvement, increased sensitivity, right foot colder then left and limited movement. (dah) Says I can work fulltime in a modified position. May need vocational rehab.
The end of August, Workers comp. filled a petition to terminate my weekly wages, stating I could work fulltime. Since then my atty. wants me to start putting in 3 job applications a week. I told him, I still have my job, plus I filled for ssd. He sent the wc attorney asking if my employer would take me back. On Thursday am he calls and tells me he got a letter back stating I was terminated and I needed to start looking, starting on Friday.
Friday am I called my employer to ask if I could get paid my unused vacation and sick, being that I was terminated, the director of HR says You weren't terminated, who told you that. I explained then called the lawyer back and requested a copy of the letter be faxed. I am still waiting and got my ssd approval notice today.
anita

catra121 · 09-06-2011, 08:10 PM

Yikes...definitely sounds like something is off there and you should probably look into getting a different attorney. Is this the same one that told you to drive even if you didn't feel like you safely could? Sounds like a few too many red flags.

Sometimes there is just miscommunication, I know that the attorney representing my employer has often gotten facts wrong when informing my lawyer, but then my lawyer always questions anything that sounds off and we get things sorted out. Miscommunications do happen. Maybe what's going on is that work comp wants to put you through some sort of retraining so that you can do SOME job SOMEWHERE (based on what the IME doc said). But then he should have said that and not that you were terminated.

In my opinion, from what you have told us, it seems like you should definitely look into getting a different attorney who you feel you can trust. I

Russell · 09-07-2011, 09:57 AM

Sounds to me like the WC is trying to trick you into looking for work which would blow your case. Your attorney should of caught that...

SandyRI · 09-07-2011, 01:38 PM

Get a new attorney, ASAP.

If there is sufficient documentation for SSDI then one would think that there is sufficient documentation for WC. Your lawyer sounds like a creep. IME docs who work for insurance companies just about always lie, since they are being paid by the other side. And we can only hope that WC judges are aware of who the docs are that will usually screw the patient and who is ethical (at least in RI, which is a really small state like Delaware). But your lawyer is supposed to be on YOUR side. Not WC.

It sounds like you are in a terrible situation and that you have to fix it right away before you risk losing your SSDI income also.

WC is brutal, so sorry that you going through this. It's been almost 5 years for me, the worst part about my RSD, other than the pain, has been WC! I never realized how evil the system was until I got sick...

Good luck, Sandy

Quote:

Originally Posted by alt1268

Long story short, I was hurt May, 2009 at work, had over 5 fractures right ankle. Plates and screws put in. Downhill from day one. Plates and screws removed March, 2010. Put on rollabout February, 2011. Saw atty.'s dr. March, 2011 rated me at 65% disabled with RSD, (3 dr. to give RSD dx) Saw Workers comp. dr. for 3rd visit in July, 2011 and he says he disagrees with dx. but admits there is nerve involvement, increased sensitivity, right foot colder then left and limited movement. (dah) Says I can work fulltime in a modified position. May need vocational rehab.
The end of August, Workers comp. filled a petition to terminate my weekly wages, stating I could work fulltime. Since then my atty. wants me to start putting in 3 job applications a week. I told him, I still have my job, plus I filled for ssd. He sent the wc attorney asking if my employer would take me back. On Thursday am he calls and tells me he got a letter back stating I was terminated and I needed to start looking, starting on Friday.
Friday am I called my employer to ask if I could get paid my unused vacation and sick, being that I was terminated, the director of HR says You weren't terminated, who told you that. I explained then called the lawyer back and requested a copy of the letter be faxed. I am still waiting and got my ssd approval notice today.
anita

alt1268 · 09-07-2011, 04:24 PM

Ok, attorney called today, I told him flat out I don't understand why he wants me to do all the things the workers comp. attorney wants me to do. Bottom line it is to prove a point, that no one will hire me with all my restrictions. I feel better.
In the meantime, I have written an email to the Delaware office of transportation for more indepth information about driving with prescription drugs. (saved a copy, if anyone wants to see let me know) and tomorrow will contact the Ada about the driving and the fact that my employer had me doing modified work until I got my rollabout, now they don't have any work for me. (got the letter from the workers comp. lawyer.)

Anita

catra121 · 09-07-2011, 05:05 PM

Well...that still seems shady to me. If your doctor says you cannot do the job then WC doesn't need any other sort of "proof" about that. But if you feel more comfortable with the situation then that's what is important (obviously I wasn't there for the whole conversation). If it were me I would still look into another attorney...just too many things that it doesn't seem like he has thought through very well that could be damaging to not only your case, but also to your health (driving when you feel impaired).

And definitely stand your ground when it comes to the driving. The bottom line (in my opinion) is that if you feel that you are too impaired to drive regardless of if it's from medications, pain, etc. then you should not drive. Period, end of story. If you feel that you are not impaired, then make the decision you feel is best.

Good luck.

Jomar · 09-07-2011, 05:13 PM

Yes , generally is the employers choice if they want to make a job for you or not...
I patrolled the parking lot for 2 months due to "No hand use" restriction.
but I still had to drive to work, open doors, make meals, eat, bath and go potty

fun times...had other modified jobs before this one , but this time was after HR had me sorting papers & putting in to over stuffed 4" 3 ring binders when my restriction was "no repetitive hand use".

My hands started cramping up after 2 hrs and the HR lady says to hurry up

so my Dr rx's the "no hand use" to fix the HR lady

moral of the story - Drs note has to be very clear on what can or can't be done.

alt1268 · 09-07-2011, 06:43 PM

wow, never thought things had to be so clear in regards to dr.'s notes. I don't know if I can even get a consult with another atty. because this one is working on 33.3 percent commission of what is awarded.

I really appreciate everyone's help and I really appreciate that everyone is here. It helps to know I have people *(friends) that have or are going through the same things.

Dubious · 09-07-2011, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alt1268

wow, never thought things had to be so clear in regards to dr.'s notes. I don't know if I can even get a consult with another atty. because this one is working on 33.3 percent commission of what is awarded.

I really appreciate everyone's help and I really appreciate that everyone is here. It helps to know I have people *(friends) that have or are going through the same things.

Wow...33 1/3? CA is 15% and I thought that was outragous!