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The knee gives out and he is in pain.
He tells his boss what happens and is told just put ice on it and stay off it over the weekend.
Monday rolls around and the knee is swollen, bruised and painful.
The employee tells his boss and is told to go have it looked at.
He goes to the doctor and has it xrayed and lands in a knee brace.
He is temporarily taken out of the workforce.
Not to worry he thinks as he will still have an income while he recovers from his employer's Workman's Compensation Insurance.
He waits for the hospital to call with the scheduled MRI appointment.
The weeks slide by and he keeps hearing that there is an insurance problem.
He calls his employer and is told why don't you claim it on your house insurance and the red flags suddenly go up.
Next he finds out that there was a lapse in the Workman's Compensation Insurance as the bill was sent to the wrong party.
The next week he gets a call from the employer asking him what he had said to the hospital staff as now the business has had their insurance canceled for fraud.
The ugly truth comes out when it is discovered that the business did not have a lapse in coverage but had not had worker's compensation insurance in place for six months.
They had bought a new coverage to try and cover his injury that was dated before the policy took effect.
Now what did he do? The employer has no coverage, tells him that he has costs the company their contract and put them out of business, and that he was on his own.
The employee calls the unemployment office only to be told that since he is injured he is not fit for work and does not qualify for unemployment.
He is told to contact the labor board and an attorney.
He contacts the labor board first.
They tell him it is unfortunate but they could do nothing about his injury other than look into the facts of the business having the proper insurance coverages and sending them a demand of proof letter.
The labor board also contacted the insurance commissioner who also advised him to hire an attorney.
In the meantime the employee's bills are mounting, he is getting further behind, he has no income, he has no insurance, he is running low on food and he is in pain.
What can he do? He hires an attorney who in turn tells him that he should apply for state medical assistance to have his knee injury repaired.
He does not want to do this but has no other option and so makes the appointment.
He lowers his pride and accepts state medical assistance and food stamps.
His worker calls him after speaking to his employer and informs him that the company is disagreeing with him.
The company is saying they don't believe he injured his knee at work, are refusing to take care of the injury and state that he still has a job when he is ready to come back to work.
The employee is ready to scream thinking that they just left him in the lurch again but the worker approves his benefits.
Now he has the medical to get his knee repaired and can eat but still has no income.
The only recourse left is to take his case to court.
Don't let this happen to you.
Make sure your employer has Worker's Compensations Insurance in case of an injury sustained while on the job.
Make sure if an injury occurs that you report and document it right away with the right department and always keep a copy of any accident report you fill out and sign.
If there were any witnesses to the injury get their names, statements, and other information right away.
Keep records of all conversations, copies of all occupational health records and anything pertaining to your injury.
Protect yourself.
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