WCB Hostage taking could have been Prevented
October 21st ,2009 was not a great day in Edmonton Alberta, the hostage taking at Alberta’s Worker’s Compensation Board was a very depressing situation for the employees of WCB and for the injured worker and his family. In all reality "ALL" were the victims of WCB abuse, with their policies and practices to "Profit" (as they are a nonprofit organization) any way they can, which unfortunately leads the injured worker into poverty and loss of family, loss of home and sometimes suicide.
The man that did the hostage taking Patrick Clayton, was a man at the end of his rope, I would imagine he attempted every avenue of appeal within the WCB, as many of Alberta’s injured workers have done. After the appeals the only recourse of help is going to your MLA, to the Ombudsman, Premier, lawyers, media and protesting, as many injured workers have found out, each and every one of these last options are dead ends.
From my personal experiences with the WCB and the fight that I have been forced into, it has come to my realization that no matter what direction a person attempts to go, whether it is though the appeals process or just trying to get a claims manager to accept your Doctor’s report, it is a hassle. WCB staff and employers will and have attempted to close down an injury claim before it starts, to those that wish to ignore the actions of the WCB, like MLA Doug Griffiths and his P.C political party, we do have the proof.
I attempted to make Mr. Griffiths aware that all of the hostage taking could have been prevented, however each time I made a statement as to the abuse of the WCB he would twist my words into me claiming that the hostage taking was justified and continued to state that I have a twisted, terrorist mind an should seek physiological help, all for speaking out against the WCB and his political party that were the roots of the situation.
He kept asking for proof so I would direct him to websites with the information, his reply was give me something that he could verify, while the proof is in my possession; this went over and over repeatedly as if he and I were on the legislative floor wasting time continually repeating the words, as they so often do. By the end of the night which shortly after 12 am, I challenged Mr. Griffiths to prove me wrong, have an investigation into all that I stated about WCB or to prove me right by doing nothing as the Alberta legislature has done pertaining to the WCB for many years, decades in fact. Nearing the end of our conversation he informed me that he does not have the power to request an investigation, but he does have the power to present it on the floor of the legislative, which he refused to comment on and ended our conversation with an accusation that I need help, which he cannot give and mentioned that he wanted to know my name so he could find me the help I needed, and for me to go to bed as I need sleep more so then he did.
What I learned from this conversation is that anyone that speaks out against the WCB in this matter is considered a terrorist and after informing him that if the Alberta Legislative
had done their job properly years ago, that this situation would most likely not have happened, I was then again accused of being a twisted individual with a terrorist mind.
I had spent the day on the internet informing people that the WCB is not the victim here, they are the cause, with judicial powers and immunity to any court action, it is allowed free reign to do what ever they wish, I have talked with many about this organization from injured workers, advocates and lawyers and it is the same about the unfairness to the injured and one sidedness to the employer.
Justice MacLean: Alberta Court of Queens Bench has commented on the unfairness of the WCB, “This is not a level playing field, it is not fair, and it offends the basic principles of natural justice."
Yet this Alberta government allows this to keep going on, is it because they promote corruption or that the injured workers are a waste of their time and let fall into cracks of time and be forgotten?
The WCB has tactics of their own as well, from manipulating files, whether medical, financial or personal, they do it to justify their end goal of profit and savings for the employer, yet WCB is a non-profit organization with over a Billion in its account as of April 2009. There are many different tactics that they use as well, mainly the use of word manipulation, where if an injured worker questions an action of the WCB they are declared non-compliant and then all benefits are cut off until that person makes it to the appeals commission which can take up a year and some have gone a lot longer.
From deeming of employment to denial of doctors reports, they will do anything to the injured they wish, it is kiss their feet as (in their minds) they are holier then thou and if you don’t agree with that then you can no-longer come into our building as they will and have, written people up as a threat when no threatening actions have ever been made.
If all that isn’t enough to deter you from fighting for your rights, they will contact another arm’s length agency to also start harassing the injured worker. People should question how many injured workers have been forced to Social Assistance when it is the WCB’s responsibility to care for the injured worker, if nothing is done about this criminal organization the there most likely will be more situations like October 21st ,2009.
The man that did the hostage taking Patrick Clayton, was a man at the end of his rope, I would imagine he attempted every avenue of appeal within the WCB, as many of Alberta’s injured workers have done. After the appeals the only recourse of help is going to your MLA, to the Ombudsman, Premier, lawyers, media and protesting, as many injured workers have found out, each and every one of these last options are dead ends.
From my personal experiences with the WCB and the fight that I have been forced into, it has come to my realization that no matter what direction a person attempts to go, whether it is though the appeals process or just trying to get a claims manager to accept your Doctor’s report, it is a hassle. WCB staff and employers will and have attempted to close down an injury claim before it starts, to those that wish to ignore the actions of the WCB, like MLA Doug Griffiths and his P.C political party, we do have the proof.
I attempted to make Mr. Griffiths aware that all of the hostage taking could have been prevented, however each time I made a statement as to the abuse of the WCB he would twist my words into me claiming that the hostage taking was justified and continued to state that I have a twisted, terrorist mind an should seek physiological help, all for speaking out against the WCB and his political party that were the roots of the situation.
He kept asking for proof so I would direct him to websites with the information, his reply was give me something that he could verify, while the proof is in my possession; this went over and over repeatedly as if he and I were on the legislative floor wasting time continually repeating the words, as they so often do. By the end of the night which shortly after 12 am, I challenged Mr. Griffiths to prove me wrong, have an investigation into all that I stated about WCB or to prove me right by doing nothing as the Alberta legislature has done pertaining to the WCB for many years, decades in fact. Nearing the end of our conversation he informed me that he does not have the power to request an investigation, but he does have the power to present it on the floor of the legislative, which he refused to comment on and ended our conversation with an accusation that I need help, which he cannot give and mentioned that he wanted to know my name so he could find me the help I needed, and for me to go to bed as I need sleep more so then he did.
What I learned from this conversation is that anyone that speaks out against the WCB in this matter is considered a terrorist and after informing him that if the Alberta Legislative
had done their job properly years ago, that this situation would most likely not have happened, I was then again accused of being a twisted individual with a terrorist mind.
I had spent the day on the internet informing people that the WCB is not the victim here, they are the cause, with judicial powers and immunity to any court action, it is allowed free reign to do what ever they wish, I have talked with many about this organization from injured workers, advocates and lawyers and it is the same about the unfairness to the injured and one sidedness to the employer.
Justice MacLean: Alberta Court of Queens Bench has commented on the unfairness of the WCB, “This is not a level playing field, it is not fair, and it offends the basic principles of natural justice."
Yet this Alberta government allows this to keep going on, is it because they promote corruption or that the injured workers are a waste of their time and let fall into cracks of time and be forgotten?
The WCB has tactics of their own as well, from manipulating files, whether medical, financial or personal, they do it to justify their end goal of profit and savings for the employer, yet WCB is a non-profit organization with over a Billion in its account as of April 2009. There are many different tactics that they use as well, mainly the use of word manipulation, where if an injured worker questions an action of the WCB they are declared non-compliant and then all benefits are cut off until that person makes it to the appeals commission which can take up a year and some have gone a lot longer.
From deeming of employment to denial of doctors reports, they will do anything to the injured they wish, it is kiss their feet as (in their minds) they are holier then thou and if you don’t agree with that then you can no-longer come into our building as they will and have, written people up as a threat when no threatening actions have ever been made.
If all that isn’t enough to deter you from fighting for your rights, they will contact another arm’s length agency to also start harassing the injured worker. People should question how many injured workers have been forced to Social Assistance when it is the WCB’s responsibility to care for the injured worker, if nothing is done about this criminal organization the there most likely will be more situations like October 21st ,2009.
Labels: agency, Alberta, claims, corruption, employee, false, justice, politician, poverty, Stelmach, wcb, workers compensation
posted by k.w.m at
9:26 AM
6 Comments:
Perhaps there is an element of truth to what you say about the WCB however there are a few concerns that I have regarding this article.
The hostage taking at WCB in October is not and was not justified. The employees of WCB are exactly that... employees of a bureaucratic organization that have expectations put on them on how to perform their job. There are always other ways to deal with our troubles, unfortunately it is a long often fruitless battle.Putting the lives of innocent people in danger and scarring them emotionally and putting them in the same place as the hostage taker is selfish, immoral and criminal.
Furthermore, advocating that the WCB got what was coming to them most definately portrays a "terrorist" mindset.
They are not the easiest organizationt o deal with, as a worker or and an employer.
There have been many times where I have attemnted to advocate for employees rights as well as employer rights, from both ends it is a cycle of frustration.
What needs to change here is how employers deal with incidents in the workplace. The "mission to Zero" mindset encourages subcontractors and employers to hide and deny incidents because they are potentially loosing millions of dallars on the contracts.
The people who propogate this mindset are the big oil and gas companies in Alberta. and this mindset is rapidly being adopted into the commercial and light industrial industry. What workers need is a system that encourages them seek assistance from the employers in post incident medical treatment. Hiding incidents do not resolve the issue and leave a possibility for incidents to happen again.
There is also a cultural issue in the workplace where employees and employers are butting heads when it comes to health and safety. Employees need to take more responsibility for their actions in regards to incidents. If a company does its due dilligence and an employee get injured because of they willingly and knowingly took "short cuts", why should the company be financially liable for their recovery?
I agree that it is a flawed system, however propogating extreme tactics, will result in you never being taken seriously.
I think there is a lot of work to be done on behalf of the provincial government, employers, and workers in Alberta to work towards a better solution to these issues.
What you are doing in my opinion is only creating a bigger rift between all parties and will hinder the process in which you are trying to start.
Best of luck to you in the future.
Thank you for your comment Chris,
as for " Furthermore, advocating that the WCB got what was coming to them most definitely portrays a "terrorist" mindset" : where in here have I said WCB got what coming to them , all this blog is about is that I "understand why Pay Clayton felt the way he did" for his frustrations and anger,I could say things that would REALLY make you feel that I felt WCB had it coming as for words you have used pertaining to the hostages, but then a person such as yourself would be calling me terrorist again for stating that the WCB employees do put people in danger ( medically , physically and emotionally)and there are many people out there that are "scarred" for life due to the actions of the WCB employees also (physically, emotionally and physically)
I can't help but also notice that you are quick to put blame on employees for their injuries, many are injured from others actions (eg: poor house keeping)where as material left laying around has caused many injuries,which has been done by other employees for other businesses which do not enforce the safety programs to their employee, so putting more blame on the employee for thier injury is taking a no-fault system into a "FAULT" system which will leave more injured in poverty to save the WCB and the Shareholders with more cash in their pockets.
Which is exactly what " The Road to Zero " is all about, blaming the injured for their own injuries, I wonder how this road to ZERO is going to work on those that suffer from occupational diseases ?
I definitely don't want to get into an argument here. I think we can both agree that the current systems forces both employers and employees into situations that can be unethical, immoral, emotionally and physically risky.
But the question is how do we as employers and employees in the province of Alberta, work together to get the changes we both need and want from the WCB and the govt of AB?
That is true Chris , we can both agree on that there needs to be changes, the change I would most like to see is the removal of Judicial powers /immunity of the WCB, the removal of total authority over the injury worker and for the treating physician to have total authority over the diagnosis and treatment of injury.
Please read http://abusebyalbertasworkerscompensation.blogspot.com/2009/03/auditor-generals-report-on-alberta-wcb.html as for just 1 reason the judicial powers/ immunity must be removed.
Hi. I am currently fighting with the Worker's Compensation board in the Yukon. This is the most terrible thing I have ever dealt with. They are treating me like a criminal/terrorist, threatened me with medical information, have spied on me at other places of employment and basically are trying to wait me out. I work for the govies as a custodian and started getting ill at work in march/april. I found out after that toxic black molds were found in the building. All other files were dimissed immediately, my supervisor who is also very ill was given a promotion, the teachers that were sick were dismissed and moved to other classrooms in the building. Currently my file is the only one still open and the only reason it was even opened in the first place was because I called a worker's advocate and outside of the territory law advice. WCB is suppose to be sending me to one of their paid doctors in Alberta but are trying to cause undue harm and financial hardship to my family and will not take any consideration the fact that I take care of my child during the day and work in the evenings while my husband is home. I believe in raising my child ourselves. They will not pay for my husband to stay home and watch him, wouldn't pay for day care if I believed in it and won't let him come as an escort. 6 -10 days is a long time for me to be a way from my young child. I have been told by human resources, the union, etc. that I could be repremanded if I even go into the building, which I may add is a public place within my community, from library, extra curricular activities to dentist vists to the town's only christmas craft sale. WCB hasn't actually approved ANYONE to go back into the school (which is now back in session)and is now again filled with children and the community. All they did was a one day remediation to the building. With the way I have been treated by everyone leads me to believe the problem is a much bigger one than they are letting on. I have since found out that every person's claim that was denied are ill again now that they have started school again for the year. These people were fine all summer long until they went back. Which to me means that I could possibly die if I were to go back into the building. I ended up on a respirator my last 2 shifts at the building in april. I was told that I could go into Emphalatix shock if I subject myself to it again. No one wants to help me or anyone else in regards to this matter and am being pressured by my co-workers to return before being allowed to since they haven't hired anyone else to help them out. I'm wondering if since my claim is still open and the others that were denied are getting ill again. If they were to start filing claims again what it would do to the WCB? I think it would really really mess them up. What else can I do? I miss and loved my job and have been forced into a corner with these people.
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