Mental Stress by WCB of Alberta

For the past 6 out of 10 years I have had many thoughts pertaining to WCB and their actions, lost many hours sleep due to nightmares or frustration, the mind games that are played by them makes me feel like they are attempting to make me lose control of my thoughts. Why? I think so they can say I am a threat to their safety, as they have done to many other injured workers. I am not allowed to enter their building to pickup cheques, why I don't know? I never threatened them, but they write down what ever they feel at the time. I have found that if I rebuttal any conversation to my claims manager, I am them penalized by slow down of progress of my claim or payments not sent out at scheduled time, but the excuses are constant; waiting on supervisor consent, computer is down on the cheque writer,file is in assistance hands etc; none of this is on paper which is why I no longer communicate via telephone. To many conversations were re-written out of context or not even posted on my file. Managers claiming that their hands are tied yet an assistant is able to accomplish what manager claimed they could not; or stating that they are unable to change another claims managers decision, yet many changes have been made. Mangers refusing professionals or my request's ; 5 years later it is claimed as "offered" though I chose a different path; regardless of what was on file years before; becomes official statement.That pertained to the first academic training, which was I unable to compete in. It was the second academic training, less then a year later, is the reason of my criminal charges.
I attempt to start my own business, only to be told "I know nothing of business", therefore you must go to "Business Administration"! Academically challenged ? need the upgrading in order to compete academically? NO!, pass, fail or dropout we (WCB) are done with you. All that was 5 years ago and I am still dealing with the aftermath. Just now priorities are to catch up with what little I receive, after no financial income for 6 months, which was social assistance. I am again under investigation due to WCB keeping 100% of benefits and informing social assistance that I was in receipt of said benefits: yearly income statement from WCB is less then what we received from assistance monthly. Manipulation of information which caused Zero income for my family, which is under enough hardship due to 2 physically disabled members of the family, one adult , one child.
It is pathetic the way WCB Alberta is allowed to operate, they are like little children allowed to play without parental supervision.
In all this time the WCB Alberta talks with me as if they are doing me a favor instead of their job, if they truly did their job then I would no longer be dependent on them, I would have been properly trained and succeeding into a new life and career.

Dear Prime Minister Harper and any other Politician that claims to stand for Canadians

After all the searching that has been done by myself and other injured workers, we are curious as to why with the Free Trade Agreement that there is an agreement pertaining to labour, namely the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation.

PREAMBLE
- protect, enhance and enforce basic workers' rights

Article 5: Procedural Guarantees

"1. Each Party shall ensure that its administrative, quasiiudicial, judicial and labor tribunal proceedings for the enforcement of its labor law are fair, equitable and transparent and, to this end, each Party shall provide that:

(a) such proceedings comply with due process of law;

(b) any hearings in such proceedings are open to the public, except where the administration of justice otherwise requires;

(c) the parties to such proceedings are entitled to support or defend their respective positions and to present information or evidence; and

(d) such proceedings are not unneccessarily complicated and do not entail unreasonable charges or time limits or unwarranted delays.

2. Each Party shall provide that final decisions on the merits of the case in such proceedings are:

(a) in writing and preferably state the reasons on which the decisions are based;

(b) made available without undue delay to the parties to the proceedings and, consistent with its law, to the public; and

(c) based on information or evidence in respect of which the parties were offered the opportunity to be heard.

3. Each Party shall provide, as appropriate, that parties to such proceedings have the right, in accordance with its law, to seek review and, where warranted, correction of final decisions issued in such proceedings.

4. Each Party shall ensure that tribunals that conduct or review such proceedings are impartial and independent and do not have any substantial interest in the outcome of the matter.

5. Each Party shall provide that the parties to administrative, quasijudicial, judicial or labor tribunal proceedings may seek remedies to ensure the enforcement of their labor rights. Such remedies may include, as appropriate, orders, compliance agreements, fines, penalties, imprisonment, injunctions or emergency workplace closures.

6. Each Party may, as appropriate, adopt or maintain labor defense offices to represent or advise workers or their organizations.

7. Nothing in this Article shall be construed to require a Party to establish, or to prevent a Party from establishing, a judicial system for the enforcement of its labor law distinct from its system for the enforcement of laws in general.

8. For greater certainty, decisions by each Party's administrative, quasijudicial, judicial or labor tribunals, or pending decisions, as well as related proceedings shall not be subject to revision or reopened under the provisions of this Agreement".

Pertaining to Article 5 the only enforcement is where the WCB’s and employers are concerned, they are given protection of their Quasi-judicial tribunals, however the injured worker has no protection from the abuse that takes place against their very daily living, from mental stress to poverty ,from denial of medical treatment to being forced into an employment that is in direct conflict with the injury, along with the information manipulation that so many injured workers are forced into dealing with. Degrees of injury re-written months or years later as to a lesser degree, financial information that is re-written so blatantly that any ordinary person can see the fraud and corruption within this organization also personal information written as to the benefit of the WCB’s where have literally charged innocent injured workers of criminal acts and then penalizing the injured more then the courts have already done. There are many types of fraud but this type also reflects the quality of Government across Canada, if this world wide organization is to be an arm’s length of Government (Federal law mandates WCB in each Province, therefore Federal Government should police the actions if the provincial Governments do nothing) with all the powers of Canada within its hands, including Court of Queens Bench status that commits these and crimes against Humanity (yes does qualify) it shows to us that injured workers are disposable which enables abuse towards them in the same manner as physical or mentally handi-capped with the exception they have protection; injured are abuse in the worst possible sense, animals get better treatment. You may ask why does this happen, the answer is simple, WCB’s across Canada have billions in their accounts and are controlled by the employers; Millions of dollars are funneled through the WCB to safety organizations and rebates to employers that have been found guilty of labour violations. To any person that has any intelligence this has the markings of money laundering, does this mean our Governments practice this type of criminal activity? If so then maybe it is time we as Canadians took back our country and jail all those that have been part of the Canada wide corruption as accessories to the fact.

"It cannot be said that the Board is independent insofar as the worker is concerned. It is a Board set up to protect the employers. The Board is funded by the employers, and the Board has a duty and probably a primary duty to protect the employer. In relation to the worker, the Board has an overwhelming wealth of knowledge and experience. It has the financial ability to fund sophisticated investigations involving highly qualified experts and have the material presented to them, guided, orchestrated and propounded by its in-house counsel responsible to the Board and paid for by the Board. The application of any standards under the rules of natural justice would identify such circumstances as being unequal in negotiating ability and unfair. This is not a level playing field, it is not fair, and it offends the basic principles of natural justice."- Justice Maclean - Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta
Wilson v. Medicine Hat (City) [1999] A. J. No. 269 (February 3, 1999)

Government, WCB and computer Viruses

The letters I have received from MLA's in my province of Alberta, all say the exact same reply when asking for help from them pertaining to the workers compensation board; The WCB is an arm's length of government, "We have no say in the day to day workings of the WCB, it is best that you talk to your claims manager or their supervisor pertaining to the problems you are having. I wish you the best of luck with your injury and related problems with it." That same type of reply I received over the past 10 years from different MLA's and my Premier Mr. Stelmach. Why is it that though WCB Alberta is able to commit criminal acts of fraud, medical malpractice, manipulation of information, threats and intimidation; not only to the injured but also the Physician's and anyone that may be assisting the injured in their battles against this organization.
Though the WCB is legislated by Government, that is all the control our Government has over the WCB. With judicial powers,total authority over the injured worker they are continuously over riding the injured workers Doctors, by using their paid physicians, of whom never see the patient, stating medical reports of the person's injury and turning it into fact. Injured workers that request treatment for injuries have been forced to wait months or even years in some cases to get a M.R.I, cat scan or surgery; during these waiting periods the injured worker is healing and by the time that they are able to get help it is to late in some cases as scar tissue has formed an the surgeon is unable to correct it.

At that point the WCB claims that nothing can be done and the injured worker is then "deemed"(made-up)to an employment that they are incapable to succeed at or is directly opposing of their injury, and then the workers benefits are set at that fictitious employment with gradual decreases in wages, until the worker is no-longer collecting benefits ; yet is still unable to gain employment due to injury; I myself was an electrician and WCB Alberta forced me into academics for Electrical Engineering, but would not give me the upgrading to succeed in this course, a letter was written on my behalf by the program head stating I am in need of upgrading in order to succeed in the course; I was then removed from academics but the WCB still "deemed" me as an Electrical Engineer and the wage that an E.E would make was deducted from my benefits, which lowered my benefits to approximately $140.00 per month while still (to my knowledge) charging my employer the full rate of compensation.I was forced to take them to appeals at which time they would again "deem" me at employment that matched the income of an E.E and I would have to appeal that decision again and again.
Now is this the workings of an honest business ? That is part of every working person's life, whether you are injured or not, your employer is forced to make payments for you for every 100 hours you put in, it stays in the back ground like a computer virus until it gets involved and ends up screwing up your life just like it would your computer, slowly the longer it is there the more damage it does until you have lost everything and there is no getting it back cause you have no protection that would avoid the outcome.
( and yes I have had my hard drive wiped out after receiving emails from my WCB supervisor's, 3 separate times)

Wife of an injured worker voices out

I am the wife of an injured worker and I am writing on behalf of the "Family", how injury and WCB affects all the family as a unit.The injury is bad enough,but the insult by WCB ( and my husbands union) is far worse.
First, my husband has a lower back injury, although at times he looks and acts perfectly average, it is short lived. Things most people take for granted, cause him great pain, to play catch, helping the kids ride a bike, even change a diaper ( we are past that stage now), all cause irritation to his back. We also have an 8 yr old son, who is handicapped, he is a little person diagnosed with Achondroplasia with complications. As of July 2008, he has had 19 surgeries, most of his needs are are done by myself because my husband cannot physically maneuver for these low needs ( toilet, bath,lifting , carrying,etc) so I am responsible for all of our sons needs, as well as the house hold, yard work,snow shoveling, etc.
As a wife and mother, I am busy, as most of us are, but as a mother to a child with a disability, sometimes regular things take a back seat; between medical appointments, hospitalization and special needs, there is not a lot of time (or energy) for paid employment. But WCB has has forced me out there, so far my employer has been understanding to our son's needs.
As for my husbands union, what a disgrace! To claim their "brother"was not insured 3 weeks prior, or 3 weeks post injury ( 6 week period), but was insured at other times is probably one of the biggest insults of all. Unions are supposed to stand up and defend their "brothers and sisters", not kick them while they are down.
Then there is WCB, those 3 letters should be struck from the alphabet! WCB claims to be there for the injured workers, but I have yet to see this. I have seen mistreatment of the injured in the past, but now I live with it.
My husband and I , along with our children, we all suffer because of the WCB, mentally, emotionally,physically and financially; humiliation, frustration, poverty, anger all caused by WCB. My husband, like many others, is consumed by WCB - it is always there. I dread correspondence from WCB via mail, it is like receiving a letter bomb; you wait for the explosion, because you know something is about to blow!
My husbands latest injury occurred in August 99, and we are farther behind today, RRSP's and RESP's are long gone, I try to work 2 jobs to make ends meet and I pray everyday that WCB will soon be out of our lives. Unfortunatly, WCB prefers that the injured workers would just give up on their claim or drop dead, before they ( WCB ) have to part with any cash.
But we will still keep on kicking.

Fun TImes Compensation High

First a little about me, I started working out of home at 13 , while going to school, as a stock boy and later pump jockey. I left home by 15 with a last academic grade completion of 6. I wrote a type of equivalency test for a welding course at 17, which gave me grade 12 equivalent, tried trade school 2 years later, but was unable to compete academically. About 10 years later I attempted an apprenticeship, succeeded to 4th year, stayed a 4th year for 6 years, with multiple injury claims between , all pertaining to an original injury in 1992. I had low scores but enough to pass, at that time there was a push for tradesman an as long as your experience was there , you basically passed. However I knew I would not be able to pass the Provincial test.
After my last injury WCB wanted to send me to school for electrical engineer, I did pass the entrance exam for pre-technology course, but not knowledged enough in academics for completion. WCB refuse me upgrading as was requested by an educational Institution,so I wanted to start my own business, hopefully with a little assistance from WCB. Although I already had a national retailer to be an exclusive to a portable work bench that I registered as an industrial design.
WCB informed me that I know nothing of Business so therefore I must go to Business Administration. We will send you right back to school then you can make the monies needed to build your business; pass , fail or drop out we are done with you.
Well, knowing that I would not be able to complete again due to class qualifications, even the Institution questioned it. WCB got me in from stating "well he was registered last year", (April/May 2003)the secretary allowed me in. I had started an appeal almost immediately, knowing that it would be a few months before I got any answer, by October I had not heard from appeals adviser pertaining to appeal, left message, I contacted claim supervisor to inform him of my situation, he took my statement down and wrote its as I wished not to got school due to vehicle problems and other reasons on file. This is where the fraud charges from non-attendance to school originated.Turned out Appeals Adviser was no-longer working there and I wasn't informed, appeal papers sat on managers desk for approx 6 months, the one year time limit for appeal had passed .
Earlier that spring, I had already been questioning 1 overpayment on my claim that had been removed 3 times, with your basic runaround by claims manger, and other over payment's that seemed to accumulate over night. I then received my T-5 for the year 2003, floored me, thought I was the highest paid WCB recipient ever, but knew it wasn't true. I then went through my cheques, talked to Revenue Canada, was told to send it back to WCB and have them correct it. That never happened,I requested an audit of my claim; instead about 4 months later I am under fraud investigation, I told them I was happy they are taking me to court so I can show how they manipulated my claim file, everything was good, until court day. My lawyer had assured me that we could beat , then court day I am informed that "we do not" have the necessary information to prove manipulation, what happened there I still do not know. He informed me to plead guilty for defrauding WCB for the months of October 13th 2003 to April 30th 2004 or face jail time. SO I did, as a father with young children and 1 that is handicapped I figured he knew best, boy was I wrong.

The rest is all documented though my blog, I now have more information about file manipulation , pertaining to that time and since. OH yes in 2007, just before court, I received a letter from my claims manager that"I WAS"offered upgrading but chose a different path, apparently it was offered at the time I was scheduled for school, same time THEY refused it. Talk about Manipulating information, no other record on file pertaining to such offer.