05-06-2009, 01:47 PM
I work for an independant contractor doing flooring, as an employee.
While unloading 850 pound rolls of vinyl to stock a jobsight, we typically have two guys inside the truck pushing the roll until it's hanging about halfway off the lift for the truck, we use pieces of a broom stick as rollers, laying them out about 2 feet apart then rolling the roll from side to side to it's on top of them to make it easier. (the truck lift unfolds out from the bottom underneath the back of the truck, then uses hydraulics to raise and lower. The truck is about 4 feet off the ground). The two guys up top sit on the roll and as they stand it tilts to the ground, where a third guy places that end on a cart. With the cart under one end we can scoot the cart out and pull the roll further toward the back, stopping with about 1 foot of the roll still on the truck. One guy then hops out of the truck and moves to the middle of the roll, the guy on the ground braces up the roll or lifts it with a bar, and the middle guy pulls the cart into the center of the roll. Ta Da! You've just moved an 850 pound roll of vinyl safely. Once it's on the cart it's completely portable.
-Well, we had already moved all but 2 of our rolls of vinyl, and I'm the guy who hops out of the truck and pulls the cart into the center of the roll. While hopping out I had my hands on top of the roll to steady myself and just hopped down, but I landed on the rollers and twisted my foot to the side, spraining my ankle and tearing everything on the left side of my left ankle (found this out later, all I knew was it hurt). This was at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and my boss rushed me straight home and told me that as long as it didn't swell it wasn't broken, and it would be fine by monday. So I went to work the next day and hopped around trying to do what I could with snapping lines and floor prep and the few things I could do on it. It was Friday, so I hoped the weekend would help. Both nights and the entire weekend I kept my foot up and used rice pads to keep it heated.
On monday I told my boss I think I need to go to the doctor. My ankle was the size of a softball, and my foot was so swollen I had to pull my laces out to where they couldn't be tied just to fit it in my shoe. He got angry and said they wouldn't do anything for me at all, and they'd force me to stop working and I wouldn't be able to pay my bills or anything. I've never hurt myself at work other than a piece of metal in my eye once that just resulted in getting it taken out and going back to work the next day, so I had and have no idea about workers comp.
I left early that day because of the pain, and the next day (tuesday, the 28'th) he started acting like I wasn't injured at all. I had to carry adhesive buckets (about 50 pounds a piece), a 100 pound roller, several cuts of vinyl that weighed over 70 pounds, and by the end of the day my ankle was far worse, which I showed him and he said he'd hurt his ankle before and it was totally normal.
The 29'th we were doing prep and line snapping, so I just hopped and limped my way through it.
The 30'th my ankle and foot were so swollen and bruised I couldn't put my shoe on, and I couldn't sleep the night before because no only was my ankle throbbing all the way up to my knee, but my other ankle, knee, and my back were all too sore from limping around and trying to carry things on one foot for me to get comfortable. I left for work and had my girlfriend schedule a docters appointment for me at 3:00 pm. I told my boss that I was going to see the docter, at which point he got completely irate, saying I didn't need to go to the docter and it would be fine, and all that would happen is I wouldn't be able to work and I'd lose my apartment and car etc. etc.
I went anyway, which resulted in a perscription for pain medication and an immediate x-ray. The Docter and X-ray tech both told me it took about half an hour for the docters office to be able to pull up my x-rays on their computer, but it ended up taking clear until Tuesday to get the results.
I was perscribed more pain pills, crutches, and told that everything was tore on the left side of my left ankle, but nothing was broken. They said I could go back to work but I was definitely not supposed to lift anything, and I should be on my crutches as often as possible and off them as little as possible. I was told my leg and ankle on the other foot were just sore and would be fine, but if my back pain doesn't stop I need to see a chyropractor or come back for more pain meds. I have a followup in 1 month.
I told my boss everything, and he plainly said 'I'm not carrying anything, that's your job. If you can't do it, I'll hire someone else until you see the docter again in a month'
So basically that's where I am now. My boss has disputed paying disability benefits, and refuses to help me with where I should go or what I should do. He even tried to talk the nurse into not giving me an X-ray, and gave me a total rat race trying to get his workers comp ID number to get my perscriptions.
I have signed up online to see the status of my case, but I've only found 2 lawyers that handle personal injury in my town. I called them both, and one my boss had already hired so he refused to help me or refer me to anyone else. The other ones secratery called me back and said we could meet to talk about my case as early as the second week of July.
I just have no idea what to do or what's involved at this point. I have no idea how I'm going to pay my bills, or even if I CAN go to a chyropractor without my boss telling me it's ok.
Any advice by email or here would be greatly appreciated
--Dan
While unloading 850 pound rolls of vinyl to stock a jobsight, we typically have two guys inside the truck pushing the roll until it's hanging about halfway off the lift for the truck, we use pieces of a broom stick as rollers, laying them out about 2 feet apart then rolling the roll from side to side to it's on top of them to make it easier. (the truck lift unfolds out from the bottom underneath the back of the truck, then uses hydraulics to raise and lower. The truck is about 4 feet off the ground). The two guys up top sit on the roll and as they stand it tilts to the ground, where a third guy places that end on a cart. With the cart under one end we can scoot the cart out and pull the roll further toward the back, stopping with about 1 foot of the roll still on the truck. One guy then hops out of the truck and moves to the middle of the roll, the guy on the ground braces up the roll or lifts it with a bar, and the middle guy pulls the cart into the center of the roll. Ta Da! You've just moved an 850 pound roll of vinyl safely. Once it's on the cart it's completely portable.
-Well, we had already moved all but 2 of our rolls of vinyl, and I'm the guy who hops out of the truck and pulls the cart into the center of the roll. While hopping out I had my hands on top of the roll to steady myself and just hopped down, but I landed on the rollers and twisted my foot to the side, spraining my ankle and tearing everything on the left side of my left ankle (found this out later, all I knew was it hurt). This was at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and my boss rushed me straight home and told me that as long as it didn't swell it wasn't broken, and it would be fine by monday. So I went to work the next day and hopped around trying to do what I could with snapping lines and floor prep and the few things I could do on it. It was Friday, so I hoped the weekend would help. Both nights and the entire weekend I kept my foot up and used rice pads to keep it heated.
On monday I told my boss I think I need to go to the doctor. My ankle was the size of a softball, and my foot was so swollen I had to pull my laces out to where they couldn't be tied just to fit it in my shoe. He got angry and said they wouldn't do anything for me at all, and they'd force me to stop working and I wouldn't be able to pay my bills or anything. I've never hurt myself at work other than a piece of metal in my eye once that just resulted in getting it taken out and going back to work the next day, so I had and have no idea about workers comp.
I left early that day because of the pain, and the next day (tuesday, the 28'th) he started acting like I wasn't injured at all. I had to carry adhesive buckets (about 50 pounds a piece), a 100 pound roller, several cuts of vinyl that weighed over 70 pounds, and by the end of the day my ankle was far worse, which I showed him and he said he'd hurt his ankle before and it was totally normal.
The 29'th we were doing prep and line snapping, so I just hopped and limped my way through it.
The 30'th my ankle and foot were so swollen and bruised I couldn't put my shoe on, and I couldn't sleep the night before because no only was my ankle throbbing all the way up to my knee, but my other ankle, knee, and my back were all too sore from limping around and trying to carry things on one foot for me to get comfortable. I left for work and had my girlfriend schedule a docters appointment for me at 3:00 pm. I told my boss that I was going to see the docter, at which point he got completely irate, saying I didn't need to go to the docter and it would be fine, and all that would happen is I wouldn't be able to work and I'd lose my apartment and car etc. etc.
I went anyway, which resulted in a perscription for pain medication and an immediate x-ray. The Docter and X-ray tech both told me it took about half an hour for the docters office to be able to pull up my x-rays on their computer, but it ended up taking clear until Tuesday to get the results.
I was perscribed more pain pills, crutches, and told that everything was tore on the left side of my left ankle, but nothing was broken. They said I could go back to work but I was definitely not supposed to lift anything, and I should be on my crutches as often as possible and off them as little as possible. I was told my leg and ankle on the other foot were just sore and would be fine, but if my back pain doesn't stop I need to see a chyropractor or come back for more pain meds. I have a followup in 1 month.
I told my boss everything, and he plainly said 'I'm not carrying anything, that's your job. If you can't do it, I'll hire someone else until you see the docter again in a month'
So basically that's where I am now. My boss has disputed paying disability benefits, and refuses to help me with where I should go or what I should do. He even tried to talk the nurse into not giving me an X-ray, and gave me a total rat race trying to get his workers comp ID number to get my perscriptions.
I have signed up online to see the status of my case, but I've only found 2 lawyers that handle personal injury in my town. I called them both, and one my boss had already hired so he refused to help me or refer me to anyone else. The other ones secratery called me back and said we could meet to talk about my case as early as the second week of July.
I just have no idea what to do or what's involved at this point. I have no idea how I'm going to pay my bills, or even if I CAN go to a chyropractor without my boss telling me it's ok.
Any advice by email or here would be greatly appreciated
--Dan