I’ve seen scenarios like this several times. Someone gets hurt at work. The employer pulls together all his co-employees to say “He looked fine to me” and “I didn’t see anything happen.”
In this particular case, a roustabout fell working on the North Slope and hit his head. When he came home from work, his daughter noticed he seemed different and his neighbors noticed he was acting out of sorts. His daughter took him to a doctor who diagnosed a fluid build-up in the brain requiring surgical placement of a shunt to relieve pressure. His daughter filed a claim on his behalf.
The employer denied that there had been a fall. At the hearing, employer’s witnesses provided a videotape that claimed to prove he couldn’t have fallen in the way he described and his co-employees testified against him. The employer also submitted a “independent” employer medical evaluation by Dr. Lynne Bell who found “very strong evidence” of alcohol abuse and a “history of severe alcoholism” based upon a report that his wife, not the injured worker, had been an alcoholic. Nice.
But the injured worker won his case. The Board found that the employer’s witnesses and Dr. Bell were less credible than the employee, his daughter, and the second independent medical examiner, Dr. McCormack.
The morals of the story: Don’t expect your co-employees to testify for you. They don’t want to lose their safety bonuses or their jobs. Don’t expect your employer to admit you got hurt. They don’t want their insurance rates going up. And if the insurance company sends you to see Dr. Lynne Bell, you’re in for a fight. Might was as well find a lawyer now.
Keenan Powell has practiced Workers Compensation law in the State of Alaska for over 35 years and has dedicated her practice to Workers Compensation representing injured Alaskans handling hundreds of cases. www.keenanpowell.com.
All consultations are free. To make an appointment, email: keenan@keenanpowell.com or call: 907 258 7663.