This article is out of Canada but it's still relevant to injured workers in this country.Could a protracted battle for workers' compensation benefits be to blame for someone's death? The family of Jeff Thompson, a cable installer who fell and injured knee in 2004 and had been unable to work since, said the stress he suffered while fighting for workers' comp benefits contributed to his death.
The doctor who performed the autopsy told his family that Jeff Thompson died of a bleeding ulcer due to severe stress. But according to those who knew him, Mr. Thompson was killed by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.
While working for a cable installation company, Mr. Thompson injured his right knee in 2004 when he slipped and fell. He never fully recovered, and spent the few remaining years of his life nearly completely bound to his North Middlesex County home, arguing his workers compensation claim with the board.
Mr. Thompson's family received notice Monday that the WSIB will pay his burial expenses. However, it remained unclear whether it will accept any liability in his death, or address concerns his family has raised about how injured workers are treated throughout the claim process.
"I don't want other families to go through this, I want to be able to show that my brother had a legitimate injury and nobody needs to be spoken to and treated the way he was," said Colleen Mathers, Mr. Thompson's sister.
The family has requested an inquest, and has been waiting for the WSIB to release his files since his death on Feb. 10.
John Slinger, chief operating officer of the WSIB, said that it is against board policy to discuss individual cases publicly, but that he couldn't recall any cases in which the board was held responsible for the death of a worker due to stress.
According to the article, Thompson had been collecting workers' compensation benefits, but a government official threatened to take them away if Thompson didn't
The adjudicator threatened to end his benefits when Mr. Thompson didn't take steps to return to work. At the time, Thompson was in such extreme pain that he was taking morphine daily.
Thompson's family's argument isn't really that far fetched. It's not uncommon for injured workers or disabled workers to develop depression and stress-related conditions as they battle for benefits. In this country, there have been several stories about disabled people who have committed suicide while waiting for Social Security disability benefits. (The backlog for receiving those benefits is as long as two years in some places.)
