“So, we had the decedent on a table against the wall. We put the other guy’s stretcher right in front of it. Normally, it’s just sort of a slide maneuver. He was in a body bag, and even at that size, I figured he would slide over pretty easily. But uh, not so much. I took the upper half, the old man took the lower. One, two, three, we both pull, and the body doesn’t budge.
“So, we try again. One, two, three, we both pull. I give it everything I have, and I remember feeling this pop down in my back. That was only enough to move the body about halfway over. We go one more time. One, two, three, we pull, and then I just collapsed with this horrible shooting pain going down into my leg.”
“Ouch.” Hughie was typing on a keyboard audibly. “What happened then?”
“After I was done saying a lot of bad words, the removal guy went and got my manager. By that point, we’d already moved the body, so all that was left was strapping him in and then loading into the removal van.”
“I’m assuming at this point you’d informed your manager of your injury?”
“I did. But I still had two embalmings to do. I told him I’d go to the urgent care after I was done, but I couldn’t even finish one.” LA grimaced at the memory. “With the pain in my back and my leg as bad as it was, I ended up getting one of our removal techs to drive me.”
“Which urgent care did you go to?”
“The one over on Sunnyshade Lane. Fast RX or something, I think. They checked me out, said it was sciatica, and I strained my back. No lifting over ten pounds and put me out of work for a few days. I tell my manager and I think, hey, I’ll just be back at work on Monday. I’ve had lifting restrictions before from other injuries—”
“Other injuries?”
“Yeah, broke my wrist trying to catch a stretcher when it collapsed. But they let me keep working and I just had people help me move decedents, and I figured it would be the same thing this time. I show up to work and my manager tells me I have to leave and wait for the lifting restriction to be up.
“I go back for my follow-up with the urgent care guy and now he’s saying I need an MRI. I gotta have physical therapy. I have to get injections in my spine. Here’s all these drugs you have to take and patches, and hey, we can even try some acupuncture too. Workman’s comp got involved, so at least I was getting something to help cover my bills and shit, but there was nothing I could do to get my job to just take me back with the lifting restriction.”
“How long were you in physical therapy?”
“God.” LA tried to remember. “Almost five months? Maybe six. But I did it and they released me to go take this lifting test to actually see where I was at physically. Like, how much could I safely lift without hurting my back more.”
“So, you completed physical therapy and then had the lift test.”
“Yes. Got bumped up and cleared for up to fifty pounds.”
“Where at?”
“Arrow PT. The office on Blanche.”
“Got it.” Hughie paused, more keys clicked. “What does your job description say?”
“Seventy-five. Which would have been the heavy category, but the guy giving the test stopped me from trying to go any higher.”
“Okay, okay, and that’s in your report? That he had to stop you?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good.” Hughie typed some more. “When looking at a settlement, those sorts of details are important.”
“Wait.” LA frowned. “A settlement?”
“Yes. Workman’s compensation settlements. The laws in our state are not friendly for the employee. They’re definitely on the side of the employer. You can’t even sue them directly unless there are very specific circumstances. You’d have to prove that the injury was the result of malicious and intentional neglect. But! What we can do is ask for compensation for projected future medical expenses.”
“Wait, wait.” LA took a deep breath. “Back up a second.”
“Hmm?”
“Can you get my job back or not?”
Hughie paused. “You want to go back to the place where you got injured?”
“Yes! I, I thought there was a way to, I don’t know, sue them. Wrongful termination. Something. Anything.”
Hughie sighed and at least sounded genuinely sympathetic as he said, “Sorry, Mr. Holmes, but again, the law here is not on the side of the employee. You can be fired for any reason in this state. You’d have to prove some serious discrimination, or in the case of an injury, produce concrete evidence that they set you upto get hurt on purpose. Neither of which apply from what you’re telling me.”
