Injured Coast Guard employee protests cut income.
Herbert Thompson Jr. took his plight and his feeling on it to James Street on January 3 to make the public aware of his situation.
Cody Storm Cooper/North Star
PARRY SOUND - One local man is taking to the streets after his only source of income was cut off last month. Herbert Thompson Jr. worked for the Canadian Coast Guard for 20 years, until he was injured on the job in 2009.
According to Thompson, WSIB cut off his benefits a couple weeks before Christmas, alleging he is fit to return to his old job. Thompson, who said he’s in too much pain to perform his old duties, is now left without an income. In early January, Thompson donned a homemade sandwich board and picketed on Parry Sound streets to raise awareness about his situation.
November 13, 2009
The problem began the day he was injured - November 13, 2009.
“It’s a day I’ll never forget,” he said.
Thompson said he was working on a barge that was lowered over the side of the ship on the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall. His only duty was to operate the pressure washer when the crew arrived at the job site. They’d planned to clean off a light station, he said.
A coast guard cadet was driving the barge at the time, said Thompson, noting it’s usually an officer’s job. The barge hit rock and Thompson took a great deal of impact down his spine.
According to Thompson, himself and a coworker waited nearly three hours for crew to come up and help them off the rocks - but no rescue specialists were sent up.
Thompson said it was the next evening before he was taken to a hospital. By that time his back had seized up and he’d put on his own neck brace. At Brockville General Hospital a doctor gave Thompson some painkillers and advised his supervisor that he was to return home and see his family doctor. The Coast Guard arranged for him to take a train home the next morning.
“First the (Coast Guard employees) made me late for my train - which they sent me in coach class, but I had to pack my own bag and carry my own bag out to the vehicle driving me to the train station,” he said. “This is the Canadian Coast Guard - we’re supposed to be professionals.”
Brian LeBlanc, regional director of fleet in the coast guard’s central and Arctic region, said the department is required to promptly render first aid and provide transportation to a medical facility, if required, but couldn’t comment on Thompson’s injury specifically, for privacy reasons.
“All Coast Guard vessels carry rescue specialists who are trained and equipped in an advanced level of first aid,” he said in an emailed response. “In addition to our rescue specialists, the Coast Guard has around-the-clock access to physicians via ship-to-shore radio calls. If the situation warrants, the employee will be evacuated from the ship and taken to hospital as quickly and safely as possible.”
After Thompson’s six months of sick leave ran out, he was transferred to WSIB - which has now cut him off for the second time.
Last winter, WSIB arranged for Thompson to complete a six-week back-to-work physiotherapy program in Huntsville. When he refused, attributing the unsafe winter driving conditions, WSIB then offered to put him up at a local Huntsville motel - which he also refused.
“I told them I have the best support system here right now, with people that care about me and are helping me,” he said. “(WSIB) said I was being uncooperative and cut me off.”
The union with the Coast Guard eventually stepped in and reverted Thompson back to a sick leave. Shortly after, WSIB resumed sending regular cheques – on top of the money he was receiving for sick leave.
Thompson reported the mistake and only recently has finished paying back $15,000 to the Coast Guard from the mistake.
Thompson said WSIB’s decision to cut him off a month ago, is the result of a meeting between himself, the Canadian Coast Guard and WSIB in Sarnia.
Pain
According to Thompson, doctors working in conjunction with WSIB had deemed him fit to return to his old job - but he was still in intense pain.
“I’m not going back to work until Health Canada tells me I can,” he said.
It’s common practice for the Canadian Coast Guard to provide accommodations or to modify work duties for employees with injuries, said LeBlanc.
“Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the (Coast Guard) have disability management and return-to-work processes to help employees with injuries, illnesses or disabilities remain or return to work in a safe and timely manner,” he said.
At the meeting, Coast Guard offered him a “desk job” in Sarnia, which Thompson said wasn’t an option.
“There was no consideration as to my life here in Parry Sound,” he said. “My life partner has kids here, she just can’t pick up her life and move there. WSIB didn’t try and get me local rehabilitation, and no one is offering me work I can do in the area. In the meantime, I got 10 weeks of physiotherapy at Parry Sound Active Rehabilitation.”
Thompson said one doctor with Health Canada recommended he apply for long-term disability benefits.
WSIB
Christine Arnott, media relations specialist with WSIB, said she couldn’t comment on Thompson’s case, for privacy reasons, but did note WSIB does not employ their own doctors to make assessments.
“In some cases, we may pay for an injured worker to be assessed and/or treated in evidence-based programs of care and in multidisciplinary specialized clinics,” she said in an emailed response. “The WSIB relies on all health care providers involved in a claim to supply timely health or medical and functional abilities information to allow us to make timely decisions on both benefits and to assist with return to work.”
Arnott said when it comes to back-to-work programs, WSIB makes every effort to ensure an injured worker receives treatment as close to their home as possible.
“When this isn’t possible, we will make the necessary accommodations to ensure the injured worker gets the treatment they need.”
According to Arnott, when it comes to back-to-work programs, communications and cooperation towards a common goal is essential.
“An injured worker is required to cooperate with their employer and the WSIB in early and safe return to work efforts,” she said. “In the case of a return-to-work dispute, the case manager can arrange for a return-to-work specialist to assist in resolution. If this doesn’t result in a satisfactory resolution, the worker can launch a formal appeal.”
Thompson’s case with WSIB is in the process of appeal, but he hasn’t heard any news yet. His recent doctor’s reports show he has a crook in his neck, which is in the early stages of developing arthritis, he said, noting he was recommended to seek treatment in Toronto for mild facial pain as well as treatment in Markham for back and neck pain. Right now, he’s managing the pain from home.
“I’m not bad when I wake up after a good night’s sleep,” he said in early January. “Throughout the day, though, I get headaches, pain in my neck and a tremendous amount of lower back pain. I can honestly say I haven’t been the nicest person to hang around with.”
His partner, Shelly Hazzard, said along with physical stress, there’s mental stress to deal with.
“It’s trying to get better,” she said. “You have to struggle so hard, you don’t really feel supported in any of it. It’s a lot of mental strain - when you’ve carried a job for 20 years you think you’re secure.”
Thompson said he’ll continue to picket on the street, when he’s able.
“I would have liked to have been given the option to remain an employee locally,” he said. “I’m under the understanding that in this country now, if you don’t take a stand, no one is going to take a stand for you. I’ve had enough - I’m getting out there and doing something about it.”