What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Connecticut
I started working at an indoor water park here in Connecticut about 3 months ago. Exactly 1 month ago on November 19th, 2008 I was heading to the time clock to punch out and right before I got to the door another employee came running through the door in the direction I was coming from. The door slammed over my foot and my foot was stuck under and I could see my bone and lots of blood.
The company filled out paperwork while I waited for an ambulance and I spent the rest of the night in the hospital. I received 9 stitches but according to the Xrays there were no broken bones. The hospital gave me nothing for my pain.
The next day I was in so much pain I called the hospital and asked them if they can give me something for the pain. I was rudely informed that I would have to be seen all over again to get something for the pain. Having spent the marjority of the day before in the hospital I wasn't about to go back. Three days after my foot was injured my foot which is usually boney and skinny looked like it was ready to pop. My ankle was swollen and my entire foot was swollen. The skin on top was stretched out and you could see lines from the pressure on my skin. I went back to the hospital and they gave me a prescription for Motrin.
My work told me to either return to work or see a doctor. I saw a doctor and he prescribed me Vicodin and kept me out of work until two weeks after the injury.
I only earn $9.50/hr and having only worked 2 days the week of my injury, my paycheck was for only $100. The next two checks I didn't receive because I was at home resting and obviously didn't work. When I was able to return to work I worked for one day and had no money left to buy gas to get back to work, so I missed another two days. This meant I received only $50 for that paycheck.
I've been contacting my work's insurance company and 2 weeks ago was told that my check would be received by me within 3 days so I borrowed money from 2 people and promised to pay it back my Monday since I was supposed to receive my check by Saturday. The following Tuesday still no check so I called Zurich and heard the voicemail from my claim rep saying he was indefinitely out of the office. I couldn't reach anyone because their office closes at 4:30pm.
To make a longer story short, I was passed around between 3 or 4 claim reps until I was stuck with this very rude woman. I asked her about the check status and she rudely told me that she would have to review my claim because she just got it. I asked if it would take long because I missed two days of work simply because I can't afford gas. She told me that they are not responsible for that and I told her that I wasn't saying they were responsible, I was simply stating the fact that I need my check because I can't get to work.
I asked her why this is happening since I was told I would have the check by now and she told me that she doesn't know why I was told that and that I shouldn't have been told that. I asked her if she can tell me when to expect a call back from her and she said I don't know maybe tomorrow. So about 4 days later I called her back since not hearing from her and she told me she was waiting to hear back from my work. I quickly called work and they stated how disappointed they were with Zurich and my human resources person called Zurich and then I received a call from the rude woman at Zurich stating my work was going to be sending the paperwork for her to verify that I wasn't at work. I couldn't believe that it's been nearly a month and I'm struggling so much and she's finally telling my work that she needs documentation.
This was about a week ago now and when I try to call her I get to her voicemail and haven't had my calls returned yet.
I have become depressed over the past few weeks because I can't afford to buy any food, my car payment is late, my insurance was cancelled and my cell phone is going to be shut off. I can't go anywhere or do anything. I've told work and they don't seem to want to hear about my problems, nor does Zurich.
To anyone reading this it may not seem bad but to try and live without getting paid is impossible. I've lost 20 pounds! from not eating and several times have thought about ending my life because I am depressed about this entire situation.
No one wants to hear about my problem but it is not fair to me because I was always on-time to work and hadn't missed any days since this happened. Now I feel I've become a burden to everyone around me, friends and family and coworkers all because someone was in a hurry and injured my foot. We wear flip-flops since I am a lifeguard and obviously flip flops do not offer any protection.
Every day I hope that my check will be here but I still can't get in touch with anyone over at Zurich to even verify when or if my check was sent yet. My bills are becoming overdue and I'm hungry. I am a smoker and I can't afford to buy cigarettes so I have become extra stressed out and it has majorly affected my relationship with my girlfriend.
I think it is completely unfair for me to be suffering like this but I don't know what to do. I promised friends and family I would repay them the $20 I borrowed for gas weeks ago and have broken my promise because the original claim rep wasn't truthful when he said I would receive my check within 3 days. I missed another day of work today because I can't afford to buy any gas at all nor any food.
How can no one be responsible when my life has changed and I've become depressed over this situation? Another worry, although the least of my worries at this time, is the fact that the toe that received the impact of the door now hangs about half an inch lower than all my other toes so whenever I walk barefoot (which is what I do at work since we aren't allowed to patrol the water with footwear on) or put on socks or shoes, my toe catches and bends downward which hurts. I imagine I will have this problem for the rest of my life and I can't stand to think how I'm struggling to eat. Again I've lost 20 LBS because I haven't been able to eat, and I've also had to stop going to the gym because my membership is overdue.
I have googled some things and it looks like there is nothing I can do, but how is that possible when this situation has affected me so much that I sometimes contemplate suicide so I don't have to deal with the problems that have come from this.
Is there anything that I can do in order to buy food or to pay my bills? I have been patiently waiting for weeks now and it seems there's no end in site. If my car gets repossessed because of this I don't know what I'll do. I should have been able to carry on financially as if I continued to work since the injury was not at all my fault. If the other employee wasn't running through the door just as I was reaching for the handle this would have never happened, so why is he able to continue having fun and working when I can't afford to get to work and can't afford to eat or pay my bills? How can no one be responsible and why should I have to deal with this all by myself?
I started working at an indoor water park here in Connecticut about 3 months ago. Exactly 1 month ago on November 19th, 2008 I was heading to the time clock to punch out and right before I got to the door another employee came running through the door in the direction I was coming from. The door slammed over my foot and my foot was stuck under and I could see my bone and lots of blood.
The company filled out paperwork while I waited for an ambulance and I spent the rest of the night in the hospital. I received 9 stitches but according to the Xrays there were no broken bones. The hospital gave me nothing for my pain.
The next day I was in so much pain I called the hospital and asked them if they can give me something for the pain. I was rudely informed that I would have to be seen all over again to get something for the pain. Having spent the marjority of the day before in the hospital I wasn't about to go back. Three days after my foot was injured my foot which is usually boney and skinny looked like it was ready to pop. My ankle was swollen and my entire foot was swollen. The skin on top was stretched out and you could see lines from the pressure on my skin. I went back to the hospital and they gave me a prescription for Motrin.
My work told me to either return to work or see a doctor. I saw a doctor and he prescribed me Vicodin and kept me out of work until two weeks after the injury.
I only earn $9.50/hr and having only worked 2 days the week of my injury, my paycheck was for only $100. The next two checks I didn't receive because I was at home resting and obviously didn't work. When I was able to return to work I worked for one day and had no money left to buy gas to get back to work, so I missed another two days. This meant I received only $50 for that paycheck.
I've been contacting my work's insurance company and 2 weeks ago was told that my check would be received by me within 3 days so I borrowed money from 2 people and promised to pay it back my Monday since I was supposed to receive my check by Saturday. The following Tuesday still no check so I called Zurich and heard the voicemail from my claim rep saying he was indefinitely out of the office. I couldn't reach anyone because their office closes at 4:30pm.
To make a longer story short, I was passed around between 3 or 4 claim reps until I was stuck with this very rude woman. I asked her about the check status and she rudely told me that she would have to review my claim because she just got it. I asked if it would take long because I missed two days of work simply because I can't afford gas. She told me that they are not responsible for that and I told her that I wasn't saying they were responsible, I was simply stating the fact that I need my check because I can't get to work.
I asked her why this is happening since I was told I would have the check by now and she told me that she doesn't know why I was told that and that I shouldn't have been told that. I asked her if she can tell me when to expect a call back from her and she said I don't know maybe tomorrow. So about 4 days later I called her back since not hearing from her and she told me she was waiting to hear back from my work. I quickly called work and they stated how disappointed they were with Zurich and my human resources person called Zurich and then I received a call from the rude woman at Zurich stating my work was going to be sending the paperwork for her to verify that I wasn't at work. I couldn't believe that it's been nearly a month and I'm struggling so much and she's finally telling my work that she needs documentation.
This was about a week ago now and when I try to call her I get to her voicemail and haven't had my calls returned yet.
I have become depressed over the past few weeks because I can't afford to buy any food, my car payment is late, my insurance was cancelled and my cell phone is going to be shut off. I can't go anywhere or do anything. I've told work and they don't seem to want to hear about my problems, nor does Zurich.
To anyone reading this it may not seem bad but to try and live without getting paid is impossible. I've lost 20 pounds! from not eating and several times have thought about ending my life because I am depressed about this entire situation.
No one wants to hear about my problem but it is not fair to me because I was always on-time to work and hadn't missed any days since this happened. Now I feel I've become a burden to everyone around me, friends and family and coworkers all because someone was in a hurry and injured my foot. We wear flip-flops since I am a lifeguard and obviously flip flops do not offer any protection.
Every day I hope that my check will be here but I still can't get in touch with anyone over at Zurich to even verify when or if my check was sent yet. My bills are becoming overdue and I'm hungry. I am a smoker and I can't afford to buy cigarettes so I have become extra stressed out and it has majorly affected my relationship with my girlfriend.
I think it is completely unfair for me to be suffering like this but I don't know what to do. I promised friends and family I would repay them the $20 I borrowed for gas weeks ago and have broken my promise because the original claim rep wasn't truthful when he said I would receive my check within 3 days. I missed another day of work today because I can't afford to buy any gas at all nor any food.
How can no one be responsible when my life has changed and I've become depressed over this situation? Another worry, although the least of my worries at this time, is the fact that the toe that received the impact of the door now hangs about half an inch lower than all my other toes so whenever I walk barefoot (which is what I do at work since we aren't allowed to patrol the water with footwear on) or put on socks or shoes, my toe catches and bends downward which hurts. I imagine I will have this problem for the rest of my life and I can't stand to think how I'm struggling to eat. Again I've lost 20 LBS because I haven't been able to eat, and I've also had to stop going to the gym because my membership is overdue.
I have googled some things and it looks like there is nothing I can do, but how is that possible when this situation has affected me so much that I sometimes contemplate suicide so I don't have to deal with the problems that have come from this.
Is there anything that I can do in order to buy food or to pay my bills? I have been patiently waiting for weeks now and it seems there's no end in site. If my car gets repossessed because of this I don't know what I'll do. I should have been able to carry on financially as if I continued to work since the injury was not at all my fault. If the other employee wasn't running through the door just as I was reaching for the handle this would have never happened, so why is he able to continue having fun and working when I can't afford to get to work and can't afford to eat or pay my bills? How can no one be responsible and why should I have to deal with this all by myself?