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158 Responses to Seen something interesting?

  1. Devastated academic June 8, 2012 at 9:51 AM #

    Over 185 staff and students have reported bullying at the University of Newcastle.  Their reports are all similar and the lack of action against bullying and the promotion of the bullies is all alarmingly the same.  This blog  http://stop-b-uon.blogspot.com.au/ just shows that the advantages of education do not stretch to ethical behaviour.

    Reply
  2. Injured June 8, 2012 at 3:09 PM #

    Workcover scare campaign: Union

    08 Jun, 2012 04:00 AM

    Union perspective

    The Australian Workers’ Union has dismissed the NSW government’s push for changes to worker’s compensation as a political scare campaign that misrepresents the facts.

    Burrinjuck MP Katrina Hodgkinson warned last week that local businesses could be forced to slash jobs and curtail growth in a bid to meet higher premiums. The Tribune reported the WorkCover scheme is currently under scrutiny as a parliamentary inquiry looks at ways to address a $4 billion deficit.

    It proposes to cut protection for employees travelling to and from work, reduce payouts at 13 weeks instead of the current 26 weeks for totally incapacitated workers, cease medical expenses and weekly benefits at two-and-a-half years, and discontinue separate claims to compensate for pain and suffering.

    Yass resident and AWU representative Robert O’Neill said if the changes proposed by the NSW government were implemented, it was the workers and their families who would lose out.

    “The efforts of Ms Hodgkinson to whip up fears about forced job cuts, curtailed growth and increasing cost of everyday products wrongly assumes the NSW government has only two choices: to massively increase premiums or to strip away much needed protections for workers in NSW,” he said.

    However, he said the deficit was already decreasing slowly by around $95 million each year. He said premiums paid by NSW employers had actually fallen by more than 33 per cent since 2005.

    “Cost reductions could instead be achieved by improving workplace health and safety. Less injuries mean less claims, which means less costs.”

    “If employees aren’t angry now about these changes proposed by Ms Hodgkinson and her government, they certainly will be if they ever suffer a work-related injury or illness. Time and again I meet workers who have been injured at work; who can no longer lift up their kids, or play football with their families and friends; who can’t return to the job they once loved and are struggling to retrain and re-skill; who have lost their homes because they no longer have the earning capacity they had before.

    Medical perspective

    Yass doctor Ray Burn said he had several patients on his books who had suffered major injuries at work, many of whom were still going to work despite suffering pain.

    “They are not bludgers who are going to fish in Yass River,” he said. “The implication is that these people are rorting the system.” But they were ordinary workers who would suffer under the proposed cuts.

    For example, workers who suffered a heart attack from overwork or those who went on stress leave might not be covered under changes to the substantial contribution clause.

    “They’ll say his family has a history of heart attack, or his cholesterol is seven, or he doesn’t go to the gym – because he’s overworking – so therefore [work is] not the substantial cause [of injury]”

    He was concerned benefits would be cut after five years for all except the most catastrophic cases such as permanent brain damage. Cutting claims for journeys to and from work were also a worry, particularly with the state of the Barton Highway.

    “The government has chosen to ignore the inefficiencies of the WorkCover system.” They spend too much money on funding “people who are there to bully doctors to certify [workers] are fit for work when they are not.”

    http://www.yasstribune.com.au/news/local/news/general/workcover-scare-campaign-union/2583429.aspx?storypage=0

    Reply
  3. workcovervictim3 June 9, 2012 at 12:29 PM #

    As received via email from “R”- “I think that the Age Discrimination Commissioner Ms Ryan, should write this wonderful caring Rehab Providers story. OH&S theory of  not covering older peoples degeneration problems. This would make workcover premiums lower for the employers!!! WTF.”

    US appeals court revives claim against Department of Labor

    * OSHA accused of acquiescing in hiding workplace injuries

    * GAO said companies, workers fear injury disclosures

    By Jonathan Stempel

    May 30 (Reuters) – A federal appeals court has revived a claim by a former senior Department of Labor official who says he was fired because he publicly criticized his agency for letting companies underreport workplace injuries.

    Saying a 1989 federal law reflects Congress’ desire to protect whistleblowers, the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday said Robert Whitmore, a former head of the recordkeeping group in the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration arm, deserves a new chance to show his 2009 firing was the result of retaliation.

    It said a federal Merit Systems Protection Board judge wrongly ignored evidence to support Whitmore’s claim that he was fired for publicly alleging that OSHA was acquiescing in low injury and illness reports, hampering its investigative and enforcement activity. The Labor Department maintained it fired the 37-year department veteran over his disruptive behavior.

    “Despite Robert Whitmore’s highly unprofessional and intimidating conduct, which may well ultimately justify some adverse personnel action, he is nevertheless a bona fide whistleblower” deserving the “full scope of protection” under the federal Whistleblower Protection Act, Judge Jimmie Reyna wrote for a three-judge appeals court panel.

    “Whistleblowing provides an important public benefit that must be encouraged when necessary by taking away fear of retaliation,” the judge added. “Congress decided that we as a people are better off knowing than not knowing about such violations and improper conduct.”

    Paula Dinerstein, a lawyer for Whitmore, had no immediate comment. Whitmore could not immediately be reached. The U.S. Department of Justice, which argued the Labor Department’s case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    In 2009, the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan Congressional watchdog, said many companies underreport work-related injuries and illnesses because they fear higher workers’ compensation costs or the loss of contracts. That same report said workers may underreport injuries because they fear retaliation, or the loss of rewards based on safety records.

    OSHA has said there were 3.06 million nonfatal and 4,690 fatal workplace injuries and illnesses in the U.S. private sector in 2010.

    Whitmore had in 2005 spoken to the Oakland Tribune regarding injury data related to construction work on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, The next year he assisted in a Charlotte Observer probe into unreported injuries in the poultry processing industry.

    By late 2006, Whitmore began having confrontations at work, culminating in an July 2007 argument where he accused his supervisor of spitting on him and threatened to “knock him into the basement,” the decision said.

    Whitmore was then put on paid administrative leave for two years before being let go. He claimed to have had consistently strong performance reviews until his last few years with OSHA.

    The Federal Circuit said the MSPB judge handling Whitmore’s case never properly assessed whether the Labor Department would have taken the same actions had he not been a whistleblower.

    It also said the judge should have examined any role the Labor Department may have had in sparking Whitmore’s behavior.

    The case is Whitmore v. Department of Labor, U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 2011-3084. (Reporting By Jonathan Stempel in Toronto; editing by M.D. Golan)

    Reply
  4. WorkcoverVictim June 11, 2012 at 1:56 PM #

    Victory over cyber bullies: Legal first as High Court orders Facebook to reveal trolls who tormented mother for defending X Factor star

    • Nicola Brookes, 45, was targeted by internet trolls after posting message of support for X-Factor contestant Frankie Cocozza
    • The mother, who doesn’t even watch X-Factor, wrote message supporting singer on his official Facebook page after her daughter showed her his page
    • Abusers created fake profile with her picture and posted sick messages to lure young girls
    • The single mother is the first person ever to bring a court case privately to track down those who abused her
    • She was forced to take action after police refused to intervene
    • Despite the abuse, Nicola is STILL on Facebook

    read article here

    Kindly sent in by “R” with huge thanks :)

    Reply
  5. WorkcoverVictim June 11, 2012 at 2:03 PM #

    AUSTRALIAN actor Jason Gann said last week he pleaded guilty to punching a bus driver only to escape a criminal conviction that would have stopped him working in the United States.

    The star of TV comedy Wilfred, who plays a bong-smoking dog, broke his silence for the first time to reveal his bitter regret at not defending the Derby Day common assault charge, which he claims will see him almost $1 million out of pocket.

    This week Mr Gann was ordered to pay $325,000 compensation to driver Joseph Hosny, who claimed in civil proceedings he suffered depression as a result of post-traumatic stress stemming from the assault at the Spring Racing Carnival at Flemington in November 2007.

    He also had to pay a $113,000 compensation claim from WorkCover, which paid Mr Hosny’s medical fees.

    There are also court costs and Mr Gann’s own legal fees of about $300,000 to settle.

    Mr Gann pleaded guilty in 2008 to having unlawfully assaulted Mr Hosny, 50, after a row on a packed shuttle bus from a corporate marquee to the train station.

    As it was a first offence and Mr Gann pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, he was spared a conviction so he could continue his acting career in the US.

    Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Herald Sun from Los Angeles, Mr Gann said he wanted his fans to know he was not a violent person.

    “I wanted to fight this, but the advice was if I did and lost, the judge would be obliged to record a conviction and then I wouldn’t have a career in the States. (WTF!)

    Kindly sent in via email by “R” :) :) :)

    Reply
  6. workcovervictim June 14, 2012 at 7:41 PM #

    We’re refraining from making any comments….

     

    vkbluemeanie1.jpgDownload | View
    vkbluemeanie2.jpgDownload | View
    Reply
  7. workcovervictim June 17, 2012 at 6:39 PM #

    Injured worker under surveillance!

    Thanks for sharing Grathom ;)

    Reply
  8. Interesting June 18, 2012 at 1:52 AM #

    http://pitoolbox.com.au/

    Reply
  9. workcovervictim June 19, 2012 at 11:02 AM #

    Media union to fight ‘government control

    From: AAP, March 02, 2012 9:05PM

    GIVING a statutory body the power to force news outlets to publish an apology smacks of government control, the media union says.

    An independent media inquiry, headed by former Federal Court judge Ray Finkelstein QC, has recommended that a News Media Council be created to regulate news and current affairs coverage in print, online, radio and television.

    It would combine the roles of Australian Press Council and relevant functions of the Australian Communications and Media Authority to enforce standards and deal with complaints.

    But Christopher Warren, the federal secretary of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, said government regulation of the media should be resisted.

    “Where the Media Alliance parts company with Mr Finkelstein is this notion that a government can somehow impose self-regulation on the news industry by statute,” he said.

    “As far as we are concerned, a government-funded body with the power to determine what newspapers should and shouldn’t publish smacks of an attempt to impose government control on a free press.”

    Under Mr Finkelstein’s proposal, the News Media Council would be an independent statutory body funded by the government instead of the current arrangement where industry funds the Press Council.

    It would have the power to require news outlets to publish an apology, correction, retraction or give a person a right of reply.

    http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/media-union-to-fight-government-control/story-e6frf7jx-1226287765316

    Sent in by our co-author, Trinny [who's a having a hard time with RTW ]

    Reply
  10. workcovervictim3 June 19, 2012 at 6:24 PM #

    Well, WTF, I just checked my Twitter DMs (Direct Messages) and look what came up? What has CGU Insurance to do with advertising for cheap drugs without prescription????

    cgu-twitter.jpgDownload | View
    Reply
    • Yeah June 29, 2012 at 12:32 PM #

      Looks like someone had their Twitter account hacked. I wonder if any customer information was lost.

      Reply
  11. workcovervictim June 19, 2012 at 7:54 PM #

    Although US based, this PI site may be of interest. The author of this site contacted us via email:

    “Hi,
    I recently discovered your blog and read the article “Workcover
    Private Investigators Must Adhere to Act and Code of Conduct.” I found
    it very informational.
    I manage a blog, Sheer Investigations, that recently posted an article
    on “When the Public Plays P.I.” We also cover fraud, scams and more. I believe that the information we cover in our blog would also be a
    great fit for your readers. To get a sense of what our blog is about
    Please let me know what you think, and if you would be interested in informing your readers about our blog.”
    ————————
    Thanks “SheerInvestigations” for sharing your blog! – quite like the “when the public plays PI” article !
    Reply
  12. WorkcoverVictim June 21, 2012 at 8:41 AM #

    Whilst Barry the Butcher is ruining injured workers’ lives, causing havoc and lining HIS and the workers comp insurers pockets, our neighbours in New Zealand are doing the RIGHT thing by boosting funding to workplace health and safety funding by $37 Million!

    Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson recently announced that New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety will receive a $37 million boost over the next 4 years. Wilkinson also has ordered a full review of the country’s health and safety system by an independent taskforce to ensure it is fit-for-purpose.”Too many New Zealanders are injured or killed at work. People have a right to know that when they leave for work in the morning, they will be coming home safe and well at the end of the day,” she said.The extra funding will be used to increase the number of front-line health and safety inspectors,  support targeted health and safety initiatives, improve data sharing and analysis etc.”This investment will bolster the health and safety inspectorate and support initiatives to help improve the culture of workplace safety in New Zealand.”  The number of inspectors will increase to 180 over three years – a 20 percent increase that will place New Zealand in line with Australia, Wilkinson said. “We have seen from the success of the High Hazards Unit the importance of having the right people on the ground working closely with businesses,” she said. “I have set a target of a 25 percent reduction in workplace deaths and serious injuries by 2020. A strong and effective regulator is the cornerstone of any health and safety system, and this funding will help ensure this target is met.”"We need to know whether our current health and safety system is fit-for-purpose and provides the right base to reduce workplace harm,” Wilkinson noted. “Our health and safety legislation is now 20 years old. This review is timely, particularly with the rebuild in Canterbury gearing up, and the Royal Commission due to report back in September.”The additional funding is a result of contributions to the Health and Safety in Employment Levy.

    Wow, but wow, just look at NZ !!!

    Reply
  13. Dominic June 23, 2012 at 10:21 PM #

    When are you gong to have forum that BANGS into the General Insurance industry… Seriously the junket sex tours and the so called closeness of business partnerships need to.be exposed…see one of many [censored]Towel is soon to retire and take his shameful involvement in the way he commuted years ago the Hardie claims that led to the limited claim funds and bastardised behaviour. This ” man” is a blight on good governance. From NZI to Suncorp to Allianz
    he and two close associates have wreaked havoc! One a senior claims executive the other a pathetic apparatchik who is a no body caught in the wings of the aggressive Towel. Meet him and you you know arrogance in its human form.
    Time to out them all and Terry’s horse interests and gambling with other industry rat bags…google ultimately reveals all!!!!

    Why did he hold on to half a billion of HIH funds when people were being tossed out of homes and businesses? A shameful period that is about to go un reported…it was a trust fund for HIH policy holders and he purported to be the saviour but forced a huge problem… The low behaviour with all the executive comforts whilst people struggled….

    Reply
  14. WorkcoverVictim June 29, 2012 at 10:38 AM #

    Mhhh…. if Ahhhlianz and the Victorian WorkCover Authority think we don’t know that they’re spying and snooping around…??? We also spy with our little injured eyes and have server logs to prove it! Remember that the injured workers network is extremely interconnected. Shame on you for trying to download the ENTIRE website/blog.
    Workcover Authority server logs. They have twice excessively downloaded too-many pages from this site triggering an Error 503 which blocks access for everyone for a time. Will Workcover support injured workers to speak about their bloody awful Allianz experience as they are bound to do under human rights to free speech or will they help Allianz silence injured workers? What do they think of Allianz trying to legally intimidate our NSW friends at aworkcovervictimsdiary.com Some Search terms related to workcover and Allianz that we have page ranking for. Allianz server search terms mostly from people without their own website to get any publicity for they way they have been treated by workcover and the bent insurance industry. Thousands of Australians are suffering in silence.

    Reply
    • WorkcoverVictim June 29, 2012 at 10:45 AM #

      They have accessed our ally’s site “Allianz Insurance, Lost documents, delayed payments, workplace insurance fraud on injured workers” hosted on Heretic Press and attempted to download this injured workers entire website and ours (aworkcovervictimsdiary) – what for?

      Reply
    • Someone June 29, 2012 at 12:30 PM #

      What is likely happenning is they want printouts of the whole site so that a case can be prepared to shut it down.

      They might, for example, contact your host and say to them they’ll get sued if they don’t remove certain content — they’ll likely cave in as no-one wants to be subjected to legal action.

      I would encourage everyone to start blogs of their own, all linking back to here with stories. That way, we injured workers have a network of sites that can replicate information.

      Reply
      • WorkcoverVictim June 29, 2012 at 12:41 PM #

        We know from our blog’s legal representative and adviser that we are not doing anything wrong on this site. We have NOTHING to hide, on the contrary!

        Reply
        • Jeff June 29, 2012 at 3:54 PM #

          I say let them go, my understanding is that if it is true and in the publics interest to know it cannot be slander/liable. I am certain we can drum up a few hundred witnesses through this site to march through court outlining their cases.
          Maybe we should start a class action against Workcover (mine is NSW) for pain and suffering or emotional stress caused by them.

          Reply
  15. WorkcoverVictim June 29, 2012 at 10:53 AM #

    On 02/05/12 Greg Pearce announced that Gavin Bell, CEO at Freehills (lawyers) had been appointed to the WorkCoverNSW board… despicable? check it out:
    https://twitter.com/WorkCoverWatch/status/218219335733354496/photo/1/large

    Reply
    • Someone June 29, 2012 at 12:26 PM #

      The important part of that annoucement is that Pearce worked for Freehills for 18 years.

      Freehills is the legal firm of choice for WorkCover and its agents — it’s used for the most difficult cases.

      What appears to have happened is Pearce has repaid Freehills for his 18 years of service there by giving its CEO a job on the board of WorkCover NSW.

      This is nothing short of jobs for the boys.

      Reply
  16. WorkcoverVictim June 29, 2012 at 8:08 PM #

    Accidental Shooting or Not? Claimant Shoots Private Investigator (in the USA)

    Tuesday, January 12, 2010
    51-year old William Wehnke was out-of-work this December, collecting workers’ compensation benefits. 26-year-old insurance investigator Matthew Brady of New Jersey was surveilling Wehnke, who was under investigation for insurance fraud.
    While filming Wehnke on his property, Brady was shot by Wehnke. Brady’s injuries included wounds to back, side, and leg. Brady required surgery to recover from his wounds, inflicted by Wehnke’s shotgun.
    Wehnke claims the shooting was accidental and that he was shooting at some turkeys in his field.
    Wehnke claimed that he “didn’t see” Brady crouching in a his field to obtain video surveillance footage. Wehnke claims he was shooting at the wild turkeys which were allegedly present. Challenging Wehnke’s story of an -ahum- ‘accidental’ shooting is the fact that the turkey season had been over (closed) for months and that he was allegedly using the wrong ammo for hunting turkeys (!)
    Wehnke has been charged with felony-degree assault and weapons charges. A grand jury handed down three indictments. This is the first case we are aware of in which an insurance investigator was shot.
    Without a doubt, Investigator Brady is due worker’s compensation benefits!

    Reply
  17. WorkcoverVictim July 2, 2012 at 9:20 AM #

    Lower Vic WorkCover premiums kick in

    Almost 60 per cent of Victorian businesses will benefit from the $57 million cut to WorkCover premiums now in effect, the state government says.

    The reduction in premiums from 1.338 per cent of employers’ remuneration to 1.289 per cent arrived with the new financial year on Sunday.

    “This will save three per cent on the average insurance premium rate for Victorian workplace injury insurance and will see premiums reduced by more than 10 per cent for almost 59,000 businesses,” Treasurer Kim Wells said in a statement.

    The government came under fire from unions and industry groups in March when it passed laws to take $471 million from WorkCover over four years to help keep its budget in the black.

    http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8492356

    Reply
  18. workcovervictim3 July 3, 2012 at 9:58 PM #

    Aw dear. Ahhhlianz has to write their own “media statement” again for nobody else will – and it’s ONLY a nomination…

    MEDIA STATEMENT 28 June 2012
    Allianz welcomes Insurer of the Year Award finalist nomination
    Allianz is pleased to be a finalist in the categories of Large General Insurance Company of
    the Year and Claims Service Provider of the Year at the 2012 Australian Insurance Industry
    Awards.
    The awards are hosted by the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and
    Finance (ANZIIF) and Asia Insurance Review.
    Commenting on Allianz’s nominations, Managing Director, Terry Towell, said “as the 2011
    winner of the General Insurance Company of the Year Award, we are delighted to be again
    short-listed in the corresponding Large General Insurance Company of the Year category in
    2012. It is particularly pleasing to also be a finalist in the Claims Service Provider of the Year
    Award given our relentless focus on improving customer service.”

    link: “http://www.allianzengage.com.au/engage/docs/CC0CEA869C44A5B7CA257A2B0021C5CF/$file/120628%20Allianz%20Media%20release%20-%20ANZIIF%20Finalists%202012.pdf”

    Reply
    • Ha... July 4, 2012 at 1:34 PM #

      We wonder whether the Allianz “Ladies” will be receiving any awards?

      Reply
  19. annie July 4, 2012 at 10:46 PM #

    Allianz’s Managing Director’s name is Terry Towell?
    Sorry, but is this a joke?

    “Relentless focus on improving customer service”??????????

    I honestly don’t know whether to laugh or throw up.

    Reply
  20. Michael Cole July 5, 2012 at 10:11 AM #

    The Federal Parliament’s Standing Committee on Education and Emplyment is running an Inquiry into Workplace Bullying.

    The things they are interested in hearing about can be found in the Terms of Reference (TOR).

    The due date was 29 June 2012, but there is still time to make a late submission.

    Copy / Paste this link into your browser:

    http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=ee/bullying/index.htm

    Reply
  21. workcovervictim3 July 5, 2012 at 10:20 AM #

    It seems that sacking workers for simply making a workers compensation claim does not only happen in Australia…

    Fired for Reporting Workplace Injury

    norfolk southernImagine this scenario – you get injured at work and then – double whammy – you get fired for reporting it. Even though it is illegal, some companies terminate employees for reporting work-related incidents and injuries.

    Norfolk Southern Railway Co. is among them and has been ordered by OSHA to pay out more than $800,000 after investigations found them in violations of Federal Railroad Safety Act whistleblower provisions.

    Three concurrent investigations were conducted by OSHA’s offices in Columbia, S.C., Nashville, TN, and Harrisburg, Pa. revealing evidence suggesting that employees’ reports of workplace injuries led to internal investigations and termination of employment with the company.

    A laborer in Greensville, S.C. was terminated in August 2009 after reporting being injured when hit by a company gang truck. The railroad charged the employee with improper performance of duties but OSHA later found that the employee was disparately treated in comparison to four other employees involved in the incident. The laborer was the only one injured in the incident, thus the only employee that reported an injury, and the only employee to be terminated.

    A Norfolk Southern engineer working in Louisville, KY, was terminated in March 2010 after reporting an injury stemming from a trip and fall incident in a locomotive restroom. The railroad, after an investigative hearing, charged that employee with falsifying his injury but OSHA found the hearing to be flawed and orchestrated to support the termination decision.

    The third termination occurred in July 2010 after a Harrisburg, Pa. railroad conductor reported a head injury after blacking out and falling down the steps while returning from the locomotive lavatory. The company’s hearing, presided over by management, deemed the employee guilty of falsifying a report of a work-related injury, failing to promptly report said injury and making false and conflicting statements.

    Contrary to such accusations, just the day before the injury, that employee had been commended for excellent performance and no lost work time due to injuries during his 35-year career. After their investigation, OSHA concluded that the hearing was flawed and that there was no evidence that the employee misrepresented or intended to misrepresent his injury.

    Subsequently, OSHA has ordered Norfolk Southern to pay out a total of $802, 168.70 to the three whistleblowers accounting for punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. In addition, the company has been ordered to remove any disciplinary records against the whistleblowers, post workplace notices regarding employees’ whistleblower protection rights and provide training to all employees about those rights.

    While this latest order comes on the heels of several others issued by OSHA against Norfolk Southern during the past year, evidently, OSHA investigations reveal that the company continues to retaliate against employees who report work-related injuries.

    Says Assistant Secretary of Labor Dr. David Michaels, “Firing workers for reporting an injury is not only illegal, it also endangers all workers. When workers are discouraged from reporting injuries, no investigation into the cause of an injury can occur. To prevent more injuries railroad workers must be able to report an injury without fear of retaliation.” He adds that the Labor Department will continue protecting all employees from retaliation for exercising their basic worker rights and any employer found to be violating those rights “will be held accountable.”

    http://thomasecon.com/14-spotlight/60-fired-for-reporting-workplace-injury.html

    Reply
  22. Ahhhh-puke July 5, 2012 at 1:28 PM #

    Latest instalment in Ahhhlianz ads:
    http://mumbrella.com.au/mercerbell-launches-ad-for-ahh-llianz-70297

    We were thinking they could do one for workers compensation where:

    - Case manager lies about the injured worker
    - Case manager arranges survaillance
    - Case manager laughing when she tells injured workers she “never got the email”
    - Case manager terminates payments
    - Case manager flies in a dodgy doctor from interstate
    - Case manager bullies and intimidates the injured worker

    These would be a more accurate representation of how Allianz does business across Australia.

    Reply
  23. workcovervictim July 7, 2012 at 3:34 PM #

    As spotted and kindly shared by John McPhilbin: “The French refer to bullying as ‘slow poison’ – this landmark case should serve to highlight just how crucial addressing bullying is – having been a target myself I know just how poisonous it is – Besides being committed to highlighting how pervasive it is in workplaces, I am also committed to highlighting it as a major problem in the NSW Workers Comp system . It’s only willful blindness that prevents people from understanding the full scope of this problem. It’s not until you’re a target of it or witness it first hand, that it becomes a concern. ”

    Boss’s bully culture is blamed for suicide crisis

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/bosss-bully-culture-is-blamed-for-suicide-crisis-20120706-21mfu.html#ixzz1zubeEwA6

    PARIS: The former chief executive of France Telecom is being investigated for workplace bullying after a spate of suicides at the phone company and its subsidiary Orange, in what could become a landmark criminal trial.

    Didier Lombard stepped down as head of the company in 2010 amid criticism of his handling of the suicide crisis; about 35 staff killed themselves in 2008 and 2009. Unions said a bullying culture had permeated the company.

    Details emerged of the anguish of staff who killed themselves, including one who set himself alight in front of his office in western France. Some workers left notes blaming work pressure, bullying and ”management by terror” while scores of other staff were saved after trying to kill themselves. One worker was found unconscious after taking an overdose at her desk.

    Unions complained of a culture of fear and depression, where managers did not take mental health seriously. Some union officials said the company had intentionally created a stressful environment to push employees into quitting.
    Advertisement

    During the crisis over the deaths, Mr Lombard caused outrage by referring to it as a ”suicide trend”.

    He is now accused of advocating tough management practices amounting to psychological harassment.

    The legal case is a first in France because Mr Lombard is not being singled out for targeting individuals, but for presiding over a collective bullying approach that spread across the company.

    It is the first time a French chief executive has been placed under judicial investigation in a workplace bullying case.

    ”I forcefully reject the idea that [restructuring] plans vital to the survival of the company might have been the cause of human tragedies,” Mr Lombard wrote in Le Monde newspaper.

    http://www.smh.com.au/world/bosss-bully-culture-is-blamed-for-suicide-crisis-20120706-21mfu.html#ixzz1zubKnvTS

    Reply
  24. injured July 10, 2012 at 6:47 PM #

    VICTORIAN firefighters who contract cancer that may have been caused by their job are not eligible for WorkCover payments, while those employed by the Commonwealth are able to claim compensation. [Now how on earth does this work????]

    Last year, Canberra passed legislation offering the small number of firefighters employed by the Commonwealth – mostly at airports – workers’ compensation coverage if they contracted one of 12 specified types of cancer.

    The state opposition and the Greens now want the Baillieu government to make Victorian firefighters eligible for WorkCover if they contract one of those cancers.

    Greens MP Adam Bandt, who introduced the WorkCover laws to the Federal Parliament, said last night Victoria should follow suit.
    Advertisement

    Although Victoria does not offer coverage to firefighters who develop cancer, several states in the United States and Canada do.

    An Australian Senate report last September said there was a higher incidence of certain cancers among firefighters than in the general population.

    The report said firefighters were more at risk of developing certain types of cancer due to exposure to carcinogens routinely encountered during their work.

    Ross Lindley, 52, from Bonbeach, began work as a firefighter at the Windsor fire station when he was 25.

    After 26 years on the job, the former leading firefighter is now on a disability pension after contracting multiple myeloma, one of the cancers on the Commonwealth list covering firefighters.

    Mr Lindley said firefighting was ”the best job in the world – I’d still be there if I could”.

    But in 2008, he began having severe back pain. ”We all just thought it was a burst or slipped disc.”

    Later he found out he had tumours over his back and ribs and a tumour in his spine.

    He is in now remission, and has ”a pretty good chance of survival”.

    Financially, though, things have not been easy. ”I have had to redraw on the house loan to cover it. I went for months without a wage, just living on what I had.”

    The state opposition’s WorkCover spokesman, Robin Scott, urged the government to consider providing coverage to Victorian firefighters who contracted job-linked cancers.

    ”This has not been a partisan issue federally, and I hope that the minister will respond quickly to the issues highlighted by the experience of Ross Lindley,” Mr Scott said.

    State Greens MP Colleen Hartland will introduce a bill to the Victorian Parliament this year to change the state laws.

    Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/fireys-miss-cancer-compo-20120517-1ytm4.html#ixzz20CvjZ3y5

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  25. WorkcoverVictim July 11, 2012 at 9:31 AM #

    DOZENS of abusers, including rapists who are still serving in the Australian Defence Force, have not only escaped punishment but have been protected and promoted, a damning review of our armed forces has found.

    The report by law firm DLA Piper accuses Defence Department management of failing to track perpetrators of abuse or to prevent them reoffending.It also alleges the military, like church and youth groups, has attracted people targeting boys for sex.

    The report said: “The apparent failure of Defence to call to account perpetrators of abuse and/or mismanagement of allegations of abuse in the past carries risks for Defence now because some of those persons may be in positions of senior and middle management within the ADF.”

    The $7 million, 1500-page review also pointed to a culture of cover-up and says a royal commission with the power to compel witnesses and legally test allegations was needed.

    Defence Minister Stephen Smith also made five other major policy and contract announcements yesterday.

    He hinted that the government favoured a top-level judicial inquiry and an apology that would open the floodgates to compensation claims that could include millions of dollars in capped payments, workers’ compensation and counselling.

    The review also found that many young people in Defence had suffered serious sexual and physical assault, but had not reported it.

    It said a key issue for a judicial inquiry would be to establish how many of the 24 people identified as rape suspects by a 1998 inquiry remained in the forces. Only eight of the 24 assaults were reported at the time.

    “It is likely that two former cadets graduated at the end of 1997 have each raped three female cadets,” the report says. If still serving, the officers would be major equivalents or above.

    A Perth barrister who was sexually abused at the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1989 has identified at least three senior officers who were involved, and another he alleges hounded him out of the military and covered it up.

    The review found the top three institutions where abuse occurred are HMAS Cerberus in Victoria, Kapooka army training base in southern NSW and the academy.

    The most common form of abuse was bullying followed by sexual assault and phys- ical assault.

    The review also raised serious concerns about the mental health of the victims of abuse.

    “It is possible that a substantial number of current and former ADF personnel have an elevated risk of suicide associated with their experience as victims of abuse in the ADF,” it said.

    Opposition defence spokesman David Johnston said the focus must be on ensuring there was justice and that the cultural change already under way in the ADF continued.

    “Justice delayed is justice denied. The Government needs to act quickly and sensitively on this and the first priority should be the complainants,” Senator Johnston said.

    http://www.news.com.au/national/defence-culture-allowed-rapists-to-be-promoted/story-fndo4bst-1226422953507

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