Update: Franklin Law refers the vast majority of workers’ compensation-related inquiries that it receives to The Law Office of Antony Singleton, a firm that shares with Franklin Law a long standing commitment to workers rights and social justice. Due to excessive demand, the earliest available workers’ compensation-related consultations are being booked in October of 2019. We are however happy to refer workers’ compensation inquiries to other firms, clinics, and services in the interim.
Ontario’s workers’ compensation legislation is called the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (“the Act“). It is administered by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“the WSIB”) and sets out employees’ entitlements to a variety of benefits when they are injured at work.
You suffered serious injuries when you were injured at work and were unable to return for several weeks. Your doctor has since told you that you are ready to return to work and has even given you a list of restrictions to provide to your employer so that it can provide you with modified work. When you return to work, your employer puts you to work in a position that is inconsistent with your physical restrictions. Faced with the choice of returning to work or re-injuring yourself, you do the right thing and refuse to work until your employer provides you with work in line with your restrictions. When you applied for benefits from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“WSIB”), the WSIB initially approved your claim. But now the WSIB claims that you are no longer entitled to benefits because you refused to cooperate in your employer’s return to work process. You expected your employer to contest your claim but you didn’t expect that a Claims Adjudicator at the WSIB – the agency that was established precisely for the purpose of providing workers like you with compensation when they get hurt at work – would pose the greatest obstacle to securing the benefits you deserve. Every day that passes is another day without work and without wages.
This is not the time for quick uninformed decision making. Decisions you make about whether or not you appeal the WSIB’s decision, use banked sick days, use vacation days or apply for short-term or long-term disability benefits, can have significant consequences for your future health and financial well-being. In order to figure out what to do next, you need information that you can trust. Now is the time to speak to a lawyer who has “hands on” experience appealing negative workers compensation decisions on behalf of injured workers at the WSIB and at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (“WSIAT”). Now is the time to figure out what steps you need to take to give yourself the best opportunity of reversing the WSIB’s decision and securing the benefits you deserve.
Now is the time to give Franklin Law a call and set up a Consultation. Figuring out the best way to deal with negative workers compensation decisions and secure the compensation you deserve often requires legal training and “hands on” occupational health and safety experience that most employees and many lawyers simply do not have.
Before becoming a lawyer, Ron Franklin completed a graduate degree in occupational health and safety, and worked as an occupational health and safety manager, industrial hygienist and consultant for close to six years in the industrial, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors. Franklin Law understands the challenges faced by injured workers and provides them with strategic advice and effective representation in WSIB and WSIAT claims, reconsiderations, and appeals.
Franklin Law also works closely with, and frequently refers cases to, Antony Singleton at the Law Office of Antony Singleton. Ron and Antony have known each other for close to a decade, and although they are in different firms, they share a common vision when it comes to working with, and fighting for, employees who have been injured at work. Franklin Law’s ability to refer cases to the Law Office of Antony Singleton and the ability of both firms to work together and leverage their collective experience in appropriate cases is another reason why you should give Franklin Law a call.