I have read all the horror stories here and agree that the current
system (i am in GA) needs a BIG overhaul. Let me start with my story.
It is very complicated so i will be short.
About 6 months ago i had a small accident at work (major
manufacturing plant), But the plant nurse sent me to thier W.C. dr. He
told me i had a rib fracture and sent me back to work with many
restrictions (not on the manufact. floor, prescribed strong darvocets)
Well even thought it was against co. policy and common sense, the
company nurse and the safety supervisor at work sent me to the floor
over my protests. The old "do it or quit", so i did it, hey i thought
i could eat nails on darvocet anyway!
Well, to make it short my leg got crushed about 3 days later, after
all of my supervisors had laughed at me for my inability to function
(walk, think, or even talk good) and stated that the company didn't
care because W.C. was on thier side, and they could do with me what
they wanted.
I have been anable to work (or even walk) for 6 months, the Co. is
refusing me needed surgery, and the laws in this state would seem to
be on thier side. I did what I thought was right at the time, and
retained a W.C. trial lawyer (supposed to be one of the best). Well my
lawyer seems to be powerless against the W.C. laws in this state, so I
have done some research on my own. I am letting him do the W.C. court
thing, but i am suing the Co. myself. A small list of what i fould
out:

1) The GA " exclusive remedy rule" states that an employers sole
remedy against his employer is W.C. All of the W.C. attorneys i have
spoke to believe this rule to be on the order of the ten commandments
or some such nonsense. I do not believe this is any fault of thiers, i
believe it is the fault of our court system in the state of GA.

2) Courts in GA or very "spineless"-my word on the issue of W.C. These
courts have even gone so far in some cases as to say that the
employers act was deplorable, inconsistant with human rights, and
felonious-but never labeling the conduct unconstitutional. In almost
all of these aggregious cases they have said that the conduct is
pemitted by the W.C. laws, and have agreed it is wrong, but they say
the laws must be changed by congress (they are powerless). This seems
very "spineless" to me because isn't that one role of the courts - to
strike down bad and unfair laws???

3) I believe (and there are many examples - though no one will tell
you about them)that you CAN sue your employer OUTSIDE of the W.C.
sheme. I have been focussing most of my time on "professional
negligence" and "medical malpractice" suits against my employer. I
have found that this has been done a few times but i am also looking
at some of the federal laws relating to employer responsibilities.

4) I am waiting on my jury trial for W.C., though i have sensed some
relectance on my attorney's part- I mistakenly brought up a case to
him where when the W.C. insurance co. finally heard the true facts in
the case, they denied the claim, the employer was responsible for the
settlement (but the judge felt sorry for the Co. and reduced the
settlement). The insurance companies DO have some standards of
employee care in thier W.C. contracts!

5) Having read about the W.C. system and how it was originally
designed, I believe it started out as a fair system. But now that the
insurance companies and the crooked lawmakers have got involved it is
all messed up. According to the system we have now A) a man could
report for work and a productive day B)the supervisor could take out a
firearm and kill him for no reason C) It looks to me like in some
instances the employer could get away with murder. I know this seems
stupid, but lets take a closer look...
a) This would be murder right! -Well, this would have to go to
court, because while this is technically murder, it still falls within
the W.C. statutes as long as the supervisor committed the act for
reasons other than "purely personnal".
b) The supervisor would be arrested for murder correct? -YES, BUT
the act would still be coved by W.C. which means the surviving spouse
might get $20,000.
c) Well, wouldn't he still go to jail? -I would hope so, but Ga
courts have been very SCARED about impossing any jail sentence or any
other type of reprimmand and any wrongdoer (As long as they are on the
employers side of the table)!!! The employee can make a misstatement
about a trivial fact and he can face jailtime!!!

Well, after all this rambling i an sure i will get insurance company
people writing me nasty e-mails, but i have honestly stated what i
have found out. I do wish an irrate lawmaker or judge would write
though. Oh, and one more thing, out of all the W.C. attorneys i have
talked with, very few of them have answered me directly. Dont get me
wrong, I wish we had more good W.C. attorneys, I just believe that to
many of them have talking the laws as they are written as gospel and
forgotten about justice_or maybe they are just tired of fighting a
corrupt system???

Thanks for your time, hope this helps somebody
Dale G.

"dale g." <gain32@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:892a3afd.0403040205.55496b69@posting.google.c om... I have read all the horror stories here and agree that the
current system (i am in GA) needs a BIG overhaul. Let me start with my
story. It is very complicated so i will be short. About 6 months ago i had a small accident at work (major manufacturing plant), But the plant nurse sent me to thier W.C.
dr. He told me i had a rib fracture and sent me back to work with many restrictions (not on the manufact. floor, prescribed strong
darvocets) Well even thought it was against co. policy and common sense,
the company nurse and the safety supervisor at work sent me to the
floor over my protests. The old "do it or quit", so i did it, hey i
thought i could eat nails on darvocet anyway! Well, to make it short my leg got crushed about 3 days later,
after all of my supervisors had laughed at me for my inability to
function (walk, think, or even talk good) and stated that the company
didn't care because W.C. was on thier side, and they could do with me
what they wanted. I have been anable to work (or even walk) for 6 months, the Co.
is refusing me needed surgery, and the laws in this state would
seem to be on thier side. I did what I thought was right at the time,
and retained a W.C. trial lawyer (supposed to be one of the best).
Well my lawyer seems to be powerless against the W.C. laws in this
state, so I have done some research on my own. I am letting him do the W.C.
court thing, but i am suing the Co. myself. A small list of what i
fould out: 1) The GA " exclusive remedy rule" states that an employers sole remedy against his employer is W.C. All of the W.C. attorneys i
have spoke to believe this rule to be on the order of the ten
commandments or some such nonsense. I do not believe this is any fault of
thiers, i believe it is the fault of our court system in the state of GA. 2) Courts in GA or very "spineless"-my word on the issue of W.C.
These courts have even gone so far in some cases as to say that the employers act was deplorable, inconsistant with human rights,
and felonious-but never labeling the conduct unconstitutional. In
almost all of these aggregious cases they have said that the conduct is pemitted by the W.C. laws, and have agreed it is wrong, but they
say the laws must be changed by congress (they are powerless). This
seems very "spineless" to me because isn't that one role of the
courts - to strike down bad and unfair laws??? 3) I believe (and there are many examples - though no one will
tell you about them)that you CAN sue your employer OUTSIDE of the
W.C. sheme. I have been focussing most of my time on "professional negligence" and "medical malpractice" suits against my employer.
I have found that this has been done a few times but i am also
looking at some of the federal laws relating to employer
responsibilities. 4) I am waiting on my jury trial for W.C., though i have sensed
some relectance on my attorney's part- I mistakenly brought up a case
to him where when the W.C. insurance co. finally heard the true
facts in the case, they denied the claim, the employer was responsible
for the settlement (but the judge felt sorry for the Co. and reduced the settlement). The insurance companies DO have some standards of employee care in thier W.C. contracts! 5) Having read about the W.C. system and how it was originally designed, I believe it started out as a fair system. But now
that the insurance companies and the crooked lawmakers have got involved
it is all messed up. According to the system we have now A) a man
could report for work and a productive day B)the supervisor could take
out a firearm and kill him for no reason C) It looks to me like in
some instances the employer could get away with murder. I know this
seems stupid, but lets take a closer look... a) This would be murder right! -Well, this would have to go to court, because while this is technically murder, it still falls
within the W.C. statutes as long as the supervisor committed the act
for reasons other than "purely personnal". b) The supervisor would be arrested for murder correct? -YES,
BUT the act would still be coved by W.C. which means the surviving
spouse might get $20,000. c) Well, wouldn't he still go to jail? -I would hope so, but
Ga courts have been very SCARED about impossing any jail sentence
or any other type of reprimmand and any wrongdoer (As long as they are
on the employers side of the table)!!! The employee can make a
misstatement about a trivial fact and he can face jailtime!!! Well, after all this rambling i an sure i will get insurance
company people writing me nasty e-mails, but i have honestly stated what
i have found out. I do wish an irrate lawmaker or judge would
write though. Oh, and one more thing, out of all the W.C. attorneys i
have talked with, very few of them have answered me directly. Dont
get me wrong, I wish we had more good W.C. attorneys, I just believe
that to many of them have talking the laws as they are written as gospel
and forgotten about justice_or maybe they are just tired of fighting
a corrupt system??? Thanks for your time, hope this helps somebody Dale G.

1. You didn't mention anything unconstitutional.
2. The GA courts are not spineless just because they are
following the law.
3. WC laws may be changed by the state legislature, not the
court.
4. No it isn't the role of the courts to strike down bad and
unfair laws. They do that only for unconstitutional laws.
5. I don't know anything about Georgia law. In California, the
conduct you described, about working you beyond the medical
restictions, would result in a separate lawsuit, permitted by law
outside of the WC system. And laughing about your inability to
function is evidence that they knew about your impaired condition.
That extreme and outrageous conduct wouldn't be covered by the WC
insurance policy. If Georgia law is similar, I assure you the
courts won't be afraid, the plaintiff's attorney won't be afraid.
But I urge you to get an attorney to persue that separate claim.
You shouldn't try to do it yourself.

McGyver

"McGyver" <Greyprof@msn.com> wrote in message news:<c27he5$1pruq9$1@ID-75195.news.uni-berlin.de>... "dale g." <gain32@frontiernet.net> wrote in message news:892a3afd.0403040205.55496b69@posting.google.c om... I have read all the horror stories here and agree that the current system (i am in GA) needs a BIG overhaul. Let me start with my story. It is very complicated so i will be short. About 6 months ago i had a small accident at work (major manufacturing plant), But the plant nurse sent me to thier W.C. dr. He told me i had a rib fracture and sent me back to work with many restrictions (not on the manufact. floor, prescribed strong darvocets) Well even thought it was against co. policy and common sense, the company nurse and the safety supervisor at work sent me to the floor over my protests. The old "do it or quit", so i did it, hey i thought i could eat nails on darvocet anyway! Well, to make it short my leg got crushed about 3 days later, after all of my supervisors had laughed at me for my inability to function (walk, think, or even talk good) and stated that the company didn't care because W.C. was on thier side, and they could do with me what they wanted. I have been anable to work (or even walk) for 6 months, the Co. is refusing me needed surgery, and the laws in this state would seem to be on thier side. I did what I thought was right at the time, and retained a W.C. trial lawyer (supposed to be one of the best). Well my lawyer seems to be powerless against the W.C. laws in this state, so I have done some research on my own. I am letting him do the W.C. court thing, but i am suing the Co. myself. A small list of what i fould out: 1) The GA " exclusive remedy rule" states that an employers sole remedy against his employer is W.C. All of the W.C. attorneys i have spoke to believe this rule to be on the order of the ten commandments or some such nonsense. I do not believe this is any fault of thiers, i believe it is the fault of our court system in the state of GA. 2) Courts in GA or very "spineless"-my word on the issue of W.C. These courts have even gone so far in some cases as to say that the employers act was deplorable, inconsistant with human rights, and felonious-but never labeling the conduct unconstitutional. In almost all of these aggregious cases they have said that the conduct is pemitted by the W.C. laws, and have agreed it is wrong, but they say the laws must be changed by congress (they are powerless). This seems very "spineless" to me because isn't that one role of the courts - to strike down bad and unfair laws??? 3) I believe (and there are many examples - though no one will tell you about them)that you CAN sue your employer OUTSIDE of the W.C. sheme. I have been focussing most of my time on "professional negligence" and "medical malpractice" suits against my employer. I have found that this has been done a few times but i am also looking at some of the federal laws relating to employer responsibilities. 4) I am waiting on my jury trial for W.C., though i have sensed some relectance on my attorney's part- I mistakenly brought up a case to him where when the W.C. insurance co. finally heard the true facts in the case, they denied the claim, the employer was responsible for the settlement (but the judge felt sorry for the Co. and reduced the settlement). The insurance companies DO have some standards of employee care in thier W.C. contracts! 5) Having read about the W.C. system and how it was originally designed, I believe it started out as a fair system. But now that the insurance companies and the crooked lawmakers have got involved it is all messed up. According to the system we have now A) a man could report for work and a productive day B)the supervisor could take out a firearm and kill him for no reason C) It looks to me like in some instances the employer could get away with murder. I know this seems stupid, but lets take a closer look... a) This would be murder right! -Well, this would have to go to court, because while this is technically murder, it still falls within the W.C. statutes as long as the supervisor committed the act for reasons other than "purely personnal". b) The supervisor would be arrested for murder correct? -YES, BUT the act would still be coved by W.C. which means the surviving spouse might get $20,000. c) Well, wouldn't he still go to jail? -I would hope so, but Ga courts have been very SCARED about impossing any jail sentence or any other type of reprimmand and any wrongdoer (As long as they are on the employers side of the table)!!! The employee can make a misstatement about a trivial fact and he can face jailtime!!! Well, after all this rambling i an sure i will get insurance company people writing me nasty e-mails, but i have honestly stated what i have found out. I do wish an irrate lawmaker or judge would write though. Oh, and one more thing, out of all the W.C. attorneys i have talked with, very few of them have answered me directly. Dont get me wrong, I wish we had more good W.C. attorneys, I just believe that to many of them have talking the laws as they are written as gospel and forgotten about justice_or maybe they are just tired of fighting a corrupt system??? Thanks for your time, hope this helps somebody Dale G. 1. You didn't mention anything unconstitutional. 2. The GA courts are not spineless just because they are following the law. 3. WC laws may be changed by the state legislature, not the court. 4. No it isn't the role of the courts to strike down bad and unfair laws. They do that only for unconstitutional laws. 5. I don't know anything about Georgia law. In California, the conduct you described, about working you beyond the medical restictions, would result in a separate lawsuit, permitted by law outside of the WC system. And laughing about your inability to function is evidence that they knew about your impaired condition. That extreme and outrageous conduct wouldn't be covered by the WC insurance policy. If Georgia law is similar, I assure you the courts won't be afraid, the plaintiff's attorney won't be afraid. But I urge you to get an attorney to persue that separate claim. You shouldn't try to do it yourself. McGyver

McGyver,
I sent this to you in e-mail
McGyver,
To clarify my points:
1) Dont mean to be too dramatic but a) Life, Liberty, and pursuit of
happiness and all that b) Geargia constitution guarantees all
citizens that thier rights shall not be diminished without due
process. ---which I believe the georgia courts are doing in some of
the cases in which the "exclusive remedy" rule of W.C. is used as an
absolute shield.

2) I used the term "spineless" to mean without backbone, as in the
non-adherance to thier duties (see 3 and 4).

3 and 4) It is my understanding that with our our system of
checks-and-balances, it is a) The judicial branches role to stike down
any law that does not adhere to our constitution and current legal
system (this is the power the courts hold over the legislature- I
think John Madison wrote a rather lenghthy book on the subject).

5) I do believe it was wrong of me to use the term "afraid". I do not
believe the GA courts are afraid, just that they have expressed an
"unwillingness" to further define or strike down in any part, the
exclusive remedy rule of GA W.C. Because of thier previous reluctance,
I believe a lot of plaintiff's have been dissuaded for pursuing thier
rights. You statement that i may have a actionable claim is spot-on I
believe. The part about finding an attorney to pursue the case is
where the trouble lies. I have been very unsuccessful in this area for
the reason that W.C. attorneys are "nervous about pursuing a claim
that tries to pierce the 'exclusive remedy rule'" and personal injury
attorneys do not want to take what they call a "W.C. case".

I do thank you for responding, and any help would be greatly
appreciated, as i think i am about to go crazy,
Dale Gains

"dale g." <gain32@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:892a3afd.0403050032.6dc985ce@posting.google.c om... "McGyver" <Greyprof@msn.com> wrote in message
news:<c27he5$1pruq9$1@ID-75195.news.uni-berlin.de>... "dale g." <gain32@frontiernet.net> wrote in message news:892a3afd.0403040205.55496b69@posting.google.c om... I have read all the horror stories here and agree that the current system (i am in GA) needs a BIG overhaul. Let me start with my story. It is very complicated so i will be short. About 6 months ago i had a small accident at work (major manufacturing plant), But the plant nurse sent me to thier W.C. dr. He told me i had a rib fracture and sent me back to work with many restrictions (not on the manufact. floor, prescribed strong darvocets) Well even thought it was against co. policy and common sense, the company nurse and the safety supervisor at work sent me to the floor over my protests. The old "do it or quit", so i did it, hey i thought i could eat nails on darvocet anyway! Well, to make it short my leg got crushed about 3 days later, after all of my supervisors had laughed at me for my inability to function (walk, think, or even talk good) and stated that the company didn't care because W.C. was on thier side, and they could do with me what they wanted. I have been anable to work (or even walk) for 6 months, the Co. is refusing me needed surgery, and the laws in this state would seem to be on thier side. I did what I thought was right at the time, and retained a W.C. trial lawyer (supposed to be one of the best). Well my lawyer seems to be powerless against the W.C. laws in this state, so I have done some research on my own. I am letting him do the W.C. court thing, but i am suing the Co. myself. A small list of what i fould out: 1) The GA " exclusive remedy rule" states that an employers sole remedy against his employer is W.C. All of the W.C. attorneys i have spoke to believe this rule to be on the order of the ten commandments or some such nonsense. I do not believe this is any fault of thiers, i believe it is the fault of our court system in the state of GA. 2) Courts in GA or very "spineless"-my word on the issue of W.C. These courts have even gone so far in some cases as to say that the employers act was deplorable, inconsistant with human rights, and felonious-but never labeling the conduct unconstitutional. In almost all of these aggregious cases they have said that the conduct is pemitted by the W.C. laws, and have agreed it is wrong, but they say the laws must be changed by congress (they are powerless). This seems very "spineless" to me because isn't that one role of the courts - to strike down bad and unfair laws??? 3) I believe (and there are many examples - though no one will tell you about them)that you CAN sue your employer OUTSIDE of the W.C. sheme. I have been focussing most of my time on "professional negligence" and "medical malpractice" suits against my employer. I have found that this has been done a few times but i am also looking at some of the federal laws relating to employer responsibilities. 4) I am waiting on my jury trial for W.C., though i have sensed some relectance on my attorney's part- I mistakenly brought up a case to him where when the W.C. insurance co. finally heard the true facts in the case, they denied the claim, the employer was responsible for the settlement (but the judge felt sorry for the Co. and reduced the settlement). The insurance companies DO have some standards of employee care in thier W.C. contracts! 5) Having read about the W.C. system and how it was originally designed, I believe it started out as a fair system. But now that the insurance companies and the crooked lawmakers have got involved it is all messed up. According to the system we have now A) a man could report for work and a productive day B)the supervisor could take out a firearm and kill him for no reason C) It looks to me like in some instances the employer could get away with murder. I know this seems stupid, but lets take a closer look... a) This would be murder right! -Well, this would have to go to court, because while this is technically murder, it still falls within the W.C. statutes as long as the supervisor committed the act for reasons other than "purely personnal". b) The supervisor would be arrested for murder correct? -YES, BUT the act would still be coved by W.C. which means the surviving spouse might get $20,000. c) Well, wouldn't he still go to jail? -I would hope so, but Ga courts have been very SCARED about impossing any jail sentence or any other type of reprimmand and any wrongdoer (As long as they are on the employers side of the table)!!! The employee can make a misstatement about a trivial fact and he can face jailtime!!! Well, after all this rambling i an sure i will get insurance company people writing me nasty e-mails, but i have honestly stated what i have found out. I do wish an irrate lawmaker or judge would write though. Oh, and one more thing, out of all the W.C. attorneys i have talked with, very few of them have answered me directly. Dont get me wrong, I wish we had more good W.C. attorneys, I just believe that to many of them have talking the laws as they are written as gospel and forgotten about justice_or maybe they are just tired of fighting a corrupt system??? Thanks for your time, hope this helps somebody Dale G. 1. You didn't mention anything unconstitutional. 2. The GA courts are not spineless just because they are following the law. 3. WC laws may be changed by the state legislature, not the court. 4. No it isn't the role of the courts to strike down bad and unfair laws. They do that only for unconstitutional laws. 5. I don't know anything about Georgia law. In California, the conduct you described, about working you beyond the medical restictions, would result in a separate lawsuit, permitted by law outside of the WC system. And laughing about your inability to function is evidence that they knew about your impaired condition. That extreme and outrageous conduct wouldn't be covered by the WC insurance policy. If Georgia law is similar, I assure you the courts won't be afraid, the plaintiff's attorney won't be afraid. But I urge you to get an attorney to persue that separate claim. You shouldn't try to do it yourself. McGyver McGyver, I sent this to you in e-mail McGyver, To clarify my points: 1) Dont mean to be too dramatic but a) Life, Liberty, and pursuit of happiness and all that b) Geargia constitution guarantees all citizens that thier rights shall not be diminished without due process. ---which I believe the georgia courts are doing in some of the cases in which the "exclusive remedy" rule of W.C. is used as an absolute shield. 2) I used the term "spineless" to mean without backbone, as in the non-adherance to thier duties (see 3 and 4). 3 and 4) It is my understanding that with our our system of checks-and-balances, it is a) The judicial branches role to stike down any law that does not adhere to our constitution and current legal system (this is the power the courts hold over the legislature- I think John Madison wrote a rather lenghthy book on the subject). 5) I do believe it was wrong of me to use the term "afraid". I do not believe the GA courts are afraid, just that they have expressed an "unwillingness" to further define or strike down in any part, the exclusive remedy rule of GA W.C. Because of thier previous reluctance, I believe a lot of plaintiff's have been dissuaded for pursuing thier rights. You statement that i may have a actionable claim is spot-on I believe. The part about finding an attorney to pursue the case is where the trouble lies. I have been very unsuccessful in this area for the reason that W.C. attorneys are "nervous about pursuing a claim that tries to pierce the 'exclusive remedy rule'" and personal injury attorneys do not want to take what they call a "W.C. case".

If Georgia law is like California law, and your claim is pursuable as a
separate civil claim, you won't have even a tiny bit of trouble finding a PI
attorney to take it, if the facts are, in their opinion, as you state them.
But here's the problem. If Georgia law is not like California law, and your
claim is not pursuable as a separate claim, you won't find either a PI
attorney or a WC attorney who will take the case as a separate claim.
That's because such a claim is contrary to settled law. I think you have a
naive view of how laws are challenged. If a law is passed by the
legislature, and upheld in many court cases, including the state supreme
court, then even if it is unfair or unjust or even unconstitutional in your
opinion, and even if your attorney agrees with you on that, that doesn't
mean it would be proper for the attorney to simply pursue the case as a
separate claim, hoping somehow to change the law by ignoring the precedents,
hoping some court will go along. That's not how it works. I'm telling you
that if this is not a separate claim under existing Georgia law, you will
not find an attorney to file it as a separate claim. That's not because
they are nervous about trying to "pierce" the law. The reason is simply
that filing such a claim, contrary to existing law, would be frivolous.
Filing such a claim would subject the attorney to malpractice claims,
disciplinary action and money sanctions imposed by the court, all without
any possible gain to anyone.

And underlying your naive view is the expectation that an attorney would not
only pursue challenging the law by an illegal method, but that the attorney
would also do so on a contingency basis. Maybe you could hire an attorney
to tilt at windmills for you on an hourly fee basis, but you won't find one
to tilt at windmills on a contingency fee basis, in a situation where the
law is settled.
I do thank you for responding, and any help would be greatly appreciated, as i think i am about to go crazy, Dale Gains

Don't let it drive you crazy. Find out what the law is, then let your
claims proceed in accordance with the law. Then get on with your life. If
you want that life to be as a reformer, go for it. Become a gadfly in the
legislature, become a crusader with organizations that believe as you do, or
whatever, but don't stake your sanity on ever accomplishing any change.

McGyver

"dale g." <gain32@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:892a3afd.0403050032.6dc985ce@posting.google.c om... "McGyver" <Greyprof@msn.com> wrote in message
news:<c27he5$1pruq9$1@ID-75195.news.uni-berlin.de>... "dale g." <gain32@frontiernet.net> wrote in message news:892a3afd.0403040205.55496b69@posting.google.c om... I have read all the horror stories here and agree that the current system (i am in GA) needs a BIG overhaul. Let me start with my story. It is very complicated so i will be short. About 6 months ago i had a small accident at work (major manufacturing plant), But the plant nurse sent me to thier W.C. dr. He told me i had a rib fracture and sent me back to work with many restrictions (not on the manufact. floor, prescribed strong darvocets) Well even thought it was against co. policy and common sense, the company nurse and the safety supervisor at work sent me to the floor over my protests. The old "do it or quit", so i did it, hey i thought i could eat nails on darvocet anyway! Well, to make it short my leg got crushed about 3 days later, after all of my supervisors had laughed at me for my inability to function (walk, think, or even talk good) and stated that the company didn't care because W.C. was on thier side, and they could do with me what they wanted. I have been anable to work (or even walk) for 6 months, the Co. is refusing me needed surgery, and the laws in this state would seem to be on thier side. I did what I thought was right at the time, and retained a W.C. trial lawyer (supposed to be one of the best). Well my lawyer seems to be powerless against the W.C. laws in this state, so I have done some research on my own. I am letting him do the W.C. court thing, but i am suing the Co. myself. A small list of what i fould out: 1) The GA " exclusive remedy rule" states that an employers sole remedy against his employer is W.C. All of the W.C. attorneys i have spoke to believe this rule to be on the order of the ten commandments or some such nonsense. I do not believe this is any fault of thiers, i believe it is the fault of our court system in the state of GA. 2) Courts in GA or very "spineless"-my word on the issue of W.C. These courts have even gone so far in some cases as to say that the employers act was deplorable, inconsistant with human rights, and felonious-but never labeling the conduct unconstitutional. In almost all of these aggregious cases they have said that the conduct is pemitted by the W.C. laws, and have agreed it is wrong, but they say the laws must be changed by congress (they are powerless). This seems very "spineless" to me because isn't that one role of the courts - to strike down bad and unfair laws??? 3) I believe (and there are many examples - though no one will tell you about them)that you CAN sue your employer OUTSIDE of the W.C. sheme. I have been focussing most of my time on "professional negligence" and "medical malpractice" suits against my employer. I have found that this has been done a few times but i am also looking at some of the federal laws relating to employer responsibilities. 4) I am waiting on my jury trial for W.C., though i have sensed some relectance on my attorney's part- I mistakenly brought up a case to him where when the W.C. insurance co. finally heard the true facts in the case, they denied the claim, the employer was responsible for the settlement (but the judge felt sorry for the Co. and reduced the settlement). The insurance companies DO have some standards of employee care in thier W.C. contracts! 5) Having read about the W.C. system and how it was originally designed, I believe it started out as a fair system. But now that the insurance companies and the crooked lawmakers have got involved it is all messed up. According to the system we have now A) a man could report for work and a productive day B)the supervisor could take out a firearm and kill him for no reason C) It looks to me like in some instances the employer could get away with murder. I know this seems stupid, but lets take a closer look... a) This would be murder right! -Well, this would have to go to court, because while this is technically murder, it still falls within the W.C. statutes as long as the supervisor committed the act for reasons other than "purely personnal". b) The supervisor would be arrested for murder correct? -YES, BUT the act would still be coved by W.C. which means the surviving spouse might get $20,000. c) Well, wouldn't he still go to jail? -I would hope so, but Ga courts have been very SCARED about impossing any jail sentence or any other type of reprimmand and any wrongdoer (As long as they are on the employers side of the table)!!! The employee can make a misstatement about a trivial fact and he can face jailtime!!! Well, after all this rambling i an sure i will get insurance company people writing me nasty e-mails, but i have honestly stated what i have found out. I do wish an irrate lawmaker or judge would write though. Oh, and one more thing, out of all the W.C. attorneys i have talked with, very few of them have answered me directly. Dont get me wrong, I wish we had more good W.C. attorneys, I just believe that to many of them have talking the laws as they are written as gospel and forgotten about justice_or maybe they are just tired of fighting a corrupt system??? Thanks for your time, hope this helps somebody Dale G. 1. You didn't mention anything unconstitutional. 2. The GA courts are not spineless just because they are following the law. 3. WC laws may be changed by the state legislature, not the court. 4. No it isn't the role of the courts to strike down bad and unfair laws. They do that only for unconstitutional laws. 5. I don't know anything about Georgia law. In California, the conduct you described, about working you beyond the medical restictions, would result in a separate lawsuit, permitted by law outside of the WC system. And laughing about your inability to function is evidence that they knew about your impaired condition. That extreme and outrageous conduct wouldn't be covered by the WC insurance policy. If Georgia law is similar, I assure you the courts won't be afraid, the plaintiff's attorney won't be afraid. But I urge you to get an attorney to persue that separate claim. You shouldn't try to do it yourself. McGyver McGyver, I sent this to you in e-mail McGyver, To clarify my points: 1) Dont mean to be too dramatic but a) Life, Liberty, and pursuit of happiness and all that b) Geargia constitution guarantees all citizens that thier rights shall not be diminished without due process. ---which I believe the georgia courts are doing in some of the cases in which the "exclusive remedy" rule of W.C. is used as an absolute shield. 2) I used the term "spineless" to mean without backbone, as in the non-adherance to thier duties (see 3 and 4). 3 and 4) It is my understanding that with our our system of checks-and-balances, it is a) The judicial branches role to stike down any law that does not adhere to our constitution and current legal system (this is the power the courts hold over the legislature- I think John Madison wrote a rather lenghthy book on the subject). 5) I do believe it was wrong of me to use the term "afraid". I do not believe the GA courts are afraid, just that they have expressed an "unwillingness" to further define or strike down in any part, the exclusive remedy rule of GA W.C. Because of thier previous reluctance, I believe a lot of plaintiff's have been dissuaded for pursuing thier rights. You statement that i may have a actionable claim is spot-on I believe. The part about finding an attorney to pursue the case is where the trouble lies. I have been very unsuccessful in this area for the reason that W.C. attorneys are "nervous about pursuing a claim that tries to pierce the 'exclusive remedy rule'" and personal injury attorneys do not want to take what they call a "W.C. case".

If Georgia law is like California law, and your claim is pursuable as a
separate civil claim, you won't have even a tiny bit of trouble finding a PI
attorney to take it, if the facts are, in their opinion, as you state them.
But here's the problem. If Georgia law is not like California law, and your
claim is not pursuable as a separate claim, you won't find either a PI
attorney or a WC attorney who will take the case as a separate claim.
That's because such a claim is contrary to settled law. I think you have a
naive view of how laws are challenged. If a law is passed by the
legislature, and upheld in many court cases, including the state supreme
court, then even if it is unfair or unjust or even unconstitutional in your
opinion, and even if your attorney agrees with you on that, that doesn't
mean it would be proper for the attorney to simply pursue the case as a
separate claim, hoping somehow to change the law by ignoring the precedents,
hoping some court will go along. That's not how it works. I'm telling you
that if this is not a separate claim under existing Georgia law, you will
not find an attorney to file it as a separate claim. That's not because
they are nervous about trying to "pierce" the law. The reason is simply
that filing such a claim, contrary to existing law, would be frivolous.
Filing such a claim would subject the attorney to malpractice claims,
disciplinary action and money sanctions imposed by the court, all without
any possible gain to anyone.

And underlying your naive view is the expectation that an attorney would not
only pursue challenging the law by an illegal method, but that the attorney
would also do so on a contingency basis. Maybe you could hire an attorney
to tilt at windmills for you on an hourly fee basis, but you won't find one
to tilt at windmills on a contingency fee basis, in a situation where the
law is settled.
I do thank you for responding, and any help would be greatly appreciated, as i think i am about to go crazy, Dale Gains

Don't let it drive you crazy. Find out what the law is, then let your
claims proceed in accordance with the law. Then get on with your life. If
you want that life to be as a reformer, go for it. Become a gadfly in the
legislature, become a crusader with organizations that believe as you do, or
whatever, but don't stake your sanity on ever accomplishing any change.

McGyver