Q
Dear Fred
I have a friend who you will not give his Freedom of Information to. Also you have constantly withheld documentation, which would have cleared him from criminal proceedings that you have placed against him.
I thought that this was illegal and that you, dear Fred was suppose to be honest.
Can you please explain?
Yours truly
Concerned
A.
Dear concerned
Your friend is never going to receive his Freedom of Information and I will continually hound him.
The reason for this is that his Freedom of Information contains information that would show the wrong doing that my staff and I have done. Also if released even though I have immunity via s122-4
(SECTION 122(4) Subsection (1) does not render the Corporation, a member of the staff of the Corporation, or any person acting on behalf of the Corporation, liable to prosecution for any act or omission related to the administration or enforcement of this Act.)
your friend would be able to sue my staff and me civilly and that would cause great stress to me, as I would be liable for the many thousands of dollars and a jail term. It is better that I protect myself than be honest, lets face it, I am the Demi god and therefore I must keep attacking your friend so he will not have the opportunity to bring down the empire I have built.
Q.
Dear Fred,
I get the daily paper and I never seem to see any stories that could be described as good news stories for injured workers.
All I ever see is the occasional story, usually in the first few pages, of some poor injured worker who appears to have been cheating the system.
I know of a number of cases that have been won that benefit the injured worker but have not made the news.
Why is this so?, Fred.
Perplexed
A.
Dear Perplexed,
You are right, there have been a number of cases that would be of interest to injured workers.
These aren't released to the general public because of these reasons:
1.
I don't want to encourage you lot to stand up for your rights.
and
2.
The policy is to make the ordinary worker think that anyone receiving benefits is a cheat, this deters them from making any workers compensation claims.
This works so well that I know of an area manager for a company that took holidays for a legitimate compensation claim.
Reduced claims means more profit.
and
3.
We have the power, why shouldn't we use it.
I hope this answers your question.
Regards
Fred
Q.
Dear Fred,
My Case Manager said if I wait patiently everything would turn out alright.
I didn't hear from him for a 9 months and when I contacted him he said my file was now closed.
He told me the only way to open it up again is to put in a Notice of Dispute.
Why should I have to do this, I didn't make the mistake and who is going to pay the costs involved?
From
Worried
A.
Dear Worried,
The Case Manager was right, you waited patiently and it turned out alright, for him.
You are the one who will have to cover the costs and suffer the stress of "going through the process".
You are obviously at fault here you believed what a Case Manager told you, if you had studied the Act, spent a lot of time hanging around the WCT and joined one of those "know-it-all" self help groups you wouldn't be in this mess.
Have a nice life,
Fred
Q.
Dear Fred,
I have just been redeemed.
My lawyer pushed me into taking less than one years wages as a redemption, he said I was lucky to get this much. My section 43 payments came to about $50,000.00 and the lawyer took $8,000.00 for fees.
I am 35 years old, have a total disability, a mortgage and 4 kids, how am I going to survive until retirement?
Disillusioned
A.
Dear Disillusioned,
Ha Ha Ha, thanks for being stressed out enough to take the first offer. We have fed these lawyers so much bullshit over the last couple of years they don't know which way is up.
After you have waited through the preclusion period and used all the money from the pay out, go onto Social Security like all the others.
Thanks, more like you and my annual bonus will be huge again this year.
Regards
Fred
Q.
Dear Fred,
The stress and anxiety of being on the system for 6 years has turned what's left of my hair to a white color, what can I do to fix it.
From
Whitey
A.
Dear Whitey,
This system can't affect you the way you say it has, there must have been some other reason for the hair color change.
Lets face it, how stressful is it sitting around home watching TV.
If you had a real job like mine, there would be a reason, when mine lightened off I had it died along with all the other hair on my body.
Save up, buy a bottle of dye and go back to the TV.
Regards
Fred
Q.
Dear Fred,
I just received a section 36 notice.
The Agent said I didn't attend a doctors meeting.
This is wrong, I went to the meeting with another injured worker for support and the doctor wouldn't examine me if I brought the other person into the room.
Why can't I take someone for support and why have my benefits been stopped?
From
Sectioned.
A.
Dear Sectioned,
Even though the report form says you can have someone for support we don't recommend it for these reasons.
1.
The supporter if an injured worker will get a feel for what goes on and this will make it harder to intimidate them when it comes to their turn.
2.
If there is a witness to the proceedings then our doctor can't change his mind when it comes to making out the report.
3.
The section 36 notice is to stress you into more legal costs and drag out the proceedings even further.
You shouldn't concern yourself with it just hand the document over to your lawyer.
Your lawyer and ours really needs the money and the court practice.
Don't worry about the costs although last year we spent around $15,000,000.00 there is plenty more where that came from, if we need we can increase the levies the employers pay.
If that doesn't cover the legal fees we can stop paying benefits to all the injured workers and save money that way.
Regards
Fred
Q.
Dear Fred,
I have to continuously take narcotic style medication to cover the pain, I can't use public transport and I need to attend doctors rooms and shop etc.
I have a car but with what I get paid for income maintenance I can't afford to keep it roadworthy. The penalty for driving under the influence of drugs is very high and if I have an accident my insurance will not pay out.
I have asked the Case Manager for taxi vouchers to assist in getting me around but she says "no".
How badly do you have to be injured to have access to taxi vouchers?
Why won't the Case Manager authorise vouchers?
From
Scared to drive
A.
Dear Scared to drive,
What are you a wwooss?
Lots of injured workers drive their un-roadworthy cars to appointments.
So what if you get caught driving under the influence, you weren't doing much with your life anyway.
If you get caught and sent to jail they will have to look after you, not us, you might even learn a new skill up there that we can use against you at a two year review.
If I were you I would learn all about burglary. The work is easy, there is a little bit of excitement and the goods can be fenced at the local markets. If you can manage a dozen videos a week we can take you off income maintenance.
The Case Managers decision is right, if she gives you vouchers she will have to give everyone in your condition the same, where will it all end, before we know it you will be complaining about the 20% reduction in your income maintenance after the first year and wanting your rights without having to fight for them through the legal system.
Stop your complaining, there are lots worse off than you, I'm down to my last pair of "Fred" socks, soon I'll have to wear plain ones.
Regards
Fred
Week One
Q.
Dear Fred,
My Agent has just started talking about Redemption for me.
I have had a number of people tell me how it works, but I am now confused.
Can you please explain the method of calculation?
Regards,
Confused.
A.
Dear Confused,
The system works basically like this:
We subtract what you could earn in a hypothetical job (ie the highest paid non existent job that fits with your medical problem) from the amount you are now receiving for income maintenance.
This figure (less a tax component) is then multiplied by an actuarial figure from a chart.
As you can see to this point it is a relatively simple calculation.
Then we have a look at your total picture and see how stressed you are, how badly off you are financially then offer you a figure usually about 10% of what we should pay and then tell you your lucky to get this much.
Most injured workers are so stressed by this they actually accept the offer and we laugh all the way to the bank.
Regards,
Fred
Q.
Dear Fred,
I applied to get a copy of my Freedom of Information. In the file it shows a "Rehabilitation" expenses of $14,560.00, I haven't been rehabilitated, can you solve this problem?
Regards,
Rehabilitated
A. Dear Rehabilitated,
This can be answered in two ways:
1. Rehab costs don't necessarily mean for you.
What has happened in fact is the "System" and/or the Systems Agent has paid this money into Rehab Consultants and Job Search contractors.
This is a large growth industry and the money goes into prestigious offices and company cars etc.
These are the people that have been rehabilitated, before working as consultants most were "just" clerks.
2. You need to understand the word "rehabilitate" according to the Fred Glossary of Terms.
Rehabilitate: The use of humiliating, dehumanising, intimidating and overbearing tactics to force injured workers into low paid dead end jobs as quickly as possible to maximise profits for WorkCover and the Agents.
If number 2 has not happened to you yet obviously you fit into the number 1 category at this moment.
Regards,
Fred
Q.
Dear Fred,
I have been on the Workers Compensation "System" for three years and have never met my Case Manager.
When I phone she never returns my calls. Our relationship is based on communication through the post, when she feels like answering.
How can I get her attention?
From
All mailed out.
A.
Dear All mailed out,
It seems to me you have no reason to complain, the Case Manager is just doing her job.
All Case Managers no matter what their background get a full 45 minutes training, you may think this is a lot but your future depends on their decisions.
Your Case Manager is just following normal proceedures.
Regards,
Fred
Q.
Dear Fred,
It seems strange to me that the Agents spend so much of the "System's" money on fighting injured workers when they seem to be losing more and more cases.
Regards,
Litigant
A.
Dear Litigant,
You obviously don't understand how the game is played.
97.8% of injured workers won't / don't / can't stand up for their rights. Because of this there is a huge pool of money that has not been used to supply them benefits.
The amount the Agents spend on litigation is just a drop in the bucket and is hardly noticed. A side benefit is injured workers see all the court battles and decide it's not worth fighting even if we have abused their rights, again this adds to the huge pool of money.
Don't worry every one is making a very good living out of this, except of course the injured worker.
I hope this sets your mind at ease.
Regards,
Fred
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Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:35 pm