OK, deep breath and where to start.
I believe it all started about Jan/Feb of 2004. I was still working then for my, I guess you'd have to say "former" employer for the moment,
Morrice Transportation, until my lawyer wraps up my case against them for wrongful dismissal.
One early morning just as I was starting my shift I was headed down the stairs from the dispatch office and slipped and fell down the stairs. I layed there for a few moments until another drive happened to come in and seen me at the bottom of the stairs and notified the dispatcher on duty, who came down to check me out and then called an ambulance.
While awaiting the ambulance I was able to get back up and sit on the stairs and then got up and limped over to the ambulance at their request once they arrived. They offered to take me to the hospital and get checked out and have X-rays. I told them I really did not want to go in the ambulance and they said if I went to the "Urgent Care Clinic" on the west end when it opened at 8am I would probably be able to get in, have an x-ray and see the Dr. in a shorter period of time then going to the hospital anyway.
They then wrapped a "cold pack" around my knee, and I went home to wait until 8am and go to the Urgent Care Clinic. Once at the clinic it was a very short amount of time and I was in and had an x-ray and seen the Dr. He basically said nothing is showing up in the x-ray, however I should see my family Dr. and get a referral to see an orthopedic specialist.
After seeing my family Dr. he put me on "light duty" (No Driving or climbing in or out of the truck) Until I could see the specialist. The company put me on light duty doing mundane paperwork jobs and filing in the office. This continued until I seen the specialist and even afterwards as the specialist suspected a torn meniscus in my left knee, and booked me for surgery, which was not going to happen until December!!
That meant I would be on light duty until then in the office. Over this time period they changed jobs I did in there many many times and as well started changing my hours all the time as well. Then they stuck me in what was known as the "security shack" which was attached to the building but was mostly all glass all the way around. It leaked when it rained and was hot as hell when it was hot out and freezing once winter came. The did put an air conditioner in there which was little help against the sun beating on the glass all day, and as well there was a heater in there but another needed to be added as the one in there could not keep it warm.
I felt I was being moved around and having hours changed just to "harass" me. I believe they were trying to get me to quit as I was a liability to them and also no good to them unless I was in a truck. This happened to other drivers as well and they all felt the same way. There were a few that came and went on light duty while I was doing it.
In December of 2004 I had the surgery on my knee finally and found that even though the meniscus was NOT torn, it had probably stretched and also there was a calcium buildup on the knee which could have been from the fall.
After being off and at home after surgery for a few months I was forced back on to light duty in the office / garage again until the knee was healed and ready to get back in the truck driving. This happened about Jun/Jul and I was finally back in the truck but ended up on reduced hours (no more than 10 hrs a day) driving. This ended up being a permanent restriction as the company kept forcing me over the 10 hrs so the Ortho Dr. ended up making it a 9 hr restriction on a permanent basis.
After all of this time period and the reduced hours and such, we were basically ruined financially as well which was not a good feeling or place to be in life.
In about April or May of 2006, I was on a day shift on a regular run and just did not feel right at the time and could not put a finger on it. Then in about Jun. of 2006 while spending some time at our trailer/cottage I noticed a big lump on the left side of my neck. Knowing that a fellow camper down the road from us at the trailer park had recently passed away from a lump on his neck that turned out to be cancer.
I went and spoke to his wife and showed her the lump on my neck and asked if it looked anything at all like what her husband had, had. She said yes it did, and as a matter of fact she had noticed the lump on my neck and was going to say something to me about it if it remained there.
Now I was concerned so on the weekend when I was off I went to my family Dr. showed him and asked to see a specialist. I told him my concerns about it. After seeing 3 - 4 different specialists I finally found one that did the proper tests and even went further checking me out. Thank goodness he did. This specialist Dr. Elbreki is the one who found the
Squamous Cell Carcinoma on my vocal chord, we were not even looking for that, we were looking for the reason for the lump on my neck, and he decided to take a look with the scope down my throat to have a look from the inside.
He immediately booked me for "Day Surgery" to do a biopsy on the mass in my throat. December 2, 2006 was the day of the biopsy and I had booked off work for this and was going to be off for about a week, however due to complications with the soreness in my neck I going to be off a little longer. That all was not going to matter soon, it was about mid December when the results of the biopsy came back and the confirmation that it indeed was cancer!!
Soon after I was referred to see a Radiation Oncologist at the Cancer Center. I seen the Oncologist who is still my Oncologist, Dr. Schneider and he was recommending 25 days of radiation which he felt would permanently eradicate the disease as it was caught early in the "Pre stage 1" status. During this whole time we were still looking for the reason for the lump on my neck. After a couple of needle biopsies on it which all came back inconclusive I developed another lump and this one was on the right side of my neck. I was in about my second last week of radiation when this came about. This time Dr. Schneider referred me back to Dr. Elbreki who by the was is an E.N.T. specialist (Ear Nose Throat) and he booked my right away for surgery to remove the lump for biopsy.
The surgery was done within a few days, and I continued radiation which was now getting to be painful as my neck was starting to "burn" and peel. the swelling from surgery was not helping either as it made my treatment mask much tighter on that side, which made it tight on the area of the burns as well. Thank goodness only a few days of radiation left. It had become so painful I was in tears and begging them to hurry up during those last couple of treatments.
During this time the biopsy results from that lump had come back and it was confirmed that it was cancer as well. A second cancer at the same time!!! This time it was Lymphoma, to be specific it was a
T-cell Histiocyte Rich Diffuse Large B-cell Non Hodgkin's lymphoma.
But before I go any further we need to catch up on what was going on during this time with my employer Morrice Transportation and the union CAW Local 195.
When I had went off on December 2nd 2006 I had filed an application for S&A benefits. Seemed quite simple at the time. Took them in to the surgeon/specialist Dr. Elbreki to fill in his portion to say I had "Day Surgery". "Day Surgery" is the important term here. According to the benefit application, if you have "day surgery" you are entitled to benefits from the day you had the procedure otherwise there is a one week hold back period.
Apparently the Dr. checked off two boxes differently but having said that the paperwork he filled out made it clear I had day surgery. Well after two weeks and no cheque for being off yet I was getting worried. It was now a week or so before Christmas and finances were already in the toilet and we were hurting financially. After several calls to the insurance company and Sue Saputo at Morrice Transportation, I was told what I had was a "procedure" and NOT day surgery!! Therefore I was not entitled to any benefit until I had been off a week or more!!
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| Mike Dunning |
I immediately went to the union
CAW Local 195 and spoke with Mike Dunning who at the time was Financial Secretary of the local. He stated that this should not be a problem to get resolved "slam dunk case". Well days before Christmas I still had nothing and I was going to be without a cheque until after Christmas now, so yeah, Merry F@#KING CHRISTMAS.
Right after the holidays I again contacted the insurance company, Morrice Transportation and CAW Local 195. Still nothing!! The union was now changing their position and this was no longer a "slam dunk case" and I had no case at all now because I had a procedure and not day surgery according to the agreement definitions. Bull Crap!!
I at this time was very sick and was left to do all this running around myself. Our National Rep Jack Robinson from
CAW at the time was now involved. He stated if I could get something in writing saying I had Day Surgery he would take on the case. I went to my family Dr. and got a copy of the paperwork from the specialist saying I had a surgical biopsy on my throat which was day surgery. This at the time cost me $50.00 for the letter!!
Apparently according to Jack Robinson this was not good enough and did not make it clear I had "day surgery" and to get something more definitive! What!! it says I had "day surgery" how much more definitive did he want! He would not say, anything other than we needed something better. After another letter $25.00, it was still not enough! I told him at this rate I would end up spending more than what I was going to get!!
The company Morrice Transportation was not any more helpful than the union was. Seems they were doing everything they could to make sure I did not get paid for that week. Well, I ended up going back to my family Dr. and asking the receptionist if she could go through my file and please find something, anything that said I had "day surgery". She ended up finding a copy of Dr. Elbreki's surgical notes he did during the surgery from start to finish. Put me on the table, put me under, positioned my head this way, used this and that.....etc.
I thought perfect! how could they now say this was not "day surgery" and NOT a "procedure"!. This time I got the a copy of that paperwork for no cost. I took it directly to Vito Saputo who was the Human Relations Mgr. at the time. I asked him to send it to the insurance company and for a copy for myself to see if this would be acceptable.
Well, wouldn't you know, finally proved I was right and had day surgery, however now almost the end of December and still no cheque yet from the insurance company, went the whole month of December with zero income!! I was told the cheque would go in the mail along with the rest of Decembers payment right away. I did not receive this cheque until around the 5th or 7th of January as I recall.
All this while I'm undergoing radiation treatments daily which make you dead tired. I did ALL the running around between Morrice Transportation CAW Local 195 and the Dr.'s offices all my self with no help from any of them whatsoever. So much for the Union taking care of their own.
This was only the beginning of my troubles with Morrice and the CAW. There was more to come!
I believe it was around May or June of 07 that I got a letter from Morrice Transport that they were laying me off, and as a result my benefits would be discontinued one month after the layoff date! What? how can you layoff someone who is and has been off work on sick leave already! Again I filed a grievance with the union CAW Local 195.
After having my grievance denied by Morrice Transportation at levels one and two, after some discussions with the union CAW Local 195 I was able to get them to agree to take this case to arbitration, which they did, and they were also able to get it expedited as well due to the nature of my illness at the time as I was very ill.
It only took a matter of a week to get an answer from the arbitrator which is rather quick. He ruled in my favor!! Told the company Morrice Transportation that they would have to reimburse me for any out of pocket costs related to health care and prescriptions for the time the cut my benefits until the current time. He also ruled the layoff would remain on file and should I return to work and they layoff still be in effect, then they could lay me off. Also ruled all my benefits be restored and remain in place as well. They also had to have my Long Term Benefits restored as well.
This in my own opinion was Morrice Transportation testing the waters to see if they could get rid of me, as I had become a "liability" to them. That's just how they think! seriously, beings there was an increase in their insurance premiums due to the high cost of the drugs I was requiring at the time to sustain my life!
At the next contract negotiations with CAW Local 195 they actually changed our prescription coverage from a $3.00 co-pay to a 20% co-pay with NO cap! At this time I was requiring a drug called
Neupogen which is a drug used to boost ones white blood cell count. I had been fight low counts for some time, and this affects your immune system and pretty much leaves you without one! Any little infection or cold would immediately put me in the hospital in isolation and on strong antibiotics to fight off the infections.
These shots of Neupogen that I had to take were NOT covered as part of my chemo treatments as they only cover the cost of drugs given intravenously. These shots were not cheap, they were just over $2.700.00 per shot, and I need one every three weeks! Remember I was on a Long Term Disability pension at the time, and these drug's that were costing me a $3.00 co-pay were now going to cost me around $600.00 out of my pocket now!! Every three weeks!
I even took my receipts to the ratification vote for this new contract with this clause in it. I told the guys what I was going through and that if they voted in favor of this not only would they be signing my death warrant so to speak but they would be in this same situation as me should they or their spouse ever get a life threatening illness.
Seems it didn't matter as they passed the contract! Guess a life threatening illness is something they did not worry about at that time. Hope none of them or their family ever get this sick. They will wish they never favored that contract. They actually had to put a clause in there to cover the period of MY long term disability as they lowered the length of that again too, to three years now instead of the current five which I was on. This clause allowed anyone currently off on Long Term Disability to collect for the remainder of their current term.
This was done as there is a clause which states an employee is entitled to ALL benefits as long as they are in receipt of S&A or LTD. Which means they can now cut all of your benefits off after your LTD expires at the end of three years leaving you with nothing.
Let's fast forward now to March of 2012. It was about a week and a half before the end of the month and I received a letter from Morrice Transportation informing me that my long term disability benefits would expire on March 31 2012. However my group life insurance policy would remain in effect until age 65 or my death if prior to that. This is something I already knew because SSQ Financial Group, our insurance carrier for short and long term disability had been keeping me informed of that.
Morrice Transportation however went further. Not only did they remind me that my long term disability payments from SSQ would be expiring, but that they would also be cutting off and ending all my remaining benefits with Green Shield as well. This includes dental prescription and other health benefits. Not that, that was far enough they went on further in this letter to say that "due to my unfortunate circumstances and the length of my illness" they would also be "ending my employment with Morrice Transportation" as well.
As well this letter was NOT sent out two weeks in advance as per the
Canadian Labor Code. If I were terminated I should have received two weeks pay for the improper notice and as well I would be entitled to two days pay for every year worked there which would be twenty days pay for the ten years. Nov. 2002 till March 2012 when I got the notice. They did not pay me anything! That was until a lawyer got involved.
At that time I bet my wife they would all of a sudden send out a cheque within two weeks when they found out I got a lawyer involved! I was wrong the cheque arrived two days later!! Unreal. Then it was only for six days severance pay?? Not even close! I tucked that cheque away until this gets resolved as it should.
Nice huh! Of course I immediately filed a grievance with our local chairman at Morrice, Ben Longpre who filed the step one grievance in a timely manner. It of course was denied with no explanation. I then asked Ben to go ahead and file a Step two grievance. This is where the company Morrice Transportation and the union CAW Local 195 meet and try to resolve the grievance at that level face to face.
I don't even know if or when this meeting was held. I have not been kept informed at all what has been going on with this grievance. all I can tell you is that all the time limits as set forth in the collective agreement have not been met with regard to level 2 or even level 3 which is arbitration and where we should have been months and months ago! Unless there have been changes in legislation and laws, a collective agreement is a legal and binding document, and in this case has failed me as these time limits have not been followed as they are set in writing within the agreement.
Around the end of July or August I contacted a friend who works for a lawyer and is a paralegal for him. My friend came and took my information and all the written documents I had with regard to this issue. I also signed several release of information documents and also stated that I would like to sue Morrice Transportation for wrongful dismissal and harassment, and also sue the union CAW Local 195 for misrepresentation, or in this case NO representation.
My friend took all my information to her boss the lawyer, and as of this writing that is where we are at. All of my documents and information is in the hands of the lawyer and I am awaiting word in writing from them as to where we stand with the case.
I would be curious to any opinions out there with regard to whether you think I'm right or wrong about this and what I'm entitled to or asking for. Media persons are welcome to contact me as well for this story. Please leave a comment below. You may not see your comment on here after sending it, as all comments come to me first for moderation before I post them.
I see my Dr. Kanjeekal next on January 4th and my chemo treatments will follow approx a week later. I did my weekly blood work on Friday due to the holidays, and have not heard anything, so all must be well with my blood counts which is a good thing.
