TLDR at end
I've been waiting to tell this story for awhile. I started work out of college as an engineer for a fortune 500 construction company (I will call the company Worm) in the Midwest. I had found a role that I really liked and stayed there for 10 years, but I was starting to grow tired of it and wanted something new. Company loyalty did NOT aid my internal job prospects. I had been working with my boss for two years to find a new job within the Worm company and was having no luck.
My boss was willing to fund my labor while another department trained me to do their job on a trial basis, before committing to hiring me. I had glowing reviews of my work history and department level impact at my current job to attest to my learning and leadership abilities. Even with that zero risk scenario, I could not get anyone within Worm to give me a chance. Although my skills were applicable to the new department, I had zero experience in that field and I could not get anyone to take a chance on me, even when someone else was footing the bill.
I saw an internal memo that Worm was looking for warm bodies to work as a machinist / lathe operator for a short term assignment at one of our suppliers. I would get paid my current salary, plus overtime, second shift premium, all travel expenses would be placed on the Worm company credit card, and I could even fly home each weekend. Great! Something different to pass the time during the job hunt, learn some new skills, and do a little travel. Suddenly having zero experience or relevant skills doesn't matter when it comes to putting product out the door. Funny how that works.
The machinist job was easy enough, they paid the usual guys $12-$15 / hour and my salary was such that I was somewhere north of $40/hr on top of all the travel expenses. I put in lots of overtime because I was away from my family and looking to make the most of it. Being as this was not a “Worm” facility, they didn't necessarily follow all the safety procedures, and being completely new to a manufacturing environment, I had no clue what to watch out for. I was aware that my company had limits on what we were supposed to be lifting, but the parts were never weighed and I was young and stupidly thought I could build muscle at work.
One day I sat down to eat lunch before going into work and my back hurt like hell. A hard wooden chair was so painful, I could not sit. I drove to work, told the shift supervisor I would not be at work because I was going to the doctor. The day before I had been lifting maybe 30lbs parts from inside a deep bin that had the bottom basically on the floor. The doctor said the repeated lifting had strained my back. I did not feel any pain while working, only the next day. I began work restrictions for two weeks and was not allowed to lift more than 5 lbs. After 2 weeks, I was cleared to continue working the machinist job without restrictions. I finished up the short term assignment, I returned home for the Christmas break and I was set to return to my normal office job after the break.
Well, while on Christmas break, maybe a week after being cleared of the restrictions, I am at home changing a tire to get a flat fixed. I lifted the tire from the ground to place it in my trunk and my back exploded in pain worse than before. I could not stand up straight. I was in tears. Walking was so very painful. I went to prompt care and reported it as a flare up of my workers comp injury. The doctor blew me off cause he thought I was an addict looking for strong prescription pain medication. I went and got checked out by a specialist (different doctor) and he said I had a herniated disc. Basically, a disc in my spine had slipped out of position and was likely pinching a nerve. No surgery necessary, but lots of physical therapy required.
I learned that every part of your body has a multiplier associated with it for workers compensation. That multiplier combined with your wage determines your maximum allowable award. Legal / attorney fees for workers compensation are predefined by the state and are separate from this award. I had a hard time finding an attorney because the injury was such that the lawyer would really only get paid about $1,200 for handling my case and the best I could hope for would be $12,000 in damages plus medical expenses.
Worm was disputing that the flare up wasn't due to my workers compensation claim, and therefore they were only responsible for a “muscle strain” (significantly less workers comp multiplier) and not a “herniated disc”. My specialist disagreed and was willing to go to court for me, but Worm still disputed my claim based on the opinion of the Worm doctor on staff. Worm refused any compensation. My lawyer flat out told me, they will fight you so long as you are still employed there. If you end up leaving the company, they will certainly change their stance. I prepared for court and waited.
While this was being disputed, I had been putting out applications internally and externally. October I ended up getting a job offer at Worm which included a promotion and kept me in the same building. Not exactly the job I wanted, but it was decent and I was ready to put the job search to an end. It was set to start in December, roughly one year after the work injury. The very same week I accepted the job offer with Worm, I also got a job offer with an aerospace company, I will call Jet. The job at Jet was 600 miles away, the position was technically a step down from the new position at Worm, but they were willing to match the salary. Same benefits, they covered relocation, plus the Jet job would put me near family. No brainer, I accepted the Jet job, despite having already accepted the Worm job.
Jet wanted me to start mid January. Well, I was not happy with Worm about the workers comp situation and the difficulty finding a new internal job, so what the hell, I decided to accept both job offers. It was October when I had accepted the new jobs, so I told my current boss I had a new Worm job and we began off loading my work to the rest of my team. I had been training them for two years at this point, so I basically surfed the internet for the rest of the year. I started the new job at Worm in December. I faked interest in learning the new job at Worm since I was planning an exit in January to start at Jet. Paid leave was a use it or lose it deal and you get access to the whole year's worth of time beginning January 1st. The employee handbook said they will pro-rate vacation days upon separation and pay for unused days. It also said they will not require repayment for days used but not earned. My planned separation date would earn me one vacation day, though my full years worth of vacation would have been 12 days.
I used as much of my vacation as I could in January (8 days), then I showed up on a Friday to hang out and say goodbye to everyone before telling my new boss I quit at the end of the day. If I had given the traditional two weeks notice, I would have had to give notice before (or during) the Christmas break, giving them the opportunity to fire me then and there. Giving notice would also have allowed them the chance to deny my vacation request during the notice period. It was critical that I have one actual, indisputable work day in the new year, or else I would be ineligible to receive an incentive payment which I earned for working the previous year. This payout was forecasted to be 18% of my annual salary and I was counting on this to use as a down payment for my new home in the new state. Besides, I had earned it. Worm was playing the legal system to their advantage with the (potential $12,000) workers comp claim, so I was going to make damn sure I got everything I was owed (approx. $18,000 incentive payment) for my exit.
Well, my new Worm boss was not in the office that Friday, so I had to call him on his cell phone to quit and boy was he pissed. You see, I was supposed to be replacing someone on his team that was leaving for a different job. Hiring is so slow that it never works out that you get the new guy in position before the old guy leaves. The boss was so pissed that he had worked a miracle to have someone in place to train me and here I took the job only to be there for two months, and I was on vacation for half of it.
I informed my attorney that I am no longer employed at the Worm, which he passes along to the Worm legal department. Lo and behold, Worm now wants to settle my workers compensation claim at $2,000. We told them to take a hike, we will see you in court.
My attorney made arrangements for a preliminary hearing with the judge and the Worm attorney. I am told that the judge heard both sides of the argument and basically said “It is perfectly plausible that these two injuries are related, Worm, why are you fighting this?” Judge set his preliminary judgement at $8,000. Worm then offered to settle at that amount or proceed to court. At court we may have been awarded up to $12,000 or we could receive nothing. I took the $8,000 and ran, happy to have left the whole mess behind me.
Worm was happy to write blank checks when it meant ensuring parts were making it out the door, but they were unwilling to pay even a fraction of that for a workers compensation claim until I left the company. Company values are not worth the paper they are written on. And that on site medical team does not work for you. Say as little as possible to them and refer them to your personal physician for more details.
Worm worked the legal system in an attempt to avoid paying my workers compensation claim. I worked their employment handbook to maximize my paid vacation and ensure I received my incentive payment upon my separation.
TLDR: Had a workers compensation claim due to repeated lift back injury at work. Worm Company tried to deny the claim. I fought the workers comp claim and ended up with an $8,000 award. During the dispute process, I received a new Worm job with a promotion which I worked for less than two months, proceeded to use up all my vacation, came back from vacation on a Friday and quit without notice. The no notice quit ensured I got to use as much vacation as possible, but also put my last working day into the new year and ensured I was eligible to receive 18% of my annual salary in incentive pay that I had earned from the previous year.