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I was injured on the job in 1992 while working in California for the operations of a major international airline. I had a fractured ankle, but was told to transport myself to a medical clinic near the LAX airport. The doctor returned shortly with x-rays clearly ilustrating a fracture. I was placed in a temporary leg cast and managed to find a way home about 45 miles distance. I was scheduled to meet a company doctor several days later, but I had heard rumours from other compnay employees that he would attempt to discount or downplay an employee injury. So I was able to first get an appointment with a prestigious doctor - who happened to be the orthopaedic doctor for the U.S. Olympic team. He took x-rays, as well and wrote up a fine medical report which I took to our company doctor. He also explained the requisite treatment plan, which would necessitate surgery. The company doctor performed a very cursory examination and made some dismissive remarks,until I presented him with the other specialist's full x-rays and report, and mentioned his credentials. The company doctor quickly excused himself and diaappeared into another room to make a telephone call. I do not know who he called, but the walls were paper-thin and I heard every word. He said, "This man already has been seen by the U.S. Olympic Team's orthopaedic doctor.....we will have to do something with him" - in other words, take the injury seriously. I was referred to one of the country's finest orthopaedic surgeons, the Director of UCLA's Adult Reconstructive Joint Surgery Team. He was, indeed, one of the best and also a fine man, but he told me at the first that he had to pursue a conservative treatment plan at the beginning (keep costs down), even though he agreed with the Olympic Team's doctor that surgery as was indicated would eventually be necessary. So.....there went a year of my life, from early 1992 until early 1993. I went to hospital in late February 1993 and finally returned to very light duties for a relatively brief period at the end of that year. It was 1995 when I returned to california for a few days to finalise the legal matters involving the case, signing papers with all the interested parties in attendance. The focus of this article is to be on the worker's compensation system. I truly believe that a booklet of some kind should be made immediately available to every injured worker, which would not only explain their rights, but discuss many common scenarios. FRrankly, being able to present a written expression of your rights and state counsel to your employer would be a decided advantage ! As a final note, I would like to share the final moments of this several-year affair. The papers were all signed at the offices of my lawyer. After everybody had departed, he asked me to remain behind for a few moments. We entered his office, where he shut the door behind him and leaned up against it with a Cheshire Cat smile and said, "Phil, we're all a bunch of crooks". He made it clear in subseqquent comments that he was referring exclusively to lawyers.

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