What do you think about this one?

[ksgirl]

I was put at MMI and went back to work with restrictions. I worked for about three weeks, went to the dr on my own because my pain levels were getting back to where they were before surgery. WC finally agreed to send me back to my surgeon. He changed my restrictions and I took them to my employer on 1-22-08, almost two weeks ago. Work said they didn't know if they could work me with the restrictions, but they would let me know. I finally went in today to ask them if they knew if I could come back to work or not because they had not contacted me. The hr lady said they decided to get a video camera this weekend and they will bring it to work next week and tape someone doing my job. Then they will send that to my surgeon and see what he thinks.

I was a little irritated that it took them almost two weeks to decide to do this and who knows how long it will take them to tape someone and for the dr to watch it and decide. I am not getting paid for any of this time out of work and it is starting to hurt the pocketbook. Thank God income tax time is here.

My fears are that they will tape someone only doing bits and pieces of my job and she may not do it the way I have to do it. The girl they are going to tape is also a lot younger than me and has no health problems. Another fear I have is that the dr will not even watch the tape and he will say that he did.

I mostly just wanted to update everyone and vent a little. I am sure this is legal, but shouldn't I be the one being taped so that the dr can see me doing it and I will know that it is accurate?

[Still in Limbo]

I Agree Totally with You Ks!! I don't think it would be Fair to Tape a Job Position with another Person doing it, and sending it to the Dr. As You have said, they can Omit what they want!! I would Surely Speak with My Dr, and Attorney about this, I know in Pa., they have to Offer You a Job in Writing, and specifically state Every Requirement, and the Time You should be expected to Sit, Stand, Type, File, etc. I don't believe Taping someone else would be fair! Best of Luck, and Please keep us Informed!!

[capricorn]

ksgirl>>I agree completely with Limbo. If my employer were to tape my asst. doing my job they would see someone playing solitaire on the computer. It's no fair and nothing should be based on this. Let us know. Prayers coming your way.


CAP

[lostinconnecticut]

This is a tactic I haven't heard of. It seems to have great potential for being misused. I don't like it one bit.
Make sure you request a copy of the video tape because I guess it would have to be considered a medical record? if your doctor uses it to form an opinion. I would hope your co-worker would object to being used like this.

[Lilly]

I don't feel it is fair either! I had a co-worker like Cap did!
Is the gal the same height as you? Is she accustomed to doing your job? I would also be very leary...as they can omit/edit the parts that they want in the tape.
Do you have a lawyer? i can't imagine a lawyer allowing this to happen.
Possibly Tim has a comment as to the legality of it.
Take care, Lilly

[AQA]

Just my oppinion. I DO NOT think you should be the one that is taped doing the job. If you were to perform an act that the dr. says you are restricted from doing,,,,,,,well now it is on a video and the validaty of your claim and the restrictions become questionable. As long as the person being videoed is close to the same size as you, It will show the bending, twisting, streching, ect. ect... that you are required to do. It my also help the dr. figure out why you are still having difficulties. (pain wise). I would think you could get a copy of the video also,,, that is the only way it could be validated.

[ksgirl]

The girl that will be doing the video is my height or very close to it. The reason they want the dr to see the video is to decide whether it is within my new restrictions, bending lifting no more than 50% of the day. I am going to ask my attorney if we can get a copy of the tape so I can see if they include everything I do. Since my restrictions are somewhat based on time, I wonder if they are planning on taping all day and making the dr watch eight hours of video tape? We all know that won't happen!

I have a feeling the dr won't even look at the video. He'll just say that I can do it and get back to work. He really is a wc dr. When I took both of my MRI films to my last appointment, he didn't even look at them to compare the new one. What a waste of a long expensive education!

[AQA]

I agree that they will not video an eight hour day. They will probably include a narrative. the report and the video would need to be reviewed by you to see how accurate it is. Other wise the dr. could only say you could perform the tasks based on the VIDEO.

I think I would ask work for a copy of the video based on my last sentence. I would present it in a way that they would see a waste of time and money doing the video. I believe the video could be a good thing. But yes I know we don't live in a perfect world.

[collateraldamage5591]

I am going to assume that you are in some sort of production process and if that is the case they will have this person use all proper lifting/bending techniques to make it look as though there are no problems and you are trying to "milk it". Most likely a person cannot keep up with prodution using those techniques. My employer has all kinds of little films/videos in the name of training but I truly believe it for their benifit only. I've seen that crap where I'm employed where they will tell you you must do a job a certain way and there is no way in h??? anyone could keep up, but that covers their behinds. Then they say you were not doing the job safely and that gets them off the hook.
I'm sure they are not above editing this tape to use it against you. I think you should get a copy for your attourney also.