Certified Paralegal
Injured Workers Matter!
I'm a lawyer who’s been representing injured workers in North Dakota for over 30 years. I've represented thousands and talked to tens of thousands of regular people who’ve been hurt working for North Dakota employers. I'd like to explain a little of what I've learned and describe what some of them have gone through, simply for putting themselves in harm's way while trying to earn a living. Most people who get hurt on the job have high school educations. Certainly, I've never represented a banker, a judge or a college professor who got hurt at work. So, oilfield roustabouts, laundry workers, caregivers and janitors get hurt and immediately find themselves surrounded by people my dad called educated idiots – people with college degrees and very little common sense. Some of these college grads have good intentions and some don't. None of them have to live with the consequences of their opinions, decisions or advice. It's the injured worker who does that. All too often, injured workers are treated as if they deserve what happens to them. Family members lose their patience, fairweather friends change their phone numbers and North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance treats them like second class human beings. In the meantime, injured workers generally can't sleep because of chronic pain, can't live up to their own standards at home, and have no idea how they'll ever get their life back. All of them probably suffer from depression, usually untreated. In short, their quality of life has been destroyed.
So, what I’d like to do is to tell you a little about some of the injured workers I’ve known and what they went through. I’d also like to hear from others who have gone through the North Dakota workers compensation meat grinder. I’ll tell you something about the legal process, hopefully in plain English. As you might guess, I think this system is broken. It just doesn’t deliver on its promise of “sure and certain relief.” North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance is a monopolistic juggernaut. It has no competition and no oversight. The governor, the legislature and the courts have largely defaulted in their obligation to protect injured workers. I continue to think, though, that North Dakota citizens have the power to fix what’s broken.
