wondering wtf happened... ([info]zenfrodo) wrote,
@ 2008-04-16 18:37:00
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Pissed off, snarked off, and ready to kill something describes my mood right about now.

Luckily, there's Warcraft.

Yes, Dish Network is involved. No, Brett no longer works there.

If you have Dish, cancel.



Pardon me while I go hunt down dwarves and renegade elves.

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[info]gekizetsu
2008-04-17 01:24 am UTC (link)
Those dickheads, they didn't even care whether anybody was getting sick, did they.

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[info]zenfrodo
2008-04-17 10:10 pm UTC (link)
Their claim is that "no one else is getting sick", and so they weren't going to accommodate Brett -- not even MOVE him to an area farther away from the construction -- and they weren't going to bring in a toxicologist because "the doctors are saying nothing's wrong"...like NO, the doctors are saying they can't DETERMINE what's wrong because it's only happening when Brett's at Dish, and they don't know what to test for....

So Brett quit.

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[info]zenfrodo
2008-04-17 10:37 pm UTC (link)
see my comment to mdperryfan below, too.


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[info]mdperryfan
2008-04-17 03:32 am UTC (link)
Hey, spill! I do comp. for a living! Granted, it's in Maryland, but hey, I just might be able to hook you up with a friend of a friend of a colleague, if you know what I mean.... At the very least, there could be an unlawful termination.. ..

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[info]zenfrodo
2008-04-17 10:59 pm UTC (link)
Brett quit on Tuesday.

First, they've ruled out CO. Dish got a tester in, and determined no CO. However, Brett was still getting sick within 30 min of going in the building. This started when renovation work started 3/31. Within a couple hours of leaving Dish, he's mostly fine; he's come home vomiting, he's gone to the ER & thrown up while waiting for the doctors, & the docs think it's something with the construction. On one ER visit, they had him on oxygen; the moment he started breathing that, he felt better. So that ER doc guessed something was in the air at Dish, but couldn't tell what, because there's a host of stuff that can cause reactions like that.

So Dish gave us MSDS forms on Monday. On the way to the health clinic (Brett was only in Dish's building 15 min & got sick just from that), I noticed the chemicals listed looked to be standard stuff a janitor crew would have, and not apparently part of the construction crew's. At first, we thought Dish misunderstood the request.

Then we got to the doctor. She hemmed, hawed, "well, Dish says no one else is getting sick, I can't find anything wrong."

I burst in with, "of COURSE Brett was going to be ok in her office, he wasn't at DISH."

So she said she couldn't test Brett until we had a list of what he was being exposed to. We showed her the MSDS, and said we thought it was missing the construction stuff. So she said we had to get that list from Dish, that she couldn't test blindly, & to get Dish to get a toxicologist in to test the air there, that they didn't have a tox on staff.

Okay. *breathes*

Tuesday, Brett went in and asked Dish specifically for the MSDS related to the construction, and was told there weren't any, what we had was all there was, they weren't going to accommodate Brett's request to be moved to a different area of the center, and they weren't going to get a toxicologist in because Brett was the only one getting sick, and the doctors said he was "fine".

So Brett quit, rather than work in a place where he couldn't stay in the building without vomiting.

Luckily the main Worker's Comp rep that Brett's been talking to (not the doc, someone at the main Comp center) has been very sympathetic and told Brett that she had issues with paint & construction fumes herself, so we think we at least got SOMEONE there that believes him.

Anyway, that afternoon, I called Dish's CEO Charlie Kergan's personal assistant -- 303-723-1005 -- and left a lengthy voicemail, explaining the situation and telling them not having MSDS forms from the construction crew is a violation of federal law, and we damn well wanted those forms so we could find out what was going on, that we'd notified OSHA & Worker's Comp of the lack of forms, and Dish's refusal to accommodate Brett...

...and Wednesday, that message had gotten routed to the HR person that had hired Brett, Stacy Malachi -- someone who is NOT at the Hilliard center, who travels around to all the centers -- and she starts on the line that "Well, the doctors can't find anything wrong...and no one else is getting sick..."

By that time, my temper was gone; "I DON'T CARE if no one else is getting sick, Brett IS, and that's all I care about. We want those MSDS forms. If you're trying to claim it's all in his head --"

Then she assured me that no, she wasn't claiming that (yeah, right), that the MSDS forms we had were all that Dish had, that the construction crew used only stuff that was already onsite (yeah, RIGHT) and that since the building used 2 HVACs, it couldn't be the construction...

A lie -- Brett says it's ONE HVAC, according to the onsite HR. They knock out a wall *in the same area* (it's now one big open space) and think it's not going to go to the whole building.

Then she started asking what they could do to get Brett back, and I just said, "Get a toxicologist in there, like the doctor asked," and that ended it.

Haven't heard back. Brett's got another appointment with WorkHealth on Tuesday, and he's not going back to Dish no matter WHAT they offer or do.

Ok. I'm going to go calm down now.

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[info]jrdrnr
2008-04-18 02:15 am UTC (link)
oy!! sounds like it's been a hell of a week for you guys! I hope you guys pin this thing down!

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[info]mdperryfan
2008-04-18 03:02 am UTC (link)
Well, it sounds as though you are handling it right, and DISH may be stalling until they get rid of the offending substance to eliminate, or at least mitigate, their liability. However, I would suggest you do hire an attorney, and I'll see if I can get a recommendation for you if you want (hey, I found one in SC when I needed one). That way you can get an independent toxicologist, not one hired by DISH, to investigate, but it needs to be done before DISH cleans up their act. Are their any other companies in the building, or separate building management, or is DISH the owner/operator/manager of the facility?

Even if it's eventually determined that Brett's just sensitive to something that's not ordinarily harmful, they at least should be required to move him or give him family leave time until the construction is done. The biggest problem right now is that the doctors aren't helping you at all. Brett probably did the right thing in quitting.

Let me know on the lawyer thing as soon as possible - our main office is moving tomorrow, and I won't have access to them via email after about 10 AM, after that I'm out of touch until Monday.

Good luck - don't let them get away with it! (I know, broadswords, etc....)

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[info]zenfrodo
2008-04-18 01:45 pm UTC (link)
We do have a lawyer on tap through a legal service that we subscribe to; don't have the information with me at work, though.

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[info]zenfrodo
2008-04-18 01:46 pm UTC (link)
an independent toxicologist?

now why in the HELL didn't the doctor recommend that to us??

Now I'm really pissed.

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[info]mdperryfan
2008-04-18 01:59 pm UTC (link)
Don't get pissed, doctors don't often like to look at things from a legal standpoint (except for how not to get sued). They just want to care for their patients, get paid, and go home. It's tough sometimes from my end of the story trying to find a doctor who will look at a case from a cause and effect perspective, who is willing to look back into someone's history, and put the whole picture together rather than just treating the end result. There's a whole National Directory of Independent Medical Examiners - I'll look through that and try to get back to you this evening.

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[info]zenfrodo
2008-04-18 02:28 pm UTC (link)
thank you thank you thank you!

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[info]mdperryfan
2008-04-18 10:39 pm UTC (link)
Ok, this isn't much help - the directory I reviewed had no toxicologist experts in Ohio - however, experts have to register to be listed, so that doesn't mean they're not out there, just that they didn't register. I did find some names at JurisPro (http://www.jurispro.com/category/toxicology-s-107/), that will at least give you a starting point. They are probably not cheap - just for orthopaedic exams and reports, the companies we represent generally have to pay upwards of $600 for an opinion, however, that usually comes out of any eventual award.

Hope this helps!!

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[info]jrdrnr
2008-04-17 07:46 am UTC (link)
Oh my! I'm really sorry to hear it!


*Pop* go those dwarves and elves!!

I hope things stabilize out for you two!

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