“Hamilton-area doctor gets green light to sue WSIB, employer” / Jacques Gallant (Toronto Star, Apr. 21, 2016)
Dr Brenda Steinnagel alleges she was fired after refusing WSIB’s demands to reverse her medical opinion on a hospital security guard’s claim (see also Hamilton Spectator article Sep. 25, 2015). Last week Ontario’s Superior Court [2016 ONSC 2138] threw out requests by the Board and claimant’s former employer, Workplace Health & Cost Solutions (WHCS) – a company that manages workers’ compensation claims under contract to the WSIB – to strike out parts of the claim of statement, enabling the lawsuit to proceed.
According to her statement, Dr Steinnagel’s medical opinion, resisted by the WSIB, supported the claim for benefits of injured worker Shawn McCabe, relating emotional issues to the head injuries he suffered while trying to restrain a patient at Rouge Valley Centenary hospital. The statement alleges the doctor was fired by Vaughan-based WHCS after the company delivered a different opinion to the Board, “thereby providing WSIB with the false and fraudulent opinion it needed to deny the hospital worker his benefits”.
Related reading:
- Ontario Federation of Labour, Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups. 2015 Oct. “Prescription Over-ruled – Report on How Ontario’s WSIB Systematically Ignores the Advice of Medical Professionals” and 2016 “Submission to the Ontario Ombuds Office”
- “Ontario doctor’s suit claims pattern of fraud at workplace safety board” / Elizabeth Church (Globe and Mail, Sep. 24, 2015)