Injured at Bethel--then what?

by LDH 17 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Focus

  LDH wrote:

  Anyone else have input?

  What more is there to say?

  The contract entered into when one goes to Bethel is probably effective in protecting the Society from any claims, unless its own negligence or culpable neglect can be legally established.

  The only way to get the wicked swine who run the Borg to pay out is to threaten them with disclosure and some serious scandal. Be familiar with the law relating to blackmail before embarking upon this course. Also, I doubt that the threat in itself would be effective. Giving in to it would open the floodgates to a host of claims, and the Watchtower $ociety would not permit this.

  If the injury occurred recently, the hiving-off of Society assets into a welter of umbrella corporations might well have some relevance. You can be sure that such parts of the Borg that might attract civil actions (i.e. get sued) are not the parts which have the $$$.

  Learn your lessons, lick your wounds, and shake their dust from off your coat. And help knock them down by publicizing their widespread malpractice and cheating.

  And, sorry.

  --
  Focus
  (Consecrated Jubilee Advisory Invisible Antitype Class)
• 

  LDH

  Wasn't there a court ruling that determined that full-time volunteers still fit the description under the law of 'workers' and as such are entitled to full rights? If it wasn't in NY it was definitely another state.

  And I didn't think it had to do with the JW, if I'm not mistaken. I will do some research.

  Lisa
  Focus Loves Me class
• 

  ballistic

  What about quick builds? There are cases of serious injuries, especially in the early days before quick build teams were formed and non-trades persons carried out most of the work. At one (I think it was in Milton Keynes) a scaffold pole fell vertically through the roof of a porta-loo, passing through the legs of an unsuspecting JW and into the bowl, pinning him to his seat.
• 

  Belligerent Paladin

  Bethel doesn't have much by way of provisions.

  If a person is very old and has been at Bethel all of his life, they are taken care of at the Bethel infirmary. If they can, they still do some work.

  Frequently I would be going through the tunnel in the 119 building and look in at the old brothers in the hanger room. (Some days I could actually visualize myself being put in there when I was 80+ {shudder}) Their assignment was to put little cardboard guards on the wire hangers for 30 hours a week. They would be there day after day after day until they had to be taken to the infirmary (nursing home) because they could NOT get around anymore.

  If you're younger and get hurt on the job, the mad doctor at the infirmary will patch you up to the best of his ability, and you are to go back to work as soon as possible. If you can't be patched, you get the heave-ho. I do remember one young brother who collapsed from what the doctor diagnosed (correctly?) as some sort of brain seizure (Odd that there wasn't more of that). He was able to stay while he recovered.

  I injured my hip from constantly bending over storage bins that hit me right on the hip joint. At least I had the presence of mind to quit while I could still move instead of killing myself for the B'organization. The mad doctor told me that I had injured my back, not my hip. He had ex-rays taken and told me that I couldn't be in any pain since nothing showed up.

  I tried to get a job transfer and was told by Bob Rains that there would be no reason to transfer me someplace else because if my back was hurt, there was no guarantee that I would be able to stay anyway. He said the best thing for me to do would be to leave Bethel, get myself fixed back up on the outside (outside of Bethel) and then reapply if I recovered.

  I'm just glad that the majority of my Bethel experience was negative enough to keep me from doing that.

  Classless
  -Belligerent Paladin
• 

  SYN

  Bethel is like a prison. It's just a scam to get lots of young, uneducated teenage/early 20's kids to work their asses off for the Society, and then they usually find themselves back in the world with no real way to earn a living except as a McDonald's team member.

  Very, very sad indeed. I went to Bethel just once, and that was what convinced me. I never saw the coat-hanger dudes though...

  "I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone." -- Charles Darwin, The Origin Of Species, 1869.
• 

  LDH

  OK I've been thinking of ways to hit the WBTS where it counts, in the wallet, because it's obvious they haven't protected their assets with *REAL* insurance coverage.

  If you are injured at Bethel or the KH, is there any chance of recovery from a Personal Injury lawsuit?

  Perhaps they have escaped being sued by 'workers' as the workers are really 'volunteers.' So maybe instead of suing for worker's comp, you just sue for PI.

  I'm interested to know why some of these Bethelites who were injured don't make a call to the nearest ambulance chaser.

  Lisa
• 

  SEAKEN2001

  Lisa,

  when I was at Bethel it was still posible to get treatment for injuries unless surgery was needed. Just after I badly turned my ankle on the basketball court, and another brother broke his wrist (he was a Bethel elder, I was a little pee-on) there was talk at morning worship about a new policy for handling personal injuries. We weren't called an "order" back then and I never took a vow of poverty, at least knowingly. But we were all informed that if you injured yourself on your own time you would have to pay for your own medical care or you would have to leave. Apparently the two of us were only a couple of the many who were costing the "family" money due to injuries while playing sports. I think it was only coincidence that we happened to get injured that week but it sure seemed like everyone was looking at me in my cast. I had to meet with the home overseers and get counseled. I was expected to get back to work very soon. I did have to take about three days off before I could put any weight on my foot. This was around 1985 at WTF.

  I think the WTS has tried very hard to cover their butt in this area so I am not confident that anyone will be able to find and exploit a loophole here. They put in all the "order" and "vow of poverty" stuff to prevent just the type of action you inquire about. Maybe there is something that can be done with respect to on-the-job injuries. Don't know. I do know a brother at the farm fell off a scaffolding and broke his heels. He was able to recover at the Farm in the infirmery and stayed at bethel. I don't know what the criteria is for allowing some to stay and sending some home. At any rate, the WTS is definitely guilty of a scam in relation to labor laws. All under the guise of "religion". They are very clever. It's maddening. I hope somewhere along the line someone successfully blows open the scam.

  Sean
• 

  Southland

  Up back a few messages, Farket wrote:

  Just look at what happened to Ray Franz and Ed Dunlap. Ray had forty years full time service to his Cult. Ed was 69 when he was booted out and had about as many or more years full-time service. Any humane corporation would still provide pensions for such long-time employees, even if they were fired. The WTS is not a human organization. It is a thoroughly evil and selfish organization who could not care less about ruining individual lives when it affects their financial bottom line.

  I remember reading in Ray Franz' Crisis of Conscience book that the Society gave him either $10,000 or $15,000 (I don't remember which) when he left to cover his expenses. That doesn't seem like a lot of money at all for 40+ years of service.

  Edited by - Southland on 17 June 2002 15:56:27