Tesla Pressured Doctors To Block Workers Comp

[JohnnyRingo]

Personally, I like Elon Musk. His Space X project and the cars are cool AF. If I couldn't trade places with Sir Richard Branson, I'd pick Musk's lifestyle. But despite that role as the world's most interesting man he's beset with problems, particularly with optimistically promised production figures and what I suspect are mental issues.

There's a point in wealth where it no longer matters whether you're Richard Branson or Elon Musk, it's all just keeping score after that so it's incredible that Musk is so labor unfriendly, to say the least. He's worse on organized labor than WalMart and more restrictive on employees than Hobby Lobby.

That's why this headline is not shocking, just sad that a man of such great means is so stingy:

Tesla Pressured Doctors to Block Workers Comp Benefits to Save Money: Report

Imagine getting shocked at work by an industrial electric current so severely that you fall backwards, urinate on yourself, and have pain, numbness, and balance problems. Third-party doctors subsequently confirm, yep, you were electrocuted.

But then a manager from your employer steps in and says, no it was just minor static electric shock, like the kind you get when you touch a doorknob after walking on the rug, just so the company isn’t on the hook for the associated medical costs with your treatment and doesn’t have to report the workplace injury to regulators.

That’s what apparently happened at Tesla’s Fremont factory, according to a new report from Reveal from the Center of Investigative Reporting.

This is not the first time Reveal has brought to light sketchy workplaces practices from the electric car company. The news organization has previously reported on Tesla’s practices of keeping workplace injuries off the books and providing questionable medical assistance on-site before sending workers back to the line.

But the new report sheds additional light on how the company worked with willing doctors—one of whom was accused of sexual harassment and has since lost his medical license—to avoid giving employees proper medical care:

That’s when another one of Besh’s physicians, Dr. Muhannad Hafi, stepped in and did as Tesla wished. Hafi was in a vulnerable position. He’d been publicly accused of sexually assaulting two female patients at previous jobs. The California Medical Board had moved to take away his license.

“I have spoken again with Mr. Sharifi at Tesla and he informed that the forklift did not have electric current running,” Hafi wrote. “With that said, in my medical opinion, the patient does not have an industrial injury attributed to an electrical current.” He went so far as to say Casillas didn’t have any symptoms of concern.

Via Jalopnik. Continued here:
https://jalopnik.com/tesla-pressured-doctors-to-block-workers-comp-benefits-1833968118

[KT2000]

1. Common practice for corporations

especially those that are self-insured.
I know a woman who was poisoned by chemicals that came from a lab at her job - at a huge lumber company. The attorney for the company began her questioning by asking the woman what was it like when she was diagnosed with an STD years ago. They have access to all medical records.
The huge lumber company did not have to pay her workers comp or her medical costs - they just destroyed her until she gave up and went on welfare.

Hanford (nuclear waste) has large numbers of very ill workers who were poisoned on the job. They did not get workers comp either. A company was hired to destroy them with lies and denials. Young working adults who were reduced to being invalids. It took a local TV station to get the company fired so who knows how it will go. Some have already died.

[3Hotdogs]

2. 20 or 30 years ago, was a PBS doc. about Koch Bro. industries' O.S.H.A.

violations. It was bad.

David now donates to P.B.S. and I guess their injury practices have improved since I haven't heard more about this.

[Ohiogal]

3. Well

My opinion of him has certainly gone down quite a few notches!

And the same for all these places who won't properly take care of workplace injuries. And conservatives say we don't need unions anymore......