More Tales of Sedgwick Terror

I am a 36 year old woman, a single mother. I have worked since I was 14 years old. I became employed at AT&T on July 7th, 2008. August 2nd, 2009 I fell down my back stairs while doing laundry. It hurt, and I had thought I had given myself quite a jolt, but I thought little of the incident. As the days went by I started having more and more pain, nausea, numbness... yet I kept going to work. Finally, the following Saturday I was at work and in so much pain that after each customer left, I would go into the back office and lie on the floor holding my head and neck and rock. I felt as if I were being stabbed in the right eye, that there was a shoe string pulling from my eyebrow to the back of my neck, the right side of my neck, shoulder, and arm were numb yet screaming in pain. My Assistant Manager told my Manager that I needed to go to the hospital, but she said I was a closer and she had plans, I had to stay. By the time I managed to get home that evening I couldn't think... the pain was so bad, I couldn't manage to get up and get to the hospital. I laid in my bed and cried and rocked... by Sunday evening I could not stand it any longer and drove myself to the hospital. I could barely see to drive and had to bring a plastic garbage can because I would have to pull over and vomit every so often. They sent me for a CT scan and gave me a prescription for pain medication, I ended up going back and forth to the hospital every couple of days. I was a Union Employee and my mother came from Georgia to help me and read my contract. She said, “You are supposed have been furnished by your manager information to file for Short Term Disability.” I called my manager over and over, left messages and she didn't return my call. I called my Local President and he called her and left her a message. After being out a week, I received a text message with a phone number and nothing else. It ended up being the Disability department which was run by a 3rd Party company named Sedgwick CMS hired by AT&T to deal with these types of benefits.

I filed a claim. I called my case worker day after day and he was never in his office, and never returned my calls. I spent at least $200 in obtaining and faxing medical records to them. I would be accepted, then terminated, then appeal and wait 45 days for a determination without pay going back and forth to the hospital, trauma clinic, Neurosurgeon, General Practitioner, and Physical Therapy. On November the 12th I went in for surgery and what they had thought were to severely herniated discs turned out to be two shattered vertebra with fragments lying on my spinal cord, embedded in my C-6 nerve root and had to have a discectomy, cadaver bone implant, and a titanium plate and screws. Sedgwick demanded a copy of my surgical notes to be faxed by me the next day. I was quarantined at home following my surgery due to the very high risk of infection. They would not send for them. I had to have them faxed and could not leave the house. Needless to say Sedgwick “manufactured” statements from my Neurosurgeon, my Doctor of Physical Therapy, and my Internist and printed them in a letter denying my disability on the basis of these fabricated statements. When I supplied letters from these doctor's directly denying these statements and proving these to be complete fabrication to my case worker's supervisor, she did nothing. So I went to her supervisor, then to my manager, my benefits coordinator, and the CEO of AT&T Mobility Division Randall Stephenson. Also, all the while trying to get my Union to represent me all the way to the National office in Washington D.C. without so much as an email response or returned telephone call.

My last disability check was the second week of January, for $145.00(minus Union Dues). I appealed on the basis of misconduct and provided the medical documentation to support my inability to return to work, the length of time from injury to surgery led to some serious nerve complications. On April of 2010 I was sent a final denial letter, Sedgwick said their “doctors” reviewed my documentation and determined, despite that my Neurosurgeon, Dr. of PT, and Internist deemed me disabled and unable to return to work at that time, and despite the misconduct, and blatant lies by my caseworker, that I was not disabled and if I did not return to work Against Medical Advise by May the 3rd, I would be terminated for “Job Abandonment”. I sent emails to Randall Stephenson, my Manager, my Benefits Coordinator, and the CWA District President, pleading that they investigate the misconduct, review my documentation and reinstate my benefits. I received one email, from my Benefits Coordinator. She apologized and said there was nothing they could do and I would receive my last check within two weeks.

During all these months without pay I tried to access my Paid Time Off days and my two weeks of vacation pay and was told I could not because I was technically still on disability. When two weeks had passed and I still had not received my check, I called payroll and they said they “thought” the check had been mailed, but could not tell me anything, that I had to go through my Manager. So, again I attempted to contact my Manager and my Benefits Coordinator. My Benefits Coordinator emailed me back informing me that my vacation time had expired and so did my PTO and I would not be receiving a final check.

I have written to the President, called my Congressman, contacted the NC Insurance Division, wrote to MoveOn, to NOW, to newspapers. I was informed by the NC Insurance Division that there is no government entity that oversees these 3rd party companies and that I would have to get a lawyer. The rest, well... I never heard back from any of them. There is one lawyer in Asheville that deals with ERISA law and she costs $200 per hour and told me that it would be a minimum of 3 hours just to review my medical records. I was told by all the other lawyer I contacted, that “There was just no money in that kind of law.”.

My son and I lost our insurance and I had to go without treatment for 2 months while the state of North Carolina determined whether or not I was eligible for insurance. I obtained food stamps, but those were cut off because someone in the office made a clerical error and took a “Contribution” form that was supposed to go to my Food Stamp worker and gave it to my Medicaid worker. I cannot get Unemployment because I was informed by ESC that I am not employable and that AT&T says I quit. I cannot get welfare because my son is 18 and I am not pregnant. I cannot get financial assistance from non-profit organizations because they only give you $100 towards your rent, but only if you can prove you can come up with the rest of it, I cannot get help with my utilities because they are in my landlords name even though she wrote a letter and I brought a copy of my monthly invoice stating that I am responsible for them. I applied for SSI/SSDI in March and it is now October and I still have heard nothing, my caseworker says it is still in determination. Then I went to the pharmacy to get a vital prescription filled to find out that within the last month Medicaid has made changes and that medication has to be pre-certified. That my doctor has to fill out a form to explain the medical necessity of the medication and then someone behind a desk in Raleigh will determine whether I really need it or not. This is a two week process and I can only refill this medication on my last day... so I had to borrow $200 from my best friend to pay for my prescription, yes... it cost $200. I will not be reimbursed because I didn't wait for someone to say yes or no. My doctor did not even know this change.

I have nothing. I cannot help my son, so he had to move to Georgia with my mother. My mother is retired and had to get a job to pay my bills and care for my son. Why don't I move to Georgia you ask? Because I would have to apply for all of these things all over again.

AT&T, Sedgwick CMS, CWA Union, and our government has ruined me. Our government is aware of the conduct of Sedgwick CMS because that company and several others like it have lawsuit upon lawsuit pending over this type of conduct, yet it continues to go unchecked. There is no government help, no non-profit help, no Union help... no interest in this whatsoever.

There are people out there, thousands upon thousands of them in my situation. However, I'd hazard to guess that less than 2% of them have families like mine. A parent that would put herself in financial ruin at the point in her life she is supposed to be able, after 40 years of teaching, to relax and enjoy her retirement... but has spent most of it, and gone back to work to support her disabled daughter and her grandson. If it had not been for my family and my best friend, I would not be writing this letter. I would be dead. At 36 years of age I would have taken my own life because there was nothing left and no one to turn to, only chronic pain and poverty. I wouldn't even have been able to live in my car, not only can't I drive... but I wouldn't have been able to pay a tag fee and my car would have been towed for being illegal.

So... whomever reads this letter, I beseech you, get this out. Look up Sedgwick CMS on Google, see what you find, read about the horrors this company has committed and all of the people suffering like me. Contact your local Government Officials, write letters to the President, to the newspapers, get the word out. Don't let these Big Business' destroy the fabric of this country, the people... we are people. We are not something to be dropped in a crack and walked over without thought or care... we are your sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, aunts, and uncles... we are your children. Help us.

I am an employee of AT&T Mobility, I was injured August 2nd, and took leave on the 8th. I fell down my back stairs and shattered 2 vertebra in my neck. It took 4 months to get my sugary, during which time no one knew that my neck was broken. I was put on STD for a few weeks and then denied on the basis that I was not disabled. They said they had tried to speak with my doctor and she could not be reached, so their doctor determined that I was fit to return to work. At that time they had information from my doctor and PT department that stated that I wasn't able to return to work because they did not have a full picture of what was the issue and that I was pending an MRI because I had no use of my right side, my face was numb, as was my right arm. I had excruciating pain in my right side, head, and eye and they had yet to determine the cause. Come to find out, they had spoken to my doctor whom told them she didn't feel comfortable with they way they asked their questions and would gladly type a summation of my prognosis to that point and fax it to them that day, which they declined. I then received my MRI and a letter from a Neurosurgeon at which time after 46 days without income they reinstated me after my appeal.

I was approved until the 18th of January, in which time I was to provide them with more documentation stating my inability to return to work. I had my surgery on November 12th at which time they, during surgery found that my vertebra C 5 and 6 were shattered. At which time they had to put a scope down my spine and remove fragments, remove the fragment that had be causing the spinal stinosis in which I was diagnosed with and the fragments that were imbeded in my trunk nerve which had caused the impingement and numbness, remove the vertebra, replace with cadaver bone, a titanium plate and 4 screws.

I have been in therapy only 2 months now and cannot do anymore than 15 minutes of any type of repetitive motion, no lifting, they aren't even putting me on an exercise bike or weights of any kind. I go in the pool, get muscle manipulation, and E-stem treatments. I am still in an enormous amount of pain and things are moving very slowly. Worse yet the amount of stress being put on me by STD. As of January 12th I received a call from STD stating that I was to report to work within 24hrs. That according to the notes from December 8th, 3 weeks post-op I could return to work. At that time I was just able to leave the house because the threat of infection was no longer eminent, and had yet to even start therapy. I told them that I had a letter stating that I had until January 18th to provide them with more documentation and that I was told I had at least 6 more weeks before they were even going to re-evaluate me. I was denied the next day. I received the denial packet and the letter which stated the reason for denial had nothing to do with the information I was given on the 12th, and everything in the letter was an utter fabrication. They said they spoke to my surgeon on January 7th, sent my limitations on the 8th and that I was able to go back to work.

They never spoke to my surgeon, my surgeon hadn't even met with the PT department for a team meeting on my progress at that point, and no correspondence of any kind was sent to them from my spinal center. I've been fighting this with a broken neck for 7 months now at my expense of over $200 for records and faxes and only have received 3 months of disability payments.

I am now in the process of putting together a rebuttal package from my spinal center with a letter from my surgeon, the disability dept., the records dept., and the PT team to prove that the entire denial letter was a complete and total lie in the hopes that I am reinstated because otherwise I will have to appeal again and that takes 45 days.

My 65 year old mother had to go get a job to pay my bills, my son had to take a semester off from college to help take care of me, and because I could not pay his tuition. All I am trying to do is get better so I can go back to work. Sedgwick has lied, denied, and has effected my entire family. I am in counseling now because of the stress of this ordeal had put me to the point of considering suicide. I am 35 years old.

I can't get a lawyer to help me because "There is no money in it.", and my Union has just turned their back on me and will not help me, and well... AT&T just wants to make sure I don't cost them anymore money. I am looking at being terminated, and I have not a penny to my name because of this company and their complete disregard for the law. But, hey... I guess they can get away with it because we can't get representation because, "There is no money in it."

Anonymous Physician that treats sick and injured ATT Employees and other victims of Sedgwick CMS

You have a moral compass with superb navigation of our system to define inequities in disability mismanagement. You will change public opinion of the process.
I only wish I had one master- my patients. My time is so encumbered by process that I have no time to advance my clinical knowledge, get reasonable and timely consultations and treatment from equally encumbered colleagues. The patient is always the looser!
How did we get here? Why do we remain in bondage? When will the medical revolution begin? Will we always be slaves to the medically untrained decision makers in politics who view patients as cost centers with voracious consumer appetites?

ON June 18 2008,
I was removed from the AT&T Rocky Hill Ct CCC via ambulance with a severe panic attack & with what I & the rest of the office thought was a heart attack.
I spent 3 days in Hartford Hospital cardiac unit in Hartford, Ct. I was advised to do a follow-up with my primary physician (((Redacted)))) in two weeks of which she suggested I seek counseling, of which I obtained the services of (((Redacted)))) a counselor recommended by AT&T's medical plan.
I had been diagnosed as having been under extreme job related stress conditions with in addition my wife had suffered several life threatening brain seizures & physical handicap problems an 80 year old person might expect. (my wife is 48 years old) In the same time frame my mother was dying of cancer, she passed away in September 2008 & my father had severe arterial surgeries I had to take time to care for them several times, they live in Florida I had been doing the best I could managing all aspects. What pushed me over was the overwhelming stress put on me at work added by the fact I now commute 600 miles a week., Approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hrs each way. Basically I shut down & in the company provided counselors words (((Redacted)))) said I was a danger to myself & others if I did not stop & take some time to regroup & distress. I went to counseling each week for about 6 weeks & followed up again with my primary Dr. & advised her I did not feel as though I was making enough progress & wanted to try some medications to see if that would help. They finally did & I was able to return although sooner than we had discussed but because Sedgwick was giving such a hard time saying I was not covered based on the case workers findings I returned as my funds were all but depleted. When you have a family of 5 & a mortgage of $1400 a month plus an ill spouse it does not take long.
I went through all the extensions & Sedgwick kept saying the same thing the notes were not sufficient even though the Doctors both agreed I needed time to regain mental health. I finally had to request a final appeal & while I was in Florida in December taking care of my dad again in to January due to 3 more surgeries Sedgwick conveniently claimed they were not able to contact my Doctors for a Doctor to Doctor conference & my appeal was denied on January 30Th forcing me to replace 2 weeks conditional pay & ultimately a loss of approximately $7000 I checked with my doctors & both said they were never contacted!
They also say this is not covered because it is a result of personal issues!
I thought ill was ill right? physical, emotional, mental or substance!
I Need help I feel as though I have been railroaded please contact me!

Bob was a Senior Engineer in the Central Office Planning department of what is now AT&T. He recently retired after 30 years of faithful service. Only once during his lengthy career did Bob become too ill to work and felt the need “to utilize” of the Short Term Disability Coverage” he had worked for and been promised by then SBC now AT&T.

Bob was prescribed some eye drops to control the fluid pressure in his eyes. One would think, eye drops, no big deal. Unfortunately, after a period of time, Bob experienced some rather severe side effects.

Bob’s system reacted in a way that made it difficult to relate his symptoms to the eye drops. Bob first thought that he had developed a simple sore throat and treated it as such. After a couple of weeks of a worsening cough he finally was forced to call in sick one Monday morning as he wasn’t sleeping, coughing a lot, and felt as though he had a severe cold, By Wednesday, after two days of bed rest, he wasn’t feeling any better so he went to an Urgent Care Center where he was prescribed an inhaler. Bob still didn’t feel well enough to go to work and missed the remainder of the week.

When the weekend arrived, Bob was getting worse and was now experiencing spasms in his throat, still not sleeping, and having difficulty breathing. The doctors at the hospital put him on steroids (to reduce swelling) for three days. Bob Continued to worsen! Mid week, he went back to the Urgent Care Center where the doctors were unable to determine the problem and sent him to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist who recognized that Bob had Acid Reflux. The doctor prescribed him some medication to target the Acid Reflux and Valium to help Bob relax and get some much needed sleep. Bob was still unable to speak, having difficulty breathing and swallowing, and was reeling from the effects of Valium and Tylenol plus Codeine that he had been prescribed.

After over two weeks, things weren’t improving, and Bob returned to the hospital where X-Rays were taken. Unfortunately they didn’t reveal anything useful in the diagnosis and treatment of Bob’s problems. After another couple of days, Bob went to a different hospital and a tube was inserted into his throat to monitor the spasms causing the Acid Reflux. The monitor detected 26 occurrences in 24 hours. This is a lot!

Bob is now on the Acid Reflux medication, Valium, and Tylenol plus Codeine. He is put on a special diet in the hopes that it will help. He is still having trouble breathing, can’t talk, and is certainly not safe to drive. Three weeks have passed and he’s still not improving.

Bob is going nowhere fast. At this point, he had his wife drive him to a routine appointment with his eye doctor that had been scheduled months in advance. His doctor, in addition to checking his eyes, learned of Bob’s Acid Reflux, and correctly diagnosed that Bob had experienced a rare but well known side effect to the eye drops. That side effect was: Acid Reflux. The eye doctor changed Bob’s prescription and things started improving.

Bob was out for a total of 6 weeks before his condition improved to the point that he could return to work. He, being a trusting employee, believed that his absence would be covered by his Short Term Disability Coverage. Little did he know that Sedgwick had no intention of paying him his benefits and that his claim had been denied. Flabbergasted, he was forced to use vacation time to cover his illness.

He got letters from all of the doctors involved, put together a formal appeal and sent it in confident that the “error” would be corrected. After he submitted his appeal, a Sedgwick representative called him to tell him that his appeal had been denied. Not entirely surprising based upon the experience of others that have gone before him. The representative then told him in her best sarcastic voice (knowing full well that it wasn’t worth the attorney’s fees to recover 6 weeks pay) that “you can always sue the company”.

This story is just another example on how the “AT&T Disability Scam” is played out with trusting employees. Bob’s story is remarkable in that his was a short, low dollar claim. But again, a small claim here, a small claim there, and the AT&T and Sedgwick executives have some real money to stuff into their pockets.

God Bless all of you for this website! I, too, am in the middle of an appeal with these low life, scumbag, pieces of s##t of this earth!

If my appeal is approved, can I still share my horror story?

I'm spreading the word and sending this website everywhere to expose these low lifes!

Coincidentally, I have the same HMO (UC Davis in Sacramento) which is the HMO on item #4 of your website that UC Davis filed charges with the
FBI for forgery.

God Bless UC Davis, too! It happened during the same time frame as my disability and I will be researching public record to find out who the attorney handling this case is!

Thanks again for providing this service!

I am a healthy att employee apx 4 years ago i developed a highly dangerous and contagious staf nfection
when i called smaart the first thing the girl said was is i find out your lying im gonna take your pay away
smaarts dr? felt i should be back to work a wk to 10 days earlier than my dr/ so i did not infect anyone i did
stay out and did not get pd for that time. complaining about the girls threats and attitude did no good.

hi, can I ask something? I been around for 28 years and my mom is terminally ill with cancer. I asked to move my seat to a quiet area, well they said yes, but now because someone complained I have to get a seat accommodation from Smartt. I never heard of such a thing. So I moved my seat and had to move back....I guess the management in my office won't let anyone move their seat without an accommodation from Smartt. I had to go thru a 20 minute grill from SMartt and now my doctor has to release my personal records to smartt that i am indeed stressed. I guess someone else complained because they had to do it, which I knew nothing about. My mother is dying, I wouldn't lie, and I am having a difficult time, but a seat accommodation, is this right, it's such an invasion of privacy. I did not want to get into anything with my boss, but I have been around a long time I never heard that you needed a medical accommodation to move your seat...I moved back to my old seat, but I never heard of such a thing. Smartt made me feel so awkward, so did my boss, it's just a hard time in my life, I just wanted to get an end seat by the window for awhile to get thru a bad period.. Thanks for listening.

Unfortunately I can believe everything you say. In 2005 while working for AT&T here in Connecticut I fell of the back of my bucket truck shattering my pelvis, fracturing my left femur both wrists and injuring my back. I had to fight with Sedgwick to get my hip replaced. It took 13 months and an attorney to get this done. The stress of this coupled with the fact that they stopped my disability payments every 2 weeks meaning a $36,000 loss of income caused me to have a heart attack 33 days later due in part to the decision on Sedgwick's part to kick me out of a rehab center after 8 days because they didn't think the doctor was correct when he said I should stay for a month because they ran into complications with the surgery causing me to bleed out on the operating table (now they think they are doctors too). So 3 days after Thanksgiving 2006 I am having 4 stents put in my chest to save my life, keep in mind that at the time of my injury I was a physically fit 51 year old active man. To this day I am still waiting for 2 operations on my back as I have a nerve root protruding from my spine and have 3 vertebrae that need to be fused. All this results in constant pain no matter what I do. I am back to work with this pain and have been taking percocets since the day of my injury. The reason I am still waiting? Sedgwick says I didn't hurt my back in that fall from my truck because I didn't complain about it soon enough. I have another appointment with a workers comp. comm. on April 9.I feel your pain brother. Keep up the fight.