An injured worker complained to the Commission that the WSIB didn’t respond to his written request to lift his “no telephone calls” restriction from a prior claim, and that it complicated matters with his new claim. The eligibility adjudicator’s letter advised that the WSIB had denied his new claim and invited him to call with any questions. When he did, the WSIB sent another letter to remind him that he was not allowed to call.

The Commission contacted the security director who advised that the WSIB had not asked security to review the worker’s request to lift the restriction. The director also acknowledged that prior to the worker’s most recent call, he had not violated the terms of his contact restriction. He agreed that the WSIB’s letters to the worker contained conflicting messages.

After discussion between the security director and the WSIB staff, the WSIB removed the worker’s contact restriction.

The Commission then spoke to the manager about the decision-making process for the worker’s new claim. With the contact restriction in place, the WSIB did not follow the usual procedure to call the worker for information about his new claim. The manager had an eligibility adjudicator contact the worker to take his statement and reconsider the decision.