A worker complained about the behaviour of a WSIB Return-to-Work Specialist during a telephone call.

The worker described being spoken to in a harsh tone, with the call abruptly ending before she had a chance to fully speak. When she discussed the incident with a manager, she was informed that staff conduct was an internal matter, and that in any event, her claim had entered a new phase so it would be assigned to a new Return-to-Work Specialist.

The worker told the Commission that she felt her concerns were not taken seriously and that she was seeking an apology.

The Return-to-Work Specialist’s memo of the call said he ended the call because the worker was being argumentative and interrupting him, making it difficult to provide a clear explanation.
In our initial inquiry, the manager confirmed that the call recording had not yet been reviewed. We recommended that the call be pulled from the system because the worker’s account of the call differed from the memo.

The call recording showed that the worker had not been argumentative and that she had had little opportunity to speak before the call was abruptly terminated by the WSIB Return-to-Work Specialist within three minutes. We shared these observations with the manager.

Upon further review, the manager agreed that the call was not handled appropriately. She apologized to the worker and assured her that corrective actions, including staff coaching and training, were being implemented.

The worker was ultimately satisfied with how the WSIB handled the situation and credited the Commission with helping to resolve her concerns.