Melvon Anderson
Held Captive “Employers’ Indifference with Work Related Injuries” relates to thousands of Americans who go to work everyday, working hard and pushing their limits. Many assume that, if an injury happens while “on the clock,” their medical needs will be covered. This, however, is not always the case. Consider Alice, a hardworking employee who, one day as she carried out her duties felt a snap in her back—her nightmare began.
Author, Melvon Anderson tells of Alice’s struggle, as she suffers at the mercy of her employer and endures mistreatment difficulties. Throughout her ordeal, Alice is forced to rethink the ideal that the government takes care of hard-working adults who are injured on-the-job. Instead, she bitterly realizes the injured become victims of the healthcare and Workers’ Compensation System. Feeling betrayed in the face of indifference, Alice and others were left to fend for themselves, fighting for both their health and for their justice.
Melvon is the author of three books, Wake-Up, (Understanding your rights with on-the-job injuries) which chronicles her personal battle with her employer and the Workers’ Compensation System, Held Captive “Employers’ Indifference with Work Related Injuries” is about the injustice that American’s face everyday regarding an on-the-job injury and Worker’s Compensation System, and What “Lies” Beneath: Bureaucracy Exposed, is an exposé of “Corporate America’s” Red Tape Apathy and Politics. Melvon is also a member of the National Register “Who’s Who” in Executive & Professionals, and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. She has also appeared on Fox 6 News, Channel’s 9/51 KUSI, 7/39 KNSD, and has been featured in the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper. Melvon is a single mother of two daughters, currently residing in San Diego, CA.
She requested a meeting with Human Resources, and her boss to resolve any problems between the two of them. If the meeting could not be arranged within the first week of her return, she could only assume that the company was being unreasonable and she would have to respond legally. After he angrily left his office, she could only go sit at her desk and try to resume some kind of normal activity.
The big moment came a few minutes later when she was summoned to the General Sales Office by Johnny. Before going, she begged Jason to go with her for moral support. He refused. Her fear grew with each step towards the office. She knew that letter was a real challenge to Johnny and the GSM. She could imagine a lot of negative things being done to her as a result. It was important for her to take the first step, but as she approached the office, she was not sure if it had been one of her better choices.
When Alice entered the office, she took a deep breath, looked around and took a seat. The first thing she noticed was Helen, the administrator, she was in the office, as with the secretary. All eyes were on Alice. You could fill the chill in the room, and everyone but Johnny wanted to get up and leave. He pulled out his binder and asked, to no one in particular, if he had all the necessary forms for her to return to work. Helen never looked at him and answered, yes.
As he flipped through the pages of his binder, he discussed her new assignments. They were reorganizing corporate files and archiving. She listened and said softly, “I’m going to be out of sight in the “Software Training Department.” Johnny pretended not to hear her little digging at him, and asked if was there was anything else she needed to say. She said no. He welcomed her back and told her that everyone missed her. That ended the meeting. She left the office and returned to her new office, known to the rest of the staff as, “The Dungeon.”
A new phrase in the cycle of destruction had begun. She was not aware of how things were going to change, and hoped that everything would take care of itself. Little did she know that this ordeal was far from over, including watching her back as long as Johnny was around because he was angry. At a moments notice he would fire her! How much protection she would continue to receive because of her injury, was pretty much anyone’s guess. She sent a letter to her attorney about what had transpired. It wasn’t much comfort.
Realizing that, for the short term anyway, his hands were tied. He took his defeat in stride and ignored Alice as much as possible. She said he probably felt that he had buried her deeply. He was also pretty smug because nothing happened to him as a result of what he tried to do. This was a fact that she did not fail to see, and decided to take the advice that her mother had given her so many years ago, “when things get bad people make changes!”
She was determined that he would not win. If things were going to get kicked up a notch in seriousness, then she would take more steps to protect herself from what might be coming. She started keeping notes of everything that Johnny and management tried to do to her. One disturbing entry occurred when, after a month, she had not heard from Human Resources concerning the actions promised by the representative. Calling around to several contacts, she learned that the woman had been dismissed.
There were a lot of rumors going around as to why she had been terminated. She had a strong feeling that she was one of the reasons, but was never able to prove her suspicions. It was also very disturbing for her to think just how angry management might really be.
