"I too work for Bowlin in there fiber division. I've work for them for 3 years now and can agree to the fact that they are not a fly by night organization. I have never had problems with getting paid. In fact Jay Martin has helped me out personal (out of his own pocket) when I was going through some medical issues. Jay Martin, Kerry Bowlin, TIM Miller and the rest of Bowlins management have been there for me when I really wasn't expecting it. This organization has gone beyond what is expected of an employer and have taken care of there employees in this time of economic stress. I am proud to be working for Bowlin and hope to have a long future with them."
Posted on 8-6-2011
I sure did sound like a BIG kiss ass back then! These days you need to do whatever you can in order to keep your job. A month after this post I was fired from Bowlin. I had injured myself on the jobsite, fell of truck and injured my back and was taken to the hospital. While on the way to the hospital the EMT had given me a shot of morphine for the pain, which was noted in my charts. When I arrived at the hospital, I was meet by my manager. He was on the phone with his superior relaying all that was happening. The nurse explained to my manager that I was given a shot of morphine in the ambulance and it would show on the drug screen. My manager said that’s fine, He was told to make sure that I was given a drug screen for insurance. When the doctor asked if this was work related and if I was going to be filing this under workers comp, my manager stepped in and said “He will not be filing this under workers comp and Bowlin would be paying for expenses out of pocket". The ER doctor looked at him and said "Who the FU*K are you and get out of the ER". I was advised by the nurse to file this under workers comp in case any future problems occur, so I did. After being released from the ER, I followed up the next day with my employers own physician center.” I was asked to bend over as far as I can and stand on my toes. I was told by my manager to ask for light duty, which their doctor had released me for. I was put to work that following week in an office to do paperwork. This kept Bowlin for having to file any worker comp. claims on me and saved them some money. I made copies of installer daily’s because my employer was under investigation from the DOL for "none payment of overtime". I was getting worse every day, and finally convinced myself to see my personal doctor. He said that I should not be at work or light duty, and should be at home resting. After taking the doctors’ orders, I was admitted to the ER for kidney failure due to the swelling in my back, and spent the next week in the hospital. There I also caught an infection, stafe, from my IV and spent an additional week recovering from that. After being discharged, I started physical therapy. A few weeks after therapy and returning to work, I unexpectedly was told" my services with Bowlin were no longer needed and I was terminated" Was told that there were pictures taken of empty beer cans in my work truck, which was picked up from my house a few days prior. They also accused me of stealing cable, which is impossible these days unless you have a mini box. All these allegations were false! After confronting my manager (JAY MARTIN) and asked him if this is related to me filing workers comp, he said “No, your being fired for other reasons and has nothing related to the workers comp claim". So I filed for unemployment that day. When I was contacted by the unemployment investigator to dispute my former employers claim for not paying unemployment, I was told I was terminated for a totally different reason. I was terminated for “failing my post-accident drug screen", nothing about empty beer cans or stealing cable. They said “The drug screen found opiates (morphine) in my system”, NO SH*T. These were all tactics from the HR department to make sure I was terminated without any chance of being sued for "terminating for filing workers comp". I contacted a lawyer, but was told that northern Kentucky favors the employer more than the employees in cases like this, and nothing was done. I am writing this too warn others to be careful when you think of filing workers comp, it could cost you your job.
Re: Bowlin in Lexington Ky
Member #: 19133
Registered: 1996-2001
Posted:
24
Name:
Gary Snow
Name:
William Snow
Occupation:
Fiber Splicing Foreman
Location:
Fort Myers, FL
Personal:
Experience:
~28 years
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