Work accident | “I’m afraid of falling on social assistance”

Injured at work, a single mother from Lévis must survive on an amount less than the minimum wage.

When the teenager she was caring for at home made a sudden movement to move her away from him, Aïcha Goupil immediately felt a flash of pain in her right thumb.

“My thumb went backwards. All the ligaments in my hand burst,” she says.

On the way to the emergency room with his sore hand, M^me Goupil had no idea that this work accident that occurred on November 28, 2019 would cost him his career, his finances, his autonomy and his sense of security, in addition to threatening his mental health.

The problems cascaded. His hand injury required rapid surgery. But the pandemic pushed it back by more than a year.

“I was operated on too late,” said M.^me Goupil. During the operation, a small nerve was caught, and it attacked my entire nervous system. »

Financial difficulties

M^me Goupil, who had no health problems before this accident, now suffers from CRPS type 1, which is uncontrollable and disabling pain in his right hand, which is his dominant hand. Every six or seven weeks, she is treated with ketamine, which reduces sensitivity to pain. She also has repeated vagal shocks.

The Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) pays M^me Goupil benefits which correspond to 90% of the net salary she received at the time of the accident. She receives $861.70 every two weeks, less than minimum wage.

“My accommodation costs me $1,125 per month, and it’s not heated, nothing. I am raising my 17 year old daughter alone. I had to sell my car, and there is almost no public transport in Lévis. I have a $966 bill at the clinic that I am unable to pay. I’m afraid of falling on social assistance,” says M^me Goupil.

The interest of employers

Marc Bellemare, former Minister of Justice and lawyer specializing in the field of accidents, particularly in cases that concern the CNESST, notes that the compensation paid by the CNESST to many injured workers is often insufficient to meet basic needs.

“Often, people work in poorly paid jobs while waiting to find something better. They have a workplace accident and are then stuck with benefits that are less than minimum wage, possibly for the rest of their lives. They may be financially condemned to a life of poverty, even if their skills are far superior to that. »

M^e Bellemare notes that Quebecers often do not realize that the CNESST is an employers’ mutual insurance company.

Unlike what happens with the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), for example, the employer is a partner in CNESST files. “The employer has as many rights as the workers. »

The CNESST and the employer can also have workers examined by the doctor of their choice. “A person’s condition can be debated medically, there can be four or five doctors who disagree. But the CNESST often uses retired doctors, very conservative, who spend 10 minutes with the person and find that their condition is not that bad. »

The law that governs the CNESST dates from 1985 and is extremely complex, he says. “There would be a lot of work to be done there so that injured people can live decently. »