On 4/04/26 I was at work ( I work at a LTL Freight company) I was approached by a supervisor and asked to secure some freight to the wall of the trailer. I obliged and attempted to do so. I was too short to reach around the freight to properly secure it so I stepped on some freight below it and climbed up. When stepping down I missed my step and fell about 4-5 feet straight onto a wooden pallet with my right hip.
All the proper things were done, I was taken to the office, called Gallagher and Bassett, spoke with a triage nurse, and was told that I could take care of this at home with alternating Ice and heat but if anything changes to call back and I can see a doctor. I agreed as I didn't want to see a Dr as I thought it was just bad bruising and I'd have a little soreness.
4/08/2026
So the 8th comes and I leave for work around 3 am, on the way over I realize that I'm way too sore to operate a forklift so I ask my supervisor when I arrive if I can have one day of light duty just to get a little extra recovery time. At this point the Assistant Operations Manager tells me to pick a Dr from the panel and go. I do so. The Dr comes in after X-rays etc and informed me I had broken a teeny tiny piece of my femur bone off and that he was putting me on light duty and referring me to an orthopedic.
A day or so later I get a call from my case manager at Gallagher and Bassett and she asks me all the usual WC questions etc, she then tells me she's sending over a form for me to choose from the panel of Orthos and fill it out and send it back to her, I did so and sent it to her on 04/14/2026. After this I just wait, I just assume the days following are just part of the lengthy process of WC claims. Some days go by and I call and leave a voicemail and get no response, a couple more days I call again and it's the same, I leave another voicemail some days after that. Finally on 4/27/2026 I call and managed to work my way to some sort of rep at Gallagher and Bassett, I tell him the situation and puts me on hold to reach out to my claim manager. He comes back and says she will call you in 15 minutes.
I was surprised when she did. I explained that she had the email from me since the 14th of this month and that I was running out of time.
Context - My company pays your full rate for the first two weeks that you are injured, after that, they pay half of your rate and the rest of your pay comes from Gallagher and Bassett. So this is why I said I was running out of time to get this going and get their payments setup for me so I have no gap in my income.
She responded to me saying she was going to make my appointment to my ortho for me and would call me back later the same day. Surprise she didn't, so I was like well okay she's just busy and trying to get it worked out with the Ortho so I give her another full day. Now today ( 04/30/2026) she still hadn't called so I called again, made it to a human that wasn't her, and explained the situation AGAIN. Again the person put me on hold to reach out to the case manager and comes back saying that she couldn't be reached but an email was sent to her and that I should expect a response with 24-48 business hours. Mind you that makes it Tuesday of this coming week at the earliest. My half rate pay started this past Monday and I can't afford to not have my full rate.
Fast forward to now, I retained a WC lawyer and I am TERRIFIED that I am going to lose my job and insurance. My wife is a diabetic and I have to have good insurance.
Also to add, aside from a lack of being able to sit cross legged and a sharp pain when I rub the site of the impact, I'm fine as far as I can tell. But I'm going crazy trying to deal with these people at Gallagher and Bassett, who by the way have a TERRIBLE reputation amongst WC companies, even though I don't expect any of them to have glowing reviews.
I'm scared I did the wrong thing and will be terminated for this.
TN is an At will state and I have had a couple of write ups for small things since I started here 9 months ago. I've also been warned about attendance but haven't missed in months.
Any advice here?
Am I screwed?