Nick Avgerinos, from Chicago has a post today about case managers in work comp. cases. It's a good post. I'd like to bluntly expand on it a little. Let's face facts, the Case Manager in a workers' compensation case is not on your side and never will be on your side. They are nothing more than high priced spies working to the ends of destroying your case. Okay, maybe not all of them.

Perhaps there is 1 in 1,000 who actually has a heart, and will treat the injured worker with the respect and dignity that he or she deserves, but the other 999 won't, and don't fool yourself into believing otherwise.

Here are the facts:

• They get paid by the insurance companies.
• They take orders from the insurance companies or self-insured employers.
• They depend on insurance companies for referrals.
• They go to conferences put on by the insurance industry.
• They run workshops for defense doctors and insurance claims adjuster.
• They love a good kill-all-the-Plaintiff-lawyer jokes.
• And, this is a big and, when your case goes south they actually celebrate.

I love to call them case mis-managers, because secretly that is what they do best. And trust me they are professionals at it. They will mismanage your case with a smile; a wink of the eye all the while telling you what they are doing is in your best interest. "Hey let's not talk about the case, let's just sit and have a cup of coffee."

Sounds pleasant enough doesn't it? "Well, how has it been going?" Wow that's a nice easy question. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! How can you be so naive! "Oh I'm doing fine." That would be a general polite answer to a friend because a friend doesn't' want to hear all about the problems in your life.

But this is not your friend and that's easy to prove. At the end of that conversation they run back to the office typing up a report for the insurance company, going on and on about they met with you today and you said there was nothing wrong with you. "And how is your spouse doing?" Seems pretty neutral doesn't it? NOT!

They want you to complain about your spouse so they can report, "The injured worker's emotional problems are being caused by her crummy husband. She complained repeatedly about them. She never once complained about her injured (insert injured body part)." They aren't your friend so get that thought out of your mind. They are professionals who are friendly but do not represent you.

So Grasshopper, here is the lesson to be learned:
Know the difference between who your friend is and who is just friendly. There is a big difference to what ends each usually leads.