WSIB approves 10 previously denied claims

Letters approving health compensation sent to GE retirees; six reopened claims once again been denied

Ten former workers of General Electric in Peterborough who were diagnosed with cancer following exposure to toxins in the workplace, but were previously turned down for compensation from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), have had their cases allowed.

Starting in the 1990s, a rash of cancer cases among former GE workers was noted in Peterborough.

Although some sick workers received compensation from WSIB, others were rejected – apparently due to lack of scientific evidence linking cancer to toxic exposures at GE. The 10 cases are part of a group of 250 that had previously been denied.

For at least 12 years, former workers, their families and supporters have been lobbying the province for immediate compensation.

In mid-September, provincial Labour Minister Kevin Flynn announced that the 250 cases that had been previously denied would be re-examined in light of new scientific evidence.

One of those new pieces of evidence is a report released in May stating there were more than 3,000 toxic chemicals used at GE in Peterborough between 1945 and 2000 - and about 40 of them were either known or suspected carcinogens.

The report was written by Bob and Dale DeMatteo, retired occupational health workers, with help from many former GE workers. It was sponsored by Unifor, the union at GE.

On Friday, Aaron Lazarus, the vice-president of communications for WSIB, said 16 cases have been reviewed since mid-September, and 10 claims that were previously denied compensation have been allowed.

Lazarus didn’t release the names of the 10 people who are receiving compensation. He also said another six claims that were previously turned down have once again been denied (those people weren’t named, either).

Lazarus said letters have been sent out to the 10 that are now having their claims allowed; he said most of the people involved would have received those letters by Friday.

He said everyone else whose claim is among the 250 can expect a letter sometime over the next two weeks to confirm that their case is being reopened.

He also said it’s not going to be a quick process to review all claims.

“There’s a thorough process we need to go through for each of them,” Lazarus said. “It’s not as though you can look at a claim in an hour and make a change - it requires some level of investigation.”

Roger Fowler, 70, a former GE worker and cancer survivor, has had two claims denied by WSIB: one over a hearing aid and one over cancer.

He was told recently he’ll be compensated for the hearing aid and he’s hoping for good news soon about his cancer claim.

Fowler said it’s possible he could be denied again, but he’s been told to expect a phone call soon – and he’s hoping his claim will be allowed.

He hastens to add that if former GE workers get compensation, it’s a precedent-setting move that could ultimately benefit workers in the same predicament all across the province.

“We’re fighting for everyone in Ontario,” he said. “We’ve got to change the game, or the way they play it.”

Fowler added that he’s confident that the WSIB is using the report released in May by the DeMatteos to shed new light on the previously denied claims.

“They’re using it,” he said. “They (WSIB) can’t deny all the information they have now.”

The 180-page report describes in detail the toxins that workers were exposed to in each building and in each department, from the plant’s early days until 2000 (when the facility was scrubbed clean.)

It also describes how workers handled these toxins: some immersed their bare hands in vats of chemicals, for instance, or they sawed asbestos boards without using respiratory protection.

It’s a scathing report, but one health advocate is concerned the WSIB is not taking it seriously enough.

Heather Brooks-Hill is a volunteer who’s been lobbying the province for WSIB compensation for former GE workers.

She said the report is no doubt included in the fresh scientific research that WSIB is using to review the cases, but she doesn’t think it’s their primary source of new evidence.

“We have never been told the WSIB embraced this report, 100 per cent,” she said.

Marion Burton, another volunteer who has been lobbying the province for years on behalf of sick GE workers, said she’s holding out for compensation for everyone – not just a few.

Burton has already asked Flynn for “presumptive entitlement,” a system whereby anyone who worked at GE between 1945 and 2000, and later develops cancer, is automatically entitled to compensation - no questions asked.

“I still don’t see any other way to get actual justice for people,” she said. “It’s the only way there can be true justice for this community.”

Meanwhile, GE announced in August that it will cease manufacturing at the Peterborough plant in September 2018. It’s expected to leave 358 people out of work.