Originally Posted by
rickair7777
I don't think they can simply deny OJI/disability for mundane tasks around the workplace even if it's not part of your job. If you were instructed/trained to avoid something inherently dangerous then they might have a leg to stand-on. I might be more concerned about accidentally dumping the wheelchair pax on the floor and getting in trouble if the pax has a liability claim.
See my post above. We have a "technique" section in our manual that is extremely loosely worded, and more importantly, we were never trained or explicitly instructed to do this.
Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Of course if the company creates a climate where you're expected/encouraged to do tasks you're not trained for then they could be a world of liability hurt for NOT training you... that could apply if it's common for pilots to be helping out on the ramp. They have a duty to either train you or ensure that you don't do dangerous work.
What defines common?
Originally Posted by
rickair7777
I can assure you that Uber provides liability insurance for pax for all of their services, they could not possibly be so stupid as to rely on their pothead drivers for that. They may not insure the drivers for comprehensive, etc. So the driver might be screwed if he's doing uber on his regular private citizen insurance, but the pax will be fine.
And I can assure you, from personal experience, that they don't. They require rideshare insurance when applying, but don't check to ensure that drivers maintain it. If you are involved in an accident with an uber/lyft driver, there is a non-zero (in my case, and one friend's case, 100%) chance that the driver's insurance will deny your claim, requiring you and/or your insurance company to sue both the driver and/or Uber/Lyft to cover the costs.
This becomes even more nebulous when you add the possibility of OJI into the equation, especially at a company that is as ruthless as SWA about covering OJI claims. Basically, SWA self-funds both the OJI and Health Insurance programs here. At SWA, once you submit a claim into OJI, if it is rejected, it CANNOT be resubmitted into your Health Insurance, because the Health Insurance administrator will consider it an unresolved OJI claim (even though it was resolved as "rejected", and even though the money comes from the same place). This has cost pilots I know personally thousands of dollars over the year, leaving them to pay out of pocket for claims rejected by OJI for reasons as mundane as "I don't believe that back injury could have happened getting out of your flight deck chair, even though the doctor we sent you to to get checked out said that your back injury happened getting out of your flight deck chair" (real example).
I've said this before in other posts, but what do they put on your board when they authorize you to get yourself to the hotel? "CAB AUTHORIZED". Not Lyft, not Uber. What does the contract say? Taxi. I do not take a Lyft or Uber unless the company schedules the pickup for me, which is an easy process. If scheduling says "just take a cab", I say I will only take a cab or if they don't want me to wait for 30 minutes in a taxi queue (extending my duty time), I tell them I will take a Lyft ONLY if they send me a Lyft link. They do so, you click on the link, and now you're covered.
Otherwise, the company will just say "we authorized commercial transportation to get to the hotel. Not our fault you chose the pot head Lyft driver instead of using the hotel transportation or going over to the taxi stand."
Originally Posted by
rickair7777
All that said, if you hurt your back pushing a wheel chair or handling baggage, I'd probably just say it happened climbing out of your seat in the cockpit... nobody would argue that i your flying a 737
See above.
Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Not "no insurance", I doubt any state allows that. But many have comparative negligence, where the "victim" is responsible for some of the damages if his own actions aggravated the situation... such as not wearing seatbelts. I wear them always.
If the company can find a loophole to explain away the severity of your injury, they absolutely will 100% of the time.