Training of the King's Queen

In late January 1987, I interviewed with the Accident Fund of Michigan for a position they had opened. At the time they were on the cusp of expanding their workers compensation business.  They were owned by the State of Michigan at the time but had been in litigation for years over privatization. 

They specialized in Michigan Workers Compensation and their plans were to excel in the arena and be the largest carrier in Michigan. To accomplish this their plan was to do a mass hiring both in Lansing and Southfield.  The focus was to hire new college graduates and train them to be claims adjusters. 

I had several meetings with the claims manager prior to the offer of employment.  While I did not hold a formal degree, I had sufficient experience on many levels to be qualified for what they were in search of. I was hired as the Training Manager.  My challenge would be to establish a training program and train adjusters and other staff as they expanded. I would be considered a "trout mouth" which  identified employees of the State.  The benefit package was far better than most employers  The pay scale was just as impressive. 

I was two months shy of turning 27 and I was making $30,000, training new staff that were  far more educated than I was, on paper that is. One of the first lessons I learned in this position is not all that have a college degree are college material.

Some went to college because it was expected, but they chose those years to party. Others were book smart, but skipped the class on common sense as they possessed none. Others were jocks who played their way through college playing ball and once they were passed over for the big leagues, they had  no where to go. Or they wanted to coach and just needed an opening to come along for them.  A few were shoe ins, their father knew someone who knew someone who helped them get the job. It was a good gig coming out of four years of college though.  They started at $18,000 a year and had the potential to grow and advance, if they stuck with the career.  

Claims adjusting is not a career you will find most stick with as it is difficult.  You become jaded quickly from people who try to work the system.  You deal with people who are injured, not working and believe they are the only one you are assigned to. You never do any thing fast enough and when it is all over, no one is grateful that you were there to help them.  People are rude.

You need to know the law of workers compensation.  You need to know medical terms, have a working knowledge of both medical treatments and the anatomy. You need to be a counselor, babysitter and move the file to closure as soon as possible.  You need to be able to determine how much this claim is going to cost by forecasting the time they will be off of work and how much their medical treatment will cost as well as any settlement they might be entitled to.  It takes years of experience to get a grasp of this whole concept.

You need to be able to negotiate, prepare your file for litigation and with years of experience, handle litigated matters.  You  need to investigate a claim, so you need a good knowledge of what people do as you insure all types of employers and you need to understand just what the employee's job requirements are.  You need to convince employers to bring employees back to modified work, even if there isn't any.  You need to know if the reason they were injured was the result of another party and whether you need to pursue  subrogation against a third party. You need to know when they are lying and when they are not.  You need to sort out all the baloney to find the steak and it is trying at times.  There is a lot to know and a lot of time frames that must be met to protect the carrier from bad faith claims. It is not a job for the weak. You have to have thick skin and not be afraid to dig into someones business.

That being said, the first group of new employees started the day before I did. I had six new employees, all fresh out of college in their first day of a real job in the real world.  There was  no formal training program in place. This was my challenge.  I had to train employees who had one day of seniority on me with nothing but the knowledge in my head.  How was I going to teach these people about adjusting? Where was I going to start? What did I need to cover? What could I give them to use as reference material?  I had no time to prepare.  I had no time to get to know how my  new employer adjusted claims, internal policies or procedures. I had three weeks to prepare them to sit at a desk and start handling claims and all I had was experience to offer them.

So, like everything, I took the bull by the horns, flew by the seat of my pants, blind. And I did it! I don't  know how, but that first class was a success and I had an idea now of just how I needed to prepare for my next class in two more weeks.

Back on the home front, I had quit the multi line adjuster position as soon as I was employed by the Accident Fund.  I had three weeks until I started this job and I took a vacation to Florida.

Michael and I drove down to Florida and he met my parents.  We spent a few days visiting, laid by the pool and explored the area.  We went to Orlando one day and did the whole Orlando experience of Disney World.  We shopped and we found a hot nightspot for dancing in Kissimmee. As usual we had fun, non stop fun!

We drove to the beaches and drove up and down the coast just on a wing and a prayer again.  When we found some thing that interested us, we stopped and when we got bored, we drove to another adventure.  After ten days, we headed home.

Killer discovered once again that I had gone to Florida with Michael and he was livid.  On the positive side, he didn't gain access to my apartment, but he did fill up my answering machine with bipolar type messages.  That man went from one extreme to another in a matter of seconds when you listened to the messages.

Killer's forty third birthday was just around the corner and he wanted to spend it together. He wanted to go to dinner and "talk" about our future.  I did not think it was a good idea.  I agreed to go to dinner on any other night that was not his birthday as I felt it would send the wrong message. He was insistent and pulled out all stops by laying the guilt card on  me.  It had been seven months since I had left and he was of the belief that I had not tried to reconcile and I owed it to him.

I explained to him that I given him six years of my life to make it right and he didn't.  I explained to him that time and time again, I had voiced a concern and he turned and looked the other way.  I gave it my all and he didn't. Killer reminded me of everything he gave me.  I wonder if he had spoken to my mother recently for coaching as it was the same list she mentioned when I called to tell her I was leaving.

He reminded me that he had met my demands. He had done all the work at the house that I had brought to his attention and I needed to hold up my end of the deal.  Deal?  I don't recall laying out an ultimatum, "put up this trim and I'll come back."  I told him I was leaving and I gave him a list of reasons, some just had to do with the environment of the house being unfinished. To think he thought I was that shallow that I would leave only because he had not finished projects around the house, lit a fire inside me that fueled my anger even more.

He was not going to let me go without a fight. He told me I had to stop seeing Michael and focus on our marriage and make it work.  My head spun.  Why did I HAVE to do this? Why was the burden always on me? I left for good reasons. I suggested that he had to "work" on himself and when he perfected that major project, he could work on perfecting me all over again.  

If there was one thing you did not do, was talk back to Killer. No sarcasm, no smart ass remarks, all he wanted to hear was, "yes, sir."  He reminded me that HE made me who I am today! Well, there you go!

Killer," if you made me who I am today, you are the reason that I left you because you manipulated my mind, my thoughts and my actions, I would have never left had you not been responsible for all THIS!"  

Our dinner was being served.  I refused to sit here any longer.  I summoned the waiter. Killer was looking at me strangely. He was the one who ordered and managed the wait staff. If I wanted something I would ask him and he'd summon the waiter and make the request.  The waiter came over.  I told him that I wanted my  meal to go and I would meet him at the front counter.  I started to get up to leave.  Killer, his eyes in disbelief, looked at me and asked what I was doing, it was his birthday, "sit down and have dinner with me, please."

I leaned over the table like I was going to kiss him good-bye.  We were in public and I knew the rules.  I whispered silently, "I will rot in hell before I sit down to another  meal with you. When you realize that this is because of you, we can talk, but don't call me until you've looked deep in your closet for those skeletons that need to be dressed and addressed.  Happy Fucking Birthday."

Killer hated my potty mouth and I used it when I needed to make a point and tonight was a night that he needed to understand, I was not his project any longer.  I headed to the counter, my meal was boxed and I paid my half of the  bill. I was not going to allow him to pay for my meal and have more control over me. I sent the message, I am every thing I am today, because of you and I rule my bubble, not you.