Letters of Resistance
Real stories. Uncompromising truth. Demanding change.
Edition Two
Some letters resist by telling the truth of harm. Others resist by equipping you to fight back. This is one of those letters.
Knowledge as Resistance - Taking Control of Your Workers’ Compensation Claim
Featuring: Rosemary McKenzie Ferguson
Editor’s Note
Not all resistance is shouted in the streets. Sometimes it begins quietly with knowing your rights, keeping your records, and refusing to be reduced to a case file number.
In this letter, long-time advocate Rosemary McKenzie Ferguson shares the critical steps every injured worker should take to protect their dignity and strengthen their claim. This is practical knowledge born from decades of standing beside injured workers — and it’s yours to use.
About Rosemary Ferguson McKenzie – Advocate; Community Builder
Rosemary has become a gentle but fierce presence in the injured worker community. She holds space for those who can no longer speak, and for the many living with grief, trauma, and injury. She has taken back the frame over and over again by making sure no one has to grieve alone - and by helping others reconnect to their communities.
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From the Start: You Are Not Your Injury
The most important truth to hold on to: you are not your injury. You have a name, not just a computer-generated file number.
When you lodge a workers’ compensation claim, you enter a process that can feel cold and impersonal. Your job is to claim your humanity at every stage.
The Power of an Email Signature
You will soon be flooded with emails from across the workers’ compensation industry. Take control from the very beginning:
Create an email signature with your name and photo.
Every time you reply, you remind the recipient there’s a real person behind the claim.
It may seem small, but it establishes a subtle but important boundary you expect and require to be treated with respect.
Know What’s in Your File
Every part of your claim impacts its progression. You have the right to know what’s happening and who is involved even people you may never meet.
Apply for your full file under Freedom of Information (FOI or GIPA). Write on your application:
“I request my file, complete and unabridged.”
“I require all recordings audio and visual.”
“I require all still photography.”
“I require all notes and notations held on tables and notepads.”
This isn’t overkill. It’s your right to be fully informed.
Expect it to take 3–4 weeks for your documents to arrive. There may be duplicates because the same record can be held by multiple people.
Always Respond in Writing
Once you receive your file, respond by registered mail:
“I acknowledge receipt of my workers compensation file received [insert date].”
“I acknowledge that this is my complete workers compensation file and that no documentation has been omitted either by mistake or intent.”
This step removes the ability for withheld information to be used later against you. It also signals you are informed, proactive, and serious about your recovery.
The Medico-Legal Process
Independent Medical Examiners (IMEs) are meant to be impartial but always confirm whether they are truly independent or part of a medico-legal business.
You have the right to a support person, but note:
They cannot speak unless asked directly.
They cannot make notes or record.
During the exam:
Note the start and end times.
Compare them to the stated duration in the referral letter.
If the exam is shorter, inform your case manager via email.
Immediately after, write down everything: tone of voice, unusual questions, anything that didn’t feel right.
When you receive the medico-legal report:
Compare it to your notes.
If it contains inaccuracies, notify your case manager (but do not share your notes with them).
To challenge the report, you may need the original draft — your notes will help convince a magistrate why it matters.
Why This Matters
Every stage of the workers’ compensation process is about you. It is not just a claim to be negotiated it’s your health, your livelihood, your life.
That’s why the email signature, the FOI request, the registered letter, and the meticulous notes all matter. They protect you from “boobytraps” hidden in bureaucracy and ensure your voice is heard.
Rosemary McKenzie Ferguson
Advocate for Injured Workers
About This Series
Letters of Resistance is a living archive of truth-telling, systems change, and sacred disruption. We will no longer look away. We will no longer let systems bury the truth. Together, we are Taking Back The Frame.
Over the many years I have been an advocate from within the injured worker community it still astounds me how just a simple change of an email signature alters interactions within the workers compensation process.
My email signature has carried a photo of myself for a very very long time.
People tell me that "seeing" my photo "shifts something" in them.
They can see I am a person, comfortable in my own self.
What is more intriguing is when members of the injured worker community include a photo of themselves as part of their email signature, their way of understanding just who they are becomes very noticeable.
Their inner confidence starts to appear, they find that they no longer appease, and more interesting they find the conversations they have with industry providers also shifts from exclusion to inclusion.