But benefits ended when worker chose to ignore WCB case manager's RTW request
A worker attacked by a client at his Alberta workplace won back part of his wage-loss benefits after a provincial appeals panel ruled the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) cut him off too early after he went abroad to have an MRI that it would not fund.
In a decision dated May 15, 2026, a panel chaired by C. Ryan granted the worker's appeal in part, directing that his temporary total disability benefits be reinstated for the period from Sept. 25, 2023, to Dec. 29, 2023.
After that date, the panel said, his refusal to come home crossed into non-cooperation without a valid reason.
MRI after work assault
The compensable accident happened on June 5, 2023. The decision states the worker "fell to the floor when attacked at work by a client." The WCB accepted a back injury claim. When pain persisted, his family doctor recommended an MRI, but the soonest he could book one in Alberta was in late October 2023.
The worker asked the WCB to fund a private MRI to speed things up. The case manager declined and directed him to return-to-work programming instead. On Sept. 14, 2023, his treating physician noted "very painful and restricted range of motion in the lumbar spine," with positive straight leg raise tests at 30 degrees pointing to nerve concerns.
The case manager later confirmed the MRI would not be expedited, citing a recent functional capacity evaluation. When the worker missed his Sept. 21 return-to-work intake, his claim was inactivated four days later.
Medical treatment abroad
On Sept. 18, 2023, he checked himself into an out-of-country university hospital orthopedic clinic, the same facility where the WCB had previously funded his psychiatric treatment. According to his submissions, he "posted all costs and treatment to the WCB portal in real time."
His treating physician abroad issued repeated notes that he was unfit for work into 2024.
The Commission accepted he was acting in good faith during the fall but identified a turning point on Dec. 29, 2023, when the case manager finally engaged by email: "As previously discussed, you are not participating in the recommended treatment plan and have travel outside of the country. We are unable to reimburse for medical receipts from [the out-of-country clinic] as this was not recommended by [your doctor] during your Back Medical Examination (BME) on Sept. 11, 2023."
The worker stayed abroad until May 2, 2024. The panel said his refusal to return after that email tipped the case into deliberate non-cooperation.
Wage loss and duty to cooperate
The worker alleged that "the employer continued to have no modified work available for the worker and was complicit in advising the WCB that the worker had disappeared." Neither the employer nor the WCB took part in the hearing.
The panel's reasons rest on two findings. Conflicting opinions from two general practitioners, with an MRI still pending, did not amount to non-cooperation. But once the WCB sent a written instruction to come back for assessment, the calculation shifted.
The panel concluded: "It was not appropriate to suspend wage-loss benefits from Sept. 25, 2023, under the duty-to-cooperate policy. However, it was appropriate to suspend wage-loss benefits after the worker chose to ignore the WCB case manager's Dec. 29, 2023, request to return to Edmonton for further investigation and assessment given additional medical evidence on file from the out-of-country university orthopedic and psychiatric clinics."
