My Boss Gave Me A Lifelong Injury But I Didn’t Sue Them — Here’s Why
I was fine until I wasn’t fine
My first job was at Toys R Us for £4.50 per hour. If you’ve not read about why I was paid so little, I recommend doing so here.
My role was to specialise in the baby department, but I had a lot of knowledge about the general store too (apart from bikes). When it came to stacking shelves and restocking items, the heaviest thing I had to lift was a car seat. Some were lighter than others, and most of the time I was able to get away with someone lifting it for me. All the soft toys, duvets, blankets, and dummies were no problem to carry.
At the age of 16, I had no strength. I don’t think it was legal for me to get into a gym and I had no car to get there anyway. There were other things on my mind like exams and school gossip. So when it came to lifting things at work, it was clear I had no strength. Being only 156 cm doesn’t help matters either.
60% of the time I needed assistance in the store room. There was standard manual handling when I started my job, but when you would see the awkward shape and sizes of the boxes, all of that went out the window.
Now, my manager was a very stern female. She wasn’t to be messed with and many of my colleagues feared her, apart from me who literally didn’t care. Sometimes she was scary and overall she was intimidating, but I wasn’t scared.
One day, we were low on staff and someone bought a bike. This was considered a ‘big ticket’ item and with big tickets came big weight. Unfortunately, my manager picked me to go and get the bike.
“Um, are you sure? Isn’t it going to be too heavy for me?”
“You’ll be fine!”
Begrudgingly and shocked at the decision, I went up the flight of stairs to the storeroom and went to the bike section. If I was lucky, it would be out of stock and I wouldn’t need to pull anything at all.
Drats, it was there.
All I needed to do was safely pull down the bike and make sure it didn’t fall into my face and break my neck. Then I had to push it all the way to the stock slide, pull it off the stock slide then push it to the customer. Sure, it’s not hard, but the item was heavy for me.
And I was fine the first few times until I wasn’t fine.
Bikes at Toys R Us ranged from kiddies to full-blown 20-inch adult bikes that weighed about 25 kilograms. We did also have those cool electronic ones, but I don’t recall needing to touch one of those.
That dreaded day came when we were again short-staffed and because I was young and didn’t know how to stand up for myself in the workplace, I was called to do the deed.
20-inch bike.
The good news is that it wasn’t on a shelf, so all I had to do was push the bike all the way to the stock slide, pull it off the stock slide then push it to the customer. Job done, but only because there was no one around to help me so I had no choice.
When it came to the next day, my wrists were starting to hurt, especially my left one. I was naïve as to why, but when I complained to my parents I was in pain, ice cubes weren’t helping and I had been lifting items far too heavy for my tiny arms, they weren’t pleased.
“Those bikes are too heavy for you, Shamar! Why don’t you stand up for yourself?”
Um, because my manager is a ferocious blonde beast who I have to like and appease so I can get my weekend shifts? I promise I wasn’t scared (maybe slightly) of her.
Not long after, a painful lump appeared on my left wrist. Introducing my new friend, Mrs Ganglion Cyst.
For those who do not know what a ganglion cyst is, it’s “a thick, jelly-like fluid called synovial fluid, which surrounds joints and tendons to lubricate and cushion them during movement... they seem to happen when the synovial fluid that surrounds a joint or tendon leaks out and collects in a sac.”
After a doctor’s appointment, I was informed that Mrs Cyst could clear up on her own, she could grow, she could shrink and she could disappear and reappear from time to time. If she decided to grow and cause me mass inconvenience, which she did for a small number of years, there might be an option for me to get her murdered and drained.
Back in the day, the ganglion cyst used to be called the ‘bible cyst’ because the way to get rid of a ganglion cyst was to get someone to pick up a bible and smack it on the cyst to burst it. Disgusting.
So, here’s the big question, why didn’t I sue my employer? It’s clear my manager was picking on me, the youngest and smallest employee to push and pull items that were far too big for me. I was 16 years old, why is a 16-year-old trying to lift a 20 kg bike? As the manager, it’s her responsibility to ensure all areas of the store are covered by the staff who were trained specifically for those areas. Cross-covering is fine on an odd day, for example, we were all register-trained, but there’s a line and she crossed it.
The answer is that on 20th April 2018, Toys R Us shut down and it’s now too late to sue. Not only that, but I’ve got no solid evidence, just a few flashbulb memories. The store isn’t even there anymore, it’s been converted into Next.
If I had been wiser, I would have logged evidence and made a complaint to Human Resources. Who cares if my boss doesn’t like me? It was always a temporary job to tide me over until I completed my degree and switched careers.
Anyway, my cyst has gone now. On a night out I whacked my wrist hard and next thing you know, Mrs Cyst has left the building and another piece of evidence out the building.
If my injury taught me anything, it taught me to speak up for myself in any job especially if it’s related to my body. Secondly, I would never go into retail work again unless I had no choice.
Have you ever been injured at work?
