Workers Compensation Being Ignored. (wi)

Hello all,

Location: Wisconsin, USA. I'll get right to it,

I injured my knee while working January 2024, I went to the ER the next day after the injury, received care and I was referred to occupational medicine with which I scheduled an appointment within the week. The hospital filed the visits under workers comp. I couldn't walk without assistance, and my employer at the time of injury being a restaurant, I was put on work restrictions. I have documentation of all hospital visits and records.

When I returned to work about 3 weeks later I told the owners/upper management that I had filed a workers comp claim I got the response, "yeah. I'm way behind on those" This seemed odd. I was a manager myself and had pretty close relationships with most of the staff. I left that job shortly after in march of 2024 for somewhat unrelated reasons.

I gave no 2 week notice, I had no 401k, stocks, paid time off, any terms that would violate any kind of agreement. They just treat people shitty. The new job I accepted was demanding and I put the 3+ weeks out of work behind me and moved on in life.

Fast forward to late May/2025 I received a call from the previous employers workers comp(?) insurance agency(?) Society Insurance

I do not know how workers comp claims are processed and it has been 18+ months roughly since the injury. The kind woman on the phone explained that my claim was never filed and she needed copies of the hospital records to take care of the hospital costs. I sent over all the documents and she said the hospital bill would be taken care of and I would receive a physical check for the lost wages.

Mid June/2025 I received a copy of the letter from the hospital, to the employer, stating that if the employer does not respond within 30 day the medical costs fall on me. I called the hospital and explained that I filed a legitimate claim, and my previous employer is unlikely to respond to the claim.

Do I have any recourse? I do not have money to fight this out in small claims court. The total dollar amount is less than $5k. My previous employer is dodging responsibility and they have a vindictive attitude toward staff.

Thank you