Former bus driver Rashpal Atwal says he's on the verge of suicide because WorkSafeBC has tied his life in knots.

"It's hard," the 64-year-old Atwal said, fighting back tears. "I can't take it any more. I'm totally depressed.

"They've tried to cut me off financially from all directions. When they do these kind of tactics, the person has nothing left to them but to close his eyes and leave this world."

For 24 years, Atwal drove a Greyhound to help support his family of six.

Twelve years ago, in 1995, he injured his knees lifting luggage.

His doctor said he could not go back to work as a bus driver or, partly due to a poor education in his native India, be "gainfully employed" at any other job.

WorkSafeBC, formerly the Workers Compensation Board, agreed Atwal could not return as a driver and in 2002 its appeal panel awarded him his full annual salary retroactive to the accident.

But he hasn't received that award because of a WorkSafe investigation into alleged fraud by Atwal.

Last January, a Workers Compensation Appeals Tribunal ruled Atwal had fraudulently obtained almost $40,000 in the late 1990s in relation to his injury. And it also ruled he had materially helped run his wife's now-defunct sewing business, which the Atwal family denies.

"The evidence [of fraud and ability to work] is long, hard and undisputed," said Ian Munroe of WorkSafe.

But according to WorkSafe documents, Richmond prosecutors, when asked by WorkSafe to file fraud charges against Atwal, warned the agency of a "horror show" and "egg over our faces" if the matter were legally pursued.

Atwal was never charged.

Because of the WorkSafe ruling, says the family, Atwal also has been denied a Greyhound pension and a federal disability pension.

When he lost his salary, he and his wife, Harbhajan, lost their Richmond home because they couldn't make the payments. They moved to a less-expensive home in Surrey. Harbhajan estimates the family has spent $40,000 fighting WorkSafe.

But they have not given up. Atwal has filed for a judicial review of the decisions in B.C. Supreme Court but may have to wait two more years for the case to be heard.

Said their lawyer, Craig Paterson: "I've been doing this [compensation cases] for over 30 years and I've never seen evidence like that [body of alleged WorkSafe misdeeds].

"Just as a sign of how bad things are, I have 75 petitions [to review WorkSafe decisions not to pay benefits] filed in B.C. Supreme Court -- me alone. I'm staggered by it.

"What's clear is this man and his wife have led phenomenally conscientious lives. They've raised four daughters, all of whom have university educations. They have no criminal record, none of them. They are not alcoholics or drug addicts. They are not social-welfare abusers."

Atwal said he went to Attorney-General Wally Oppal in June 2005 seeking help.

"I was kicked out of his office," Atwal said, recalling an encounter with a constituency office employee who allegedly said, "'Do you think Wally Oppal cares? He gets these [WorkSafe complaints] every day.'"

Atwal currently receives $102 a month in disability money from WorkSafe. His bus driver's annual salary would be more than $40,000.

"He thinks he's a burden on his family," said his daughter Susan Atwal, a personal-injury lawyer in Seattle. "I call him during the day and he just starts crying.

"You have no idea how much he loved his job. This is not a guy who's a malingerer."

Last year, an Abbotsford trucker committed suicide after an unsuccessful, eight-year fight to win injury benefits. His suicide forced WorkSafe to admit that, between 1996 and 2005, it paid out 18 claims for suicide to the beneficiaries of injured workers.

The Atwal family claims a long list of breaches by WorkSafe, including an employee posing as an RCMP officer, a threat to have Susan

Atwal disbarred for her involvement in her father's alleged fraud and a suggestion to Greyhound that it appeal WorkSafe's initial ruling awarding Atwal his salary.

Acting WorkSafe president Ed Bates said the allegation that an employee posed as an RCMP officer is based on "possible confusion over who was who." He denied "any such conversation" to disbar Susan Atwal.

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WORKSAFEBC TOO AUTONOMOUS, SAYS LAWYER

- More than two million B.C. workers are covered by WorkSafeBC.

- In 2005, 188 workers were killed on the job.

- In 2006, 173,014 claims were registered. About seven per cent were disallowed.

- Total claim costs in 2006 were $1.26 billion.

- Administration costs for 2005 were $363.6 million.

Each year, newspapers and politicians receive dozens of calls from workers who feel unjustly treated by WorkSafe, but their stories are complex, come with serious legal considerations and are therefore rarely reported.

Vancouver lawyer Craig Paterson, who has dealt with workers' compensation for 30 years, says WorkSafe's arm's length status from government allows it to be investigator, judge and appeal court.

Paterson claims the framework limits possible patronage awards but also lets cabinet ignore complaints, saying "we can't interfere."

Labour Minister Olga Ilich says WorkSafe "work[s] as well as can be expected," adding, "but we are always looking for ways to make it better."

Ilich said injured workers who have exhausted the WorkSafe appeal process can appeal to the independent Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal and B.C. Supreme Court for a judicial review.

Surrey-Newton NDP MLA Harry Bains said the number of workers denied compensation suggests "the whole system is a mess."

"I'm looking at going to the house and asking for a public inquiry."