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- When the injured worker returned to work he was immediately fired...
- Workers' Compensation: The IC ruled that the employer, who willingly paid the medical claim and workers comp for the employee's foot injury, must also pay for pain management because this injury aggravated the employee's pre-existing fibromyalgia and hypertension and was now considered a chronic condition. Although it is tough to win these claims we can usually do it if we the treating physician will agree that the pre-existing condition is worse now than it was and that this change is due to the worker's comp accident....
- Workers' Compensation: The Industrial Commission denied the employee's claim for temporary partial disability compensation. The Commission ruled that the reduction in wages that our client received was because of problems with the company's workload due to the economy. It was determined that he didn't receive less pay because of his injury or from the less-paying job within the company that he had to take because of the injury....
- Workers' Compensation: The NC Industrial Commission determined that the employer was required to pay our client's medical bills and also continue workers' compensation payments until our client could find a job with his limited physical capabilities. The employer was unable to find work for him at the company and he was fired, which was unacceptable, although it was explained by the employer as happening because of excessive absences....
- Workers' Compensation: The North Carolina Industrial Commission threatened to hold CNA in contempt of court because they refused to authorize the medical tests which would prove that the plaintiff was unable to do his job. This was a classic example of an adjuster getting an opinion from a reliable doctor and then refusing any other evaluation which could help the injured worker....
- Workers Compensation: The North Carolina Industrial Commission held that National Benefits Association had wrongfully denied this claim for more than a year...but only when the Industrial Commission finally heard all the evidence -- that the employer admitted that they knew the plaintiff was hurt, that they had sent him to a doctor but didn't follow his direction, and that there was no way our client could do his job with his severely-injured back....
- Workers' Compensation: North Carolina Industrial Commission says Liberty Mutual must provide yardcare and housecleaning to an injured brickmason....
- Workers' Compensation: North Carolina Industrial Commission rules that a restaurant dishwasher who slipped and fell, and was taken straight to an emergency room has proven that he was injured on the job....
- Workers' Compensation: North Carolina Industrial Commission finds that Diebold and Broadspire MUST pay weekly benefits even after they fired the injured worker from her "light duty" job....
- Workers' Compensation: North Carolina Industrial Commission rules against The Hartford Insurance Company and holds that a nurse who was still on her employer's property when she was hit by a car is within the course and scope of her employment and entitled to workers' compensation benefits....
Library
Workers' Compensation
- Psssst! Who's that following you?
- NCIC Form 25T: Mileage Reimbursement form
- Form 28T: Notice of Termination of Compensation by Reason of Trial Return to Work
- Form 33R: Response to Request that Claim Be Assigned for Hearing
- 10 Things Your Insurance Adjuster Won't Tell You (download)
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Workers' Compensation
North Carolina Supreme Court rules against injured workers
Our North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled against injured workers again in a recent case. As most of you know an injured worker is entitled to be paid 2/3 of her average weekly wages if she's unable to work. What all goes into "wages?" Ten years ago the Court of Appeals had excluded fringe benefits like health insurance and vacations. That decision was largely based on the idea that it is too hard to put a value on health insurance while it is eay to calculate your hourly payrate or salary. But what about an employer who matches your contributions to a retirement plan? As employers we can tell you that many employees are willing to make a little less if there is good health insurance, vacations, and a retirement plan. Those of you who have had unions negotiating contracts on your behalf know that the cost of the benefit package is a tradeoff against the hourly rate of pay.But now the Supreme Court has said that contributions to your retirement plan -- even if these are made explicitly in exchange for a reduce in your hourly rate of pay -- do not count toward your average weekly wage. In doing so the Court said it would leave it to the legislature to be more specific about what it intended. While this decision might not have been completely unexpected we still find it disappointing. In our minds, if the Industrial Commission or the courts are unclear about who to favor: big employers and their insurance companies on one side or workers injured and out of work on the other, they should always err on the side of helping an injured worker.
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FAQs
Workers' Compensation
The accident wasn't my fault so can I sue my employer?
If I can't sue my employer, can I sue someone else?
What is "Maximum Medical Improvement" and what happens at that point?
Case Studies
Workers' Compensation
What Can Go Wrong with a Return to Light Duty Work.
How a Functional Capacities Evaluation Can Wreck a Claim.
An Example of a Workers' Comp Adjuster Manipulating the Recorded Statement.