Practice Areas

• Workers' Compensation
• Personal Injury
• Social Security Disability

Firm News

• 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....
  

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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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"I think of everyone involved on my case at OTP as friends.  You all always had a warm greeting  and a smile for me and you took a big interest in my case."

"Without my attorney's help, I would have been hung out to dry.  He looked out for me!"

"I could not be more pleased with the outcome of my case!  Amy Berry and Amy Gallimore are great communicators.  They are super friendly and professional."

"Everyone on the team was really personable and professional."

"Count me as 100% satisfied.  Kristin Packard is superb and Shelby Duncan is outstanding."

"The quick response and action by Justin Wraight when my case came to a critical point was impressive."

"I didn't have to deal with a bunch of legal jargon.  You explained it all to me so I could understand what was going on, and I appreciate that."

"Everybody was totally straight forward with me.  I didn't feel like I was just paperwork to them."

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DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.

Don't Assume the Workers' Comp Adjuster is Paying You the Right Amount.

The Case: "Melissa" was a registered nurse. Because she was the sole breadwinner in her household, she worked for two different medical facilities. Her employers had rules which placed limits on how many hours she could work without rest. For example, she was not allowed to work a 12 hour shift for one facility and immediately work another 12 hour shift for the other facility. This rule made sense for all parties involved. Because she was limited in the shifts she could work, she went out of her way to work weekends and holidays which paid significantly higher hourly rates. Though she was quite busy, she earned a very high wage for her work.

Unfortunately, while caring for a patient, Melissa injured her knee. As a result, she had to have surgery. The workers' compensation carrier based her weekly compensation benefits on the normal hourly rate for a nurse. They failed take into account that Melissa more often than not worked periods which paid higher than normal. Consequently, Melissa's weekly compensation rate was significantly less than what it should have been.

Melissa, who was unfamiliar with the workers' compensation process, was unsure what she was entitled to. She knew workers' comp paid less than her pre-injury salary. She just assumed that the insurance company would get it right. Thus, for many months she received the incorrect amount without question. This was especially hard for Melissa because her injury prevented her from doing either job. One painful reality of the workers' comp laws is that benefits are only to be paid based average weekly wage of job in which you were injured. Second or moonlighting jobs are not considered in the equation. It goes without saying that since Melissa was only to receive benefits based on the job in which she was injured, her compensation rate needed to reflect all of her wages, including weekend and holiday rates of pay.

What we did: Soon after meeting with Melissa, we determined that her weekly compensation rate was incorrect. We asked her to produce pay stubs and previous W-2 tax forms. We then demanded that the insurance company complete a Form 22. The Form 22 is a form that the employer must indicate how much the employee was paid each month and how many days he or she worked. With the check stubs and Form 22, we convincingly argued that she should be receiving a higher weekly compensation rate. Furthermore, the insurance company had to go back and pay Melissa the amount they had previously shortchanged her.

For Melissa's sake, the insurance carrier didn't get away with paying less than they were supposed to, but it happens all too often. Never assume that the benefits you are receiving are correct just because the workers' compensation insurance company says so.