Practice Areas

• Workers' Compensation
• Personal Injury
• Social Security Disability
• Employment Law

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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Testimonials

"Mr. Richardson and Ms. York were always available - and they did a terrific job."

"Chip Permar and his team were outstanding!"

"You showed so much concern for me as a person -- there is such a personal touch to everything you do."

"I don't know what I would have done without you!"

"We were nervous at first, but you put us at ease."

"John and Stephanie were patient with me. Great teamwork!"

"Being injured turned into a life-changing event, but it was comforting to know that you understood me and were only a phone call away."

"You guys are on top of your game."

"I researched law firms on the internet, and I could not have asked for a better attorney."

"Whenever I called I got answers."

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The accident wasn't my fault so can I sue my employer?

A:

The short answer is no. Then long answer is, well, long. But answering it explains why workers comp is what it is.

A hundred years ago our grandparents or great-grandparents probably worked for just one company their whole life. People didn't switch jobs nearly as easily as they do today. There was little to nothing in the way of government protection of workers. No Department of Labor, no OSHA, no employment discrimination, nothing. So companies could basically do anything they wanted to an employee and the person had little they could do about it.

If an employee was injured on the job they could sue the employer for negligence. That meant taking the employer to court. From the time of the injury until the jury made its award the employee got nothing ... no money, no medical care, nothing. And forget about having a job when it was all over. Witnesses for the injured worker? His co-workers?... riiiiiiiight. Not a chance. Without any protection against wrongful termination no worker was going to testify against the company on behalf of a co-worker. So very, very few injured workers successfully sued their employers. Most injured people got zilch whether they tried to sue or didn't bother out of fear of losing their jobs.

In this type of situation workers compensation was created. Both sides gave up something. Workers gave up the right to being paid for pain and suffering. They get very limited benefits for a limited period of time. Employers gave up winning 99.9% of the cases because employees only needed to show they were injured by accident while on the job. That was pretty easy to do. But both sides gained as well. Workers are get medical treatment and benefits almost immediately. And employers cannot be sued except in the most rare of circumstances.

The workers compensation system is far from perfect and no one knows it better than us. But in its historical perspective I would much rather have a claim today than I would have a hundred years ago.