Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ Compensation – Sample Cases
…A 54-year-old millwright foreman slipped off of a steel beam, catching himself with his arm. He had immediate shoulder pain. He reported this injury to his supervisor and was later laid off. Many months later he was diagnosed with a tear in his rotator cuff. He had shoulder surgery and was disabled from work. His employer refused to recognize his injury and pay for his medical bills or weekly workers’ compensation benefits. After several hearings before a workers’ compensation judge, the judge agreed that he was injured at work, but did not award any benefits. The appeal board reversed the judge’s decision, ordering the employer to pay wage benefits for the time he missed work, reimburse him for his unpaid medical bills and pay him for the time he lost from a new job to attend the hearings.

…A 34-year-old finance company sales manager injured her neck in a car wreck on her way to a business appointment. After a doctor hired by her employer’s worker’s compensation insurance company said that she could return to work, her employer filed a petition to terminate her worker’s compensation benefits. After a series of hearings, the judge ruled that the sales manager had not yet recovered from her work injury. The judge also found that the insurance company had violated the Worker’s Compensation Act by failing to pay her partial benefits when she returned to work at light duty and less pay. The insurance company was ordered to pay a 50% penalty on all past-due benefits

… An 82-year-old former chief supervisor at a juvenile detention facility was still receiving worker’s compensation benefits. He had injured his shoulder breaking up a fight, eventually needing shoulder replacement surgery. He retired in his mid sixties because of this work injury. His former employer, the juvenile detention facility, filed a petition to suspend his benefits claiming that at age 82 he no longer intended to return to work. The Workers’ Compensation Judge granted the suspension. The Appeal Board reversed because a different judge had already decided that he was forced out of the labor market because of his injury. Further appeals are expected from the juvenile detention facility.

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