Blog

North Carolina Workers’ Comp Defense Blog

 

Groundbreaking—IRS makes things complicated

General Thumbnail

Employers who adhere to certain IRS guidelines may face much lower indemnity payments for employees who traveled for work pre-injury Myres v. Strom Aviation, Inc.  (16-558) In companies where employees regularly travel away from home to work, a big-ticket item on an employee’s paycheck is almost always the reimbursement they are paid for meals, travel, […]

Read more

Industrial Commission No Longer to Allow Carriers to Directly File Motions and Responses (Form 24s, 23 Responses, etc.)

General Thumbnail

Meredith Henderson, the North Carolina Industrial Commission’s Executive Secretary, has announced that beginning Monday, September 18, 2017, the Commission will no longer accept Motions or Motion Responses filed by adjusters.  The Commission, in conjunction with the North Carolina State Bar, has deemed filing Motions and Responses to be the unlicensed practice of law, in violation […]

Read more

Total Eclipse of Comp

General Thumbnail

Examining An Injury Resulting from an Eclipse Under North Carolina Law On August 21, 2017, many of us in North Carolina looked up at the sun to view the rare phenomenon of a total or near total eclipse. In most instances, the viewing was done with safety measures in place. As the eclipse occurred during […]

Read more

Average Weekly Wage – Fair and Just?

General Thumbnail

The Ball v. Bayada Home Health Center, __ N.C. App. ___, (2017),  decision is a good reminder that N.C.G.S. § 97-2(5) provides five different methods to calculate average weekly wage, depending on the facts and circumstances of each claim.  Determining average weekly wage must be fair and just, meaning that the calculation must reflect what […]

Read more

Waiving Legal Arguments

General Thumbnail

In Bentley v. Jonathan Piner Construction, the N.C. Court of Appeals addressed when a legal issue would be deemed waived by a party.  The Court also addressed whether an injured worker was an independent contractor or employee at the time of his accident, and whether the Defendant was a statutory employer. In Bentley, Plaintiff suffered […]

Read more

State Legislature and Governor Work Quickly to Overturn Wilkes

General Thumbnail

On July 20, 2017, Governor Cooper signed into law House Bill 26. The Bill, which passed unanimously in the State Legislature, addressed and reversed portions of the recent Supreme Court decision, Wilkes v. City of Greenville. The Bill was in response to the Court’s determination that the workers’ compensation Parsons presumption applies to any injury […]

Read more

Time Bars for Medical Compensation and Evidence Bars for Indemnity Benefits

General Thumbnail

Capen Trucer Carl Anders, II v. Universal Leaf North America In Capen Trucer Carl Anders, II v. Universal Leaf North America, No. COA 16-910, the Plaintiff appealed an Industrial Commission decision denying his claim for additional medical and indemnity benefits allegedly related to a prior compensable injury.  The Court of Appeals analyzed the limitations period […]

Read more

Supreme Court Determines the Burden of Causation is on Employers and Carriers in Compensable Claims

General Thumbnail

In Wilkes v. City of Greenville, __ S.E.2d __, (2017) the North Carolina Supreme agreed with the Court of Appeal’s determination that when compensability is admitted an injured worker is entitled to a presumption that future medical treatment is causally related to the compensable injury. Moreover, the Supreme Court expanded its review to the Russell […]

Read more

Doctors Determine Parsons: Failure to Overcome the Parsons Presumption

General Thumbnail

Bell v. Goodyear The Bell decision is guided by the Parsons presumption, (Parsons v. The Pantry, Inc., 485 S.E.2d 867 (1997)) which holds that when additional medical treatment for a compensable injury is required, a rebuttable presumption arises in favor of the claimant that the treatment is directly related to the original compensable injury. The […]

Read more

All About the Experts: Rebutting the Parsons Presumption

Injury Claim Form for Workers' Comp Defense

The Thornton decision is guided by the Parsons presumption, which holds that when additional medical treatment for a compensable injury is required, a rebuttable presumption arises in favor of the claimant that the treatment is directly related to the original compensable injury. This claim arose from a back injury that occurred in July 1998 when […]

Read more

Does Payment of Attendant Care Require a Prescription?

Contest Medical Treatment

In Thompson v. Int’l Paper Co., the N.C. Court of Appeals addressed whether attendant care prescriptions needed to be provided in writing. In Thompson, the plaintiff suffered severe burns as a result of his work accident.  He underwent three major skin graft surgeries at the Burn Center.  His wife took leave from her job as […]

Read more

What is the meaning of “last payment”?

Lewis v. Transit Management of Charlotte, __ N.C. App. __ (6 December 2016) In a workers’ compensation claim stemming from a compensable accident occurring in 06/2009, defendants filed no NCIC form to accept Employee’s claim, but defendants paid Employee almost $14,000.00 in TTD, and defendants paid Employee’s medical care providers almost $9,000.00 in medical compensation.  […]

Read more