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 […]
In Murray v. Moody, 797 S.E.2d 365 (N.C. Ct. App. 2017), a Wilson County Superior Court entered an “Amended Final Judgment” expressly provided judgment for a lien on damages that a jury awarded in a civil suit in favor of the Employer and Carrier. While Moody was appealing the Amended Final Judgment, he and his […]
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 […]
Snyder v. Goodyear The Snyder decision is guided by Russell v. Lowe’s, 108 N.C. App. 762 (1993), which provides methods to establish a plaintiff is incapable of earning the same wages he had earned before his injury. The relevant method applied Snyder is the second method found in Russell, where a plaintiff presents evidence he […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
WILLIFORD v. N.C. DEPT. OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, and N.C. DIV. OF MEDICAL ASSISTANCE (NC Ct. of Appeals, 11/15/16) To be eligible for Medicaid, an applicant who is single and over the age of 65 cannot have more than $2,000.00 in countable assets. The Williford decision addressed the issue of whether Medicare Set-Aside funds […]
Bentley v. Jonathan Piner Construction (NC Court of Appeals, 9/20/16) Plaintiff suffered a right eye injury on March 3, 2014, when working on a construction site. Defendants denied the claim, arguing that plaintiff was not an employee. The claim was heard by Deputy Commissioner Mary Vilas on December 5, 2014. Deputy Commissioner Vilas suggested that […]
Saunders v. ADP Totalsource (NC Court of Appeals, 9/6/16) In a compensable claim, defendants were ordered to pay for prior attendant care services that were performed by plaintiff’s partner. The deputy commissioner approved an attorney fee of 25% of the award of the retroactive attendant care services provided. The Full Commission also awarded retroactive attendant […]
When Apportionment of an Injury is Appropriate Harris v. Southern Commercial Glass and/or Southeastern Installation Inc. (8/16/16) Facts and Procedural History: Plaintiff sustained a compensable back injury on July 13, 2000 while working for Southern Commercial Glass. The employer accepted the claim and plaintiff received workers’ compensation medical and disability benefits. At some point after […]
Workers’ Compensation Liens and Standing Dion v. William Robert Batten, Sr. (8/2/16) Facts and Procedural History: Plaintiff was employed by Neuwirth as a servicing agent. In the course and scope of his employment with Neuwirth, he was involved in a car accident. William Batten failed to stop at a red light and ran into plaintiff. […]
Rainey v. City of Charlotte (5/17/16) This case the North Carolina Court of Appeals analyzed N.C. Gen. Stat. §97-58 and the statutory time limit to file an occupational disease. The Court dismissed an injured worker’s claim based on plaintiff’s failure to comply with the time requirements of the statute based on the plaintiff’s own admissions. Facts […]
Barnette v. Lowes (4/19/16) The North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned a Deputy Commissioner and the Full Commission Opinion and Award denying the plaintiff’s claim. The Court found that an “accident” occurred where plaintiff was “engaged in his normal work duty…” at the time of alleged injury, but there was an interruption in the normal work routine […]
This final segment in this “Cost Containment Strategies” Blog series addresses strategies for the end of the worker’s compensation claim. The considerations at this point in the claim are typically whether to keep the claim open and manage it accordingly or whether to settle out the claim- either on a “clincher agreement” or to pay […]