Workplace Injuries

• Can a doctor who has only practiced in a large hospital testify as to the standard of care in a much smaller hospital?

  Brent Adams | November 29, 2007 7:23 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  The North Carolina Supreme Court has agreed to review a lower appellate court ruling which barred the testimony of an Arizona doctor about the standard of care applicable to a small hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The reason for the exclusion was that the witness had only practiced in larger hospitals.In the North Carolina Court of Appeals decision the Court found that the plaintiff's...

• Insurance Agency Must Pay $5.8 Million for Failure to Obtain Workers Compensation Insurance

  Brent Adams | October 12, 2007 10:21 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  A large insurance agency has been ordered to pay $5.8 Million to a small business because it failed to obtain workers compensation insurance for that business. The agency, Hilb, Rogal and Hamilton Insurance Services, also failed to tell the company that it was not covered by workers compensation insurance. An employee of the small company was burned while at work and filed a workers...

• Suspension of Workers' Compensation Benefits

  Robin Martinek | September 20, 2007 4:37 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  Oftentimes, injured employees do not fully understand what repercussions they face if they do not cooperate with the workers' compensation carrier or their employer. Without an experience workers' compensation attorney to assist them, they often end up in situations where they find their benefits cut off or temporarily suspended. The most common method employers and carriers use to terminate...

• Workers' Compensation Presumption of Disability

  Robin Martinek | September 07, 2007 1:13 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  In previous entries, I have discussed how to establish a permanent disability claim in a workers' compensation case before the North Carolina Industrial Commission by showing: (1) medical evidence of inability to work; (2) No employment available given restrictions to work; (3) Futility of seeking employment due to a number of factors; and (4) Ability to find work but at a lower pay rate than...

• Injured Employees Do Not Have to Stand for Vocational Counselors Pushing Them Around

  Robin Martinek | August 24, 2007 4:36 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  Oftentimes, as a workers' compensation attorney, I have clients come in facing termination of their compensation payments for failure to cooperate with vocational rehabilitation counselors. Many times, this "refusal" to cooperate is merely misunderstandings between the vocational counselor and the injured employee.Some tips on dealing with Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors:1. Consult with...

• Employer Fined $5,000.00 in Workers' Compensation Case

  Brent Adams | August 16, 2007 4:48 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  It is common practice for employers to hire private detectives to conduct videotaped surveillance of injured workers.These private detectives follow injured workers around, usually in paneled trucks or vans, with their videotape running, trying to catch on film any activity that indicates that the injured worker is capable of physical activity.This procedure backfired on an Asheville hospital...

• Should you Resign if you are not Able to Work?

  Brent Adams | July 26, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  Many of our workers' compensation clients are hurt so severally that they are unable to return to their former jobs. An issue often arises as to whether the injured employee should resign from his or her job or wait to be fired.The answer almost always is that the employee should not resign.An employer is justified in terminating an employee who is no longer able to work. However, if an employee...

• Workers' Compensation Denied to EMT Worker Injured on "Fun Day"

  Brent Adams | April 25, 2007 2:42 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  The North Carolina Supreme Court has recently entered a judgment which reverses the North Carolina Industrial Commission and the North Carolina Court of Appeals and held that it was error to award workers' compensation benefits to an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) who was injured while operating a go-cart at a private amusement park during a "Fun Day" for Salter Path Fire & Rescue...

• Brent Adams Wins Workers' Compensation Case Before Court of Appeals

  Robin Martinek | April 25, 2007 9:39 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  In a unanimous decision, the North Carolina Court of Appeals found that workers who are required to bring their vehicles to work as part of their job can be compensated for injuries that occur as they are commuting to and from work. This ruling creates another exception to the normal "Coming and Going Rule" recognized in North Carolina, where injuries incurred while the employee is traveling to...

• Employer in Construction Accident had been Cited Prior

  Christina Cole | March 09, 2007 1:57 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  A subcontractor that employed five workers that were injured in a construction accident on Thursday had been cited in January for not having adequate safety measurements in place.On Thursday, five workers were hospitalized after the roof of a porch on a home that was under construction collapsed on the workers. The workers fell approximately 40 feet. Three of the five workers have been released...