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Compensation and My Back Injury |
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Question:
I'm having some trouble with a workers comp issue and I hope someone
here can help.
What are my rights if the company's doctor declares me fit for duty
and my doctor says I'm still crippled? I went to my doctor after
about a month of seeing the company's doctor with limited results and
no diagnosis. (This is a work related back injury.) Finally, he more
or less declared me to be cured sent me back to full duty.
I disagree
with his assessment so I went to my doctor who was in disbelief and
ordered an MRI for this week and tightened up my restrictions. I
haven't told my employer that I went to my doctor yet and they will
freak out when they hear about it. The restrictions overlapped by a
couple days so it won't be an issue until Friday. I'm in Minnesota if
that matters at all.
The company has a long history of denying claims and harassing injured
workers so that is another bonus. They still haven't paid for my
physical therapy (ordered by their doctor) and the therapy place is
ready to cut me off. I've been told that the injury report hasn't
been filed or some such thing.
So, what do I do about this mess?
Answer:
You need to speak with a local workers' compensation attorney--it sounds as
if you need someone in your corner in this fight.
Workers Compensation court may do a 50/50 split. Example; if the company
doctor says you're 0% disabled but your own doctor says you're 80%
disabled, the court would find you 40% disabled based on these two sets of
medical opinions.
Let's say you've been out of work for 30 weeks and you used to earn
$500.00 per week. The loss here is $15,000.00 total, so you would get 40%
of that, which is $6,000.00.
Future lost wages are a separate consideration. You may accept another
lump sum to cover future expected lost wages (which closes the case
permanently). Or you may refile your claim every year or so and return to
Workers Comp court. When you return the injury calculation might change
depending on your doctor's reports. It might be just 20% or may increase
to 60% or similar.
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