Comments on: Work Injury Lawsuit from last year?

By: anon

anon — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:12:18 +0000

feanor, you cannot sue the person/company that cleared the ice.
Filing a claim for benefits under the employers plan for industrial
injury/illness is the exclusive remedy in all states, except for
VERY rare situations. In fact, when you retain a attorney to handle
your claim, you are not actually “suing” the employer or carrier.
There are process in all states for the parties to resolve disputed
medical issues. In most, that would begin with a medical/legal
evaluation by an IME/AME/QME as the case may be. If the Dr opinion
after exam is not sufficient to satisfy either party, you file for
a hearing with the comp court and a judge will decide the issue.
Attys handle these issues/hearings because they are impartial
parties to the action, and as such, are in a better position to get
the judge to rule in the IW favor, as well as the knowledge to
argue the point for the IW. WC is administrative law, the rules and
statutes are there to spell out the benefits that must be provided,
and the indemnity due in the event of permenant impairment as a
rusult of your injury/illness. IW’s should be fully capable of
handling their own claims. BUT, as would be the case with anything
“legal”, whether administrative or civil/tort, attorneys are
usually necessary in the end. Few IW’s have the knowledge of
administrative law to go face to face with an employer/carriers
attorney at hearing before a judge.

By: rwa000

rwa000 — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:46:41 +0000

all three answers are half right, you can’t sue Sonic but you can sue their Workman’s comp carrier, however because it is Workman’s comp you can’t sue for pain and suffering , only if a disability is involved or loss of body part

By: feanor

feanor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:41:31 +0000

I doubt it…Since you’ve recieved worker’s comp, you can’t sue your employer. That’s the deal that is struck with the state, typically. If you have worker’s comp you can’t sue your employer and if there is no worker’s comp, you can sue your employer.

Now if Sonic’s hired somebody to clear the ice, you can sue them, but not Sonic’s or the franchise owner.

By: patrick

patrick — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:25:08 +0000

Workman’s compensation prohibits an employee from suing an employer for a workplace accident.
The workmen’s comp board will determine the amount of compensation, based upon a predetermined table.
Sorry, but your Mother will not be getting a windfall payment, merely wage compensation at the discretion of the board. Had your Mother been a customer, it’s a whole different story.

By: rejectedsoul

rejectedsoul — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:32:58 +0000

she cant sue
when you agree to take workmans comp you waive the right to sie