Injured at work in NC by another's negligence.
When an employee is injured on the job in North Carolina through the negligence of another person two claims arise. First the employee may have a claim under the North Carolina workers' compensation system. Second, the employee has a tort or personal injury claim against the negligent "third party." It is important to pursue both, as they have different advantages and...
Politics and Workers' Compensation in North Carolina
One of the unfortunate aspects of workers' compensation in North Carolina is the vulnerability of the system to politics. Unlike tort law, which involves automobile accidents for example, workers' comp. is largely a creature of statute. The North Carolina General Assembly passes workers' comp (workmans comp) law at its pleasure, and it is the job of the North Carolina...
NC Industrial Commission Sets Interpreter Role
The North Carolina Industrial Commission, which has the responsibility for administering the NC Workers' Compensation Act, recently issued a statement clarifiying the role of interpreters in the NC workers' comp system. The Industrial Commission notes that interpreters and translators may not write summary reports that include conversations...
Forms, Forms, Forms and NC Workers' Comp Claims
Workers' compensation in North Carolina involves forms, and there is no way around it. Most cases begin with the injured employee filing a Form 18 notice of injury, while the employer or their insurance company files a Form 19. Claims can be accepted by Form 60 or 63, or denied by Form 61. A form 18M keeps medical treatment open. Forms are also used under NC...
Workers Comp Claims by State Employees in NC
State employee's and workers' compensation lawyers in North Carolina face some special issues in dealing with the workers' compensation claims of state employees. Some state employees, including many law enforcement, probation and prison officers, are entitle to full salary continuation for two years in lieu of their NC workers' comp wage replacement benefits. This also applies to...
The Average Weekly Wage in NC workers' comp.
One of the most important numbers in a workers' compensation case in North Carolina is the Average Weekly Wage. The AWW, when multiplied by 2/3's yields the "comp rate" which is the basis for the amount of the weekly payments, and a factor in the Temporary Total Disability formula. A proper calculation of the AWW is critical to the evaluation of the value of a NC workers...
North Carolina Workers' Workmen's Workman's Workerman or Workermens Compensation
Someday someone should do a sociology study on the evolution in the name of the workers' compensation system. Many folks in NC still refer to it as "workmans" compensation, and a few as "workmen's" comp. The issue has so much history that the North Carolina General Assembly included the following language in the NC Worker's Comp Act....
Can an employee receive workers' comp in NC if he was at fault in the accident?
I read an article on-line the other day describing an employee of a large laundry company who died when he fell into an industrial dryer. Readers were asked to comment on the story, and I was sadly not surprised to read a string of posts blaming the worker for his own death and questioning why workers' comp should pay. While this was not a NC workers' comp case I do hear...
Role of a lawyer in a NC workers comp case.
I frequently get asked by potential NC workers' compensation clients how much time a client can expect to spend with me versus somebody else in my office. I think lawyers need to talk to clients about every important issue in the case and not push that off on a paralegal or assistant. If you are injured on the job in North Carolina, you are already going through a lot. The...
North Carolina Workers' Compensation Laws
So, what are the sources of North Carolina workers' comp laws? There are several. First, workers' comp, or workmans comp, is a creature of statute. The North Carolina General Assembly established the system for administering the workers' comp system and tweaks it from time to time. The laws directly relating to workers' comp are found in Chapter 97 of the North Carolina...
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