In this video Workers Compensation Lawyer Joe Miller explains how your contraction of COVID-19 illness could completely “kill” or derail a perfectly good workers compensation case in Virginia, even if you are under an Award. As a matter of fact, if you become unable to work as a result of ANY condition that is not related to your work injury, and your workers comp doctor has you on light duty, you can expect your benefits to be immediately cut off.

Why? Because you have been removed from the labor market for an unrelated condition, and therefore, your inability to work has nothing to do with your work injury, but with an unrelated condition. Yes, it is very, very unfair and no, it was not your fault that you got sick. But the workers compensation insurance company does not care about that, nor does the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission. The bottom line is if you are under an Award, and you’re on light duty, you had better avoid getting COVID-at all costs. Even if you only test positive and have no symptoms, we know that positive result would prevent you from working anywhere and therefore, you can expect your benefits to be cut off.

Many workers suffer traumatic brain injuries due to falls, violence, being struck by objects, and other reasons. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 150 people in the United States die each day from a traumatic brain injury. In 2014, 2.87 million people sought emergency department treatment for a TBI. (more…)

Workers Compensation Attorney Joe Miller talks about Virginia Senate Bill 5066, which proposes to create a legal presumption for all police, firefighters, first Responders and healthcare providers in the Commonwealth that if he or she contracted COVID-19, then it is presumed to have been contracted on the job, and accordingly, is compensable as an occupational disease. Most importantly, the bill, as proposed, would be retroactive to provide this presumption to any worker in one of these occupations who became ill from COVID-19 at any time after January 1, 2020. Although some folks who have already taken their COVID cases to hearing in Virginia have prevailed, the majority have not. (more…)

As the start of the school year gets nearer, much of the focus has been on when and how the schools should open in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the related issues will be the rights of teachers and custodial workers in these schools. We’ve written previously about teachers and workers’ compensation and also on the general rights of all workers to claim benefits if they contract COVID-19. (more…)

The guidelines for North Carolina Industrial Commission hearings, as of July 2020, are the following:

You have COVID-19 symptoms

If you have any COVID-19 symptoms, you should not attend a hearing. You should not enter a courthouse or hearing room. You should contact the deputy commissioner by email or telephone to receive further instructions. (more…)

Workers Compensation Attorney Joe Miller explains the advantages of not ignoring significant psychological issues that may be related to your severe, catastrophic work injury. Getting the right psychiatric treatment, and not being ashamed to do so, could mean the difference between getting a small settlement, or substantial settlement in your workers comp case.

In addition to the errors of judgment we reviewed in the first part of our discussion on employee mistakes in workers’ compensation, employees also need to avoid the following workers’ compensation mistakes: (more…)

Workers have the right to file for workers’ compensation if they are an employee, if they are hurt on the job, and if the injuries they suffer stop them from working. Workers may also be entitled to work injury benefits if they suffer an occupational illness due to their job. There is no requirement to prove the employer was at fault. The claims process is normally easier than in a personal injury case. Still, there are many mistakes employees can make that can hurt their case. Just one key mistake can affect your entire claim or your ability to get all the compensation you deserve. (more…)

Workers Compensation Lawyer Joe Miller here explains the role of the Nurse Case Manager, particularly in Virginia. According to the law, they are supposed to help facilitate your treatment with your doctors. In reality, at least in Virginia, the Nurse Case Managers tend to act as proxies for the workers compensation insurance companies, and their primary interests are therefore aligned with them–which means–get you back to work even before you are ready, get you to the insurance-friendly doctors that they want you to see. and to the facilities that will skew your case in the insurance company’s favor.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) developed the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) to characterize occupational injury and illness incidents.” There are been several revisions to the original system. The OICS breaks down workplace injuries and illnesses into the following four categories:

• Nature of the injury or illness. The principal physical characteristic(s) of the injury or illness.
• Part of Body Affected by the injury or illness. The part of the body directly affected by the previously identified nature of injury or illness.
• Source and Secondary Source of the injury or illness. The objects, substances, equipment, and other factors that were responsible for the injury or illness incurred by the worker or that precipitated the event or exposure.
• Event or Exposure. The manner in which the injury or illness was produced or inflicted by the source of injury or illness.

Each of the four categories is broken down into further subcategories. The categories include definition and examples. Some of the relevant sections, that may be used to assess workplace injuries and illnesses are the following. In many cases, an injury or illnesses may be categorized in another part of the OICCS

Event or Exposure

• Violence and Other Injuries by Persons or Animals

• •  This category covers “violence and other injuries by persons or animals.” It includes intentional injuries, injuries with weapons (such as firearms and tools designed to be used as weapons) – regardless of intent. It also includes “injuries involving direct physical contact with persons, animals, or insects regardless of intent.” Unfortunately, this has become more of an issue these days, due to workplace violence and mass shootings. 
  • The category doesn’t include injuries due to overexertion or bodily reactions such as running after a suspect or being unintentionally hit by a box thrown or dropped by another person. It also doesn’t include unintentional drug overdoses and “exposures to infectious agents unless intentional or transmitted by an insect or animal bite.”
• Transportation Incidents. The category includes transportation vehicles, powered industrial vehicles, powered industrial equipment involving at least one vehicle (or mobile equipment) –“and the injury or illness was due to collision or other type of traffic incident; loss of control – or a sudden stop, start, or jolting of a vehicle regardless of the location where the event occurred.”
  • There are additional requirements for transportation accidents involving pedestrians, roadway workers, and other non-passengers struck by a vehicle or other qualifying vehicles or powered equipment.
  • The category applies to many different vehicles including railway vehicles, animals and other non-motorized transportation, aircraft, water vehicles, roadway accidents, and pedestrian accidents. The category includes cars, trucks, RVs, motorcycles, buses, amusement park rail vehicles, canoes, fishing boats, Segways, snow mobiles, forklifts, and other listed vehicle types.
  • Falls “on or from vehicles are transportation incidents if the vehicle was in normal operation.”
  • This category doesn’t include events such as injuries due to the vibration of a vehicle, carbon monoxide poisoning, spilling hot drinks where there’s no collision, gear slips, and other specified incidents.
  • Vehicles that doesn’t fall into this category include, “dollies, carts, wheelbarrows Nonindustrial, non-roadway mobile equipment Wheelchairs–motorized and nonmotorized, stretchers, and wagons.”

• Fires And Explosions. This category includes cases where a person falls or jumps from a burning building, inhales harmful substances, or is pinned or struck by objects due to the explosion or fire. The category also includes “incidents in which the worker was injured due to being trapped in a fire or whose respirator had run out of oxygen during a fire.” It doesn’t include fires or explosions caused by transportation accidents or intentional actions – which are covered elsewhere. It includes a variety of injuries to firefighters such as injuries from lifting hoses, arson and falls in a parking lot of a burning building. 
  • Injuries due to direct contact with flames from controlled sources such as stove tops that someone in a restaurant kitchen might suffer; and burns due to touching ovens, grills, and burners – are covered elsewhere.
  • In addition, many times folks who come through such experiences, as well as workplace violence will still suffer terrible psychiatric effects long after the physical injuries have healed. Our firm deals with many cases like this, which typically involve development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. 

• Falls, Slips, and Trips. These include “falls on the same level, falls and jumps to lower levels, falls and jumps that were curtailed by a personal arrest device, and slips and trips that do not result in a fall.”
  • Falls that are covered in other sections include “stepping to a lower level (such as, off a ladder, out of a vehicle, or off a curb), falls through openings in floors, or falling into a body of water. 

• Exposure to Harmful Substances or Environments. Over time, long-term exposures to noise or other harmful substances such as asbestos, silica, or trichloroethylene (TCE) can result in severe impairments, such as asbestosis, cancer, brain damage, and death. 
• Contact with Objects and Equipment. This category applies to contact between the injured person and the source of injury unless the contact is covered in another category such as a fall or a violent act. The category doesn’t include workplace contact with other people or animals. It also doesn’t include exposures to hot or cold objects or substances, contact with electrical currents, exposure to toxins or allergic substances, and exposures to infectious agents. Those contacts are generally covered in other categories.
• Overexertion and Bodily Reaction. This category applies generally to non-impact injuries or illnesses that result from “free bodily motion, from excessive physical effort, from repetition of a bodily motion, from the assumption of an unnatural position, or from remaining in the same position over a period of time.”
  • Further subcategories include:
    • Overexertion and bodily reaction, unspecified. Examples include lifting, pushing, pulling, turning, holding, carrying, wielding, throwing, and catching
    • Overexertion involving outside sources
    • Repetitive motions involving microtasks 
    • Other exertions or bodily reactions 
    • Multiple types of over-exertions and bodily reactions 

North Carolina workers’ compensation lawyer Joe Miller Esq. has helped thousands of workers in North Carolina and in Virginia get just recoveries for a wide variety of workplace injuries. He’s been fighting for employees for more than 31 years. He has the experience and resources to fully document your medical expenses, your lost wages, and any other related work injury costs. He’ll fight to get you a strong recovery. To schedule an appointment with a respected work injury lawyer, is please phone Joe Miller, Esq., at 888-667-8295. or fill out my online contact form