When an employee is injured or suffers an occupational disease, the employer (or carrier or administrator) and the worker can enter into a compromise settlement agreement. Rule 502 of the North Carolina Industrial Commission Rules sets forth the requirements for the compromise settlement agreement:
In uncontested cases, the beneficiaries and the employer/carrier can request that the North Carolina Industrial Commission enter an award without the need for presenting testimony. The parties are then to file the paperwork by joint stipulation. The paperwork can be filed electronically.
The North Carolina Industrial Commission has specific rules for how to handle death benefits in workers’ compensation cases. There are many parts to the rule:
If the cause of the worker’s death is unrelated to the worker’s injury or occupational illness, then the payout is usually small. On the other hand, if the cause of death is related to the employee’s injury or occupational illness, then the payout is 400 to 500 weeks of 2/3rds of the average weekly wage plus burial benefits. For this reason, if there is reasonable argument that the death is related to the injury or job illness, then it makes sense to try to prove that causation did exist.
There is a plus side to the new North Carolina Worker’s Compensation law as it relates to vocational rehabilitation professionals. N.C.G.S. 97-32.2. can now be used to pressure the insurance carrier to resolve your claim and to get you retrained for new work. Prior to the new law, vocational rehabilitation was rarely a viable option …
In 2011, North Carolina passed a revised Workers’ Compensation Law. One of the changes makes it easier for vocational rehabilitation professionals to help the insurance carrier cut off worker benefits. There are two key time frames from the point of view of the law. The first is before the worker reaches maximum medical improvement. (MMI) …
No attorney can or should approve settlement of any legal matter including a North Carolina worker’s compensation case without your permission. Your lawyer works for you and you have the right to be informed and the right to make the decision as to settlement. As a practical matter, workers’ compensation settlements are approved through a strictly enforced process which requires that the client sign off on the settlement before it will be approved. The most a North Carolina Workers’ Compensation lawyer can do is recommend a settlement and explain the pros and cons of settling versus continuing with the litigation.
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If you are looking at this site, you or a loved one has probably been hurt. If that's true, you've come to the right place. Helping people who have been hurt is what we do. In fact, it is all we do. Joe Miller Law is a law firm concentrating exclusively on representing people who are injured by the carelessness of others or those hurt on the job. We provide the highest quality legal services to people who have been seriously injured. We practice Personal Injury law and Workmens' Compensation law in both Virginia and North Carolina.
