Construction Accidents

Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: Every year thousands of construction workers are injured or killed because of on the job accidents. I guess this Texas Personal Injury Attorney, Gregg Anderson of the Law Offices of Terry Bryant and he’s going to talk with us about this topic. So Gregg thanks for being here.

Gregg Anderson: Well, thanks for having me.

Cindy Speaker: Well Greg, what are some of the most common examples of construction accidents that you see in Texas?

Gregg Anderson: Well, we handle a lot of those types of cases and what we typically see is for instance residential construction situation, where the employer-contractor fails to provide fall protection or fails to ensure that the workers use fall protection. OSHA standards are pretty clear about that, that if a worker, for instance is working more that six feet above the ground, they’re supposed to wear a harness or some other type of fall protection should they be in the situation.

Another thing we often see is failure to have guardrails up in place. Again, OSHA is very strict about that that if there are floor openings say for instance, for a stairwell or there’s an open wall, there are supposed to be guardrails in place and we frequently see cases where that has not been done and worker will forget exactly where he or she is and back up over an opening.

Cindy Speaker: Okay, now Greg, you mentioned OSHA. What is OSHA?

Gregg Anderson: OSHA is a federal agency that’s in charge of workplace safety in the United States and they promulgated requirements for all sorts of industries including the construction industry.

Cindy Speaker: Well, how common is it that these accidents involve a violation of safety issues?

Gregg Anderson: Pretty common. Construction companies are like any other entity or person for that matter. There are lots of really good ones out there that follow safety standards and run very safe workplaces. On the other hand there are a lot of bad ones out there that don’t really seem to care about that. Their main concern is getting the job done and if someone gets hurt along the way that’s just sort of a cost to doing business. There are companies and contractors that seem to cut corners with regularity.

Cindy Speaker: Now Gregg, is worker’s compensation the only recourse here?

Gregg Anderson: No, not at all. If an employer has workers’ compensations, certainly in Texas, I would imagine in most, if not all states, the workers bard from suing the employer. That trade off the whole idea behind workers’ compensation. It’s a sure recovery if there’s an incident and the employee doesn’t have to prove negligence against the employer. However, if there are other entities involved, like for instance, an employee of a subcontractor is hurt, because of the negligence of a general contractor then the employee is allowed to go after the general contractor.

Also, if an employer doesn’t have workers’ compensation the employee then can go after the employer.

Cindy Speaker: What can the injured worker actually recover for if he files a claim?

Gregg Anderson: In Texas, the standard personal injury categories of damages are lost wages, both past and future, past and future medical bills, pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, things like that.

Cindy Speaker: Well Gregg, if someone wants more information, how can they reach the Law Offices of Terry Bryant?

Gregg Anderson: They can call us here at 800-444-5000, we’ll be happy to answer any questions.

Cindy Speaker: Gregg, thank you for being with us today.

Gregg Anderson: Thank you.

Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.

What is Workers’ Compensation

Transcript:

Cindy Speaker: What is workers compensation?  That’s our topic on this episode of Main Street Law.  My guess is North Caroline Personal Injury Atty. Michael A. DeMayo of the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo. So Michael, thanks for being here today.

Michael DeMayo: Always a pleasure.

Cindy Speaker: Well, Michael, what is workers’ compensation?

Michael DeMayo: Workers’ compensation is exactly what it sounds like, it is a scheme, an administrative scheme that covers individuals if they are injured on the job.  It’s not liability base, so it doesn’t really matter, there doesn’t have to be an at fault component, it just has to be that someone is employed and working and on the job at the time of the accident.  So it’s fairly simple and basic.  There are some limitations as to who is covered, but generally, very, very small companies of two employees or less are ones that are not required in our state to have coverage.  But for the most part, if you are working and you are injured on the job, you would be entitled to workers’ compensation.

Cindy Speaker: Okay.  Well, let me ask you this.  Does an injured employee have the option of opting out of the workers’ compensation system and instead suing their employer?

Michael DeMayo: In essence, the answer is no.  There is a very, very, very, very small minute exception to the exception, they’re called Woodson’s claims where gross negligence has to be shown on the part of the employer to make a separate third party claim.  But in the last four to eight years, the Supreme Court of North Carolina has eviscerated even the Woodson claim somewhat so that they are none existent.

So in essence, the short answer is no.  Workers’ compensation as a general rule is your exclusive remedy if you are injured on the job.  Now, that is as with regard to the employer.  If you are injured on the job and you happen to be in an automobile accident and you are on the job but there is a third party defendant, you do have the potential to make two claims.  One is the workers’ comp claim and one is the personal injury claim.  But if the only liable defendant potentially in you claim is the employer, workers’ compensation will be your only remedy.

Cindy Speaker: Very good.  Now, are there any injuries that are not covered by workers’ compensation?

Michael DeMayo: Generally, no.  There are some—generally, workers’ comp covers any injury on the job regardless like I said of liability.  There are some exclusions if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs that is a reason to deny workers’ complementation coverage.  Obviously, if it’s not a accident, then you’re not covered under the workers’ compensation scheme.  But anything from exposure to repetitive motion, like carpal tunnel, those are all covered.  So as a general rule, if you are uncertain about whether or not you have a potential legitimate workers’ commensuration claim, it is generally advisable to consult an inexperienced workers’ comp attorney to give you some advice and some council as to whether or not there is coverage there.

Cindy Speaker: And Michael, if someone wants to speak with you, how can they reach you?

Michael DeMayo: Well, they probably won’t speak to me because we have a team of dedicated professionals of over 84 employees, but we do have an entire department that just as workers’ comp, three attorneys specifically, two that are board certified and what they would do is they would contact our office, they can either call us toll free at (877) 333-1000 or they can go to our website which is www.demayolaw, all one word, D-E-M-A-Y-O-L-A-W dot-com and certainly, we can give them information and/or if we can assist them, get them singed up so we can start working on their case.

Cindy Speaker: Excellent.  Michael, thank you so much for your time today.

Michael DeMayo: My pleasure.

Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.

What Is Workers’ Compensation?

Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: What are my legal rights if I am injured at work? That’s our topic on this episode of Main Street Law. My guest is North Carolina Personal Injury Attorney Michael A. DeMayo of the law offices of Michael A. DeMayo. So Michael thanks for being here.

Michael A. DeMayo: My pleasure as always Cindy.

Cindy Speaker: Well Michael, what are my legal rights if I’m injured at work?

Michael A. DeMayo: Generally, if someone is injured at work, they have rights to what’s called compensation or worker’s compensation. Generally what that entails is they are entitled to get their medical bills paid and if they are out for more than seven days, they’re entitled to get two thirds their salary capped to a maximum amount as far as benefits. As a general rule, if the injury is one where they will resolve their treatment and their injury will resolve, and there’s not going to be any level of permanency or future lost earnings, that’s something that generally is concluded there and often times does not need an attorney.

If on the other hand there’s any kind of permanency, serious injury, toxic exposure, repetitive motion exposure like carpal tunnel, where there’s any kind of surgery or any kind of potential future or present diminution in wages, then it is usually very important that someone hire an experienced worker’s compensation attorney to help them recover, because not only are they entitled to the medical bills and two thirds salary, but oftentimes they are entitled to either a series of payments or a lump sum payment which is usually concluded in a settlement which is also called a clincher.

Cindy Speaker: Okay. Well Michael, walk us through the steps. If someone is injured, what is the first step?

Michael A. DeMayo: Sure. The first step is you have to report an on the job injury as soon as possible. Generally, that same day is recommended, but 30 days usually is kind of a litmus test.

It is the responsibility of the employer to then file what’s called the Form 18, which starts the claim essentially. It opens a worker’s compensation claim. There is a two-year statute of limitations on worker’s comp claim. So if the employer refuses, which is illegal, or is not able for some strange reason to assist in that, then certainly for example our firm could help in filing a Form 18.

As a general rule, you will report the accident and obviously secondarily, get care or treatment. Oftentimes the employer or their insurance company will dictate and delegate where the person is to go for treatment. That is one of the things as worker’s comp that you have to kind of abide by. Worker’s comp is no fault so it doesn’t matter if it was your fault or it wasn’t your fault. You’re still covered as long as you were on the job at the time of the accident. So it’s important that you report it and get treatment. From there, depending on the severity of the injury than often times it is important to seek legal representation from an experienced worker’s compensation attorney.

Cindy Speaker: Michael, tell us about the requirements in obtaining medical care. Do you have to go to a company assigned doctor or can you go to your own doctor?

Michael A. DeMayo: You generally have to abide by under the worker’s compensation scheme. You do have to go to the doctors that the worker’s compensation carrier refers you to. When we get involved for example though, oftentimes, we can send the client to what’s called the second opinion if maybe our doctors disagree with the insurance company doctors.

Someone has to remember that the doctors that are used by the workers compensation insurance carriers are generally ones that are more favorable towards the insurance company and the employer. So their job is to get the person back to work as soon as possible.

Obviously in a perfect world, you’d want an unbiased doctor who would not basically take into account whose paying their bill, but that’s not the world we live in. So as a practical matter, yes. You do have to abide by and go to the doctors they refer and recommend, but with an experienced worker’s compensation attorney, oftentimes, we can recommend different doctors and certainly get a second opinion if there’s any questions about either the level of injury or the necessity of surgery or any future medical needs.

Cindy Speaker: Okay now, what if the company doctor orders me back to work and I don’t feel ready? Do I have any recourse?

Michael A. DeMayo: Again, generally you do have to go back to work. Again, if you have an experienced worker’s comp attorney, a lot of times we are able to get a second opinion where the second opinion says, “Hey! This person can’t return back to work,” and then it is legitimate to stay out.

00:05:01

It is not appropriate for the person to decide of their own volition that they are not going to go back to work regardless of what the doctor says. If they do that, yes, they will cut off their benefits and they’re in for a decent fight. So you have to work within the rules and the regulations because worker’s comp is regulated by the Industrial Commission and it’s an administrative remedy. But that being said, there are some ways to work within the system that we can utilize to benefit the client or the injured person.

Cindy Speaker: Very good. Well it sounds like a complicated area of the law.

Michael A. DeMayo: Yes. Worker’s compensation is a very detailed, sophisticated area of the law and you should never in my opinion, if you have any type of serious injury, use anyone other than a worker’s compensation attorney who only does that type of work.

In our office, we have three worker’s compensation attorneys, two that are certified Worker’s Compensation Specialist by the North Carolina State Bar which says, they need an even higher standard of regulations and they have taken an exam to show their level of expertise in that particular area. But yes, generally, there’s no reason why anyone should not get an experienced worker’s comp attorney especially if you have a severe injury on the job.

Cindy Speaker: Well Michael, if someone has specific questions, how can they reach you?

Michael A. DeMayo: They can certainly always call us, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, anywhere in the United States at 1-877-333-1000. That’s a very easy number to remember. Or someone would feel more comfortable researching our firm and finding out about our knowledge, experience, and expertise and our track record. They can certainly go to our website at www.demayolaw.com, that’s D-E-M-A-Y-O-L-A-W, and they certainly can get information, they can do what’s called an online inquiry. We even have someone that will come on while their on the web and will ask them if they can help them, it’s called a web chat. So we have a number of different ways where clients can either communicate. Contact us, or at least check us out before they decide to hire us.

Cindy Speaker: Excellent. Well Michael, thank you so much for your time today.

Michael A. DeMayo: My pleasure.

Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.

Workers’ Comp on the Gridiron

Video Transcript:

Cindy Speaker: Our topic today is workers’ compensation for professional athletes and my guest is South Carolina attorney George Sink of George Sink Injury Lawyers. And George, thank you for being with me today.

George Sink: Well thanks for having me, Cindy.

Cindy Speaker: Well, George, let me ask you something. Are you a sports fan?

George Sink: I love sports, not only watching them and following them, but I love playing them, too. Every morning I bicycle. I mean, there are just various things that sports are big part of my life.

Cindy Speaker: That’s awesome. Well, I’m going to make you very jealous. As you know I’m in Philadelphia, and I just heard that we are going to have the super bowl in our neck of the woods. It was big news around here yesterday. It’s going to be in Jersey.

George Sink: In 2014 and bring your ear mask(ph) because it’s outdoors.

Cindy Speaker: Okay. Well, George, today our topic as you know is workers’ compensation for professional athletes. And this is something that really hasn’t crossed my mind but I’ll bet it comes up fairly often.

George Sink: Well, the funny thing is that most jobs are just jobs, but a professional athlete is in a very dangerous profession. A little slip or a fall or a misstep can result in disability which could ruin a career. So it’s a very dangerous thing, it comes up and we have handled a number of these cases.

Cindy Speaker: So what you’re saying then is that if a professional athlete is injured, they’re actually covered under workers’ compensation laws?

George Sink: Yes and no. Some are, some aren’t. Members of teams likely are, like a football or a baseball team member, but jockeys, boxers, are often considered independent contractors and are not. So it then really depends on the situation on the team and you have to check into that.

Cindy Speaker: And in light of the apparent complexity of these situations, it sounds like an injured athlete should call an attorney for help.

George Sink: I would.

Cindy Speaker: Are there other special issues that come up when handling worker’s compensation claims for athletes?

George Sink: The maximum compensation rate is a lot lower than many professional athletes are used to receiving. They’re held down by state legislatures to conform with usually average wages in the state. But as you know, professional athletes often make hundreds of thousands, or if not, millions of dollars. So that’s important. And also, the biggest thing, I think, and where a lawyer can really help, I believe, is translating disability—impairment to disability. What’s that? Impairment—if I lost my right hand, that’s 100% impairment. But I don’t know if it disables me and people would feel sorry, it might even help me a little. I don’t know. But would it make me a worse lawyer? Let’s argue about that, maybe a little. But Serena Williams, if she lost her right hand, she would be totally disabled, so there’s 100% impairment. It’s a 100% disability for Serena and maybe 0 for George.

So that’s a—you need a lawyer to make that translation because disability is what workers’ compensation is based on, not impairment.

Cindy Speaker: That is fascinating, and I can see where the average person would have a hard time making that translation and probably would never get a fair deal without a lawyer. Well, George, if someone wants more information on this topic, how can they reach you?

George Sink: They can get me one or two ways. Our website is www.sinklaw.com or they can call us toll free, 1-800-849-SINK, that’s 7465.

Cindy Speaker: George, thanks so much for your time today.

George Sink: Thank you, Cindy.

Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.

Who is an Employee in a Workers’ Comp Claim

Video Transcript:

Cindy: Who is an employee under Workers Compensation Law? That’s our topic on this episode of State Law TV. My guest is South Carolina personal injury attorney, George Sink of George Sink Injury Lawyers and George, I want to thank you for being here today.

George: Well, thank you Cindy. Thank you for having me.

Cindy: My pleasure. Now, George one of the main requirements for recovery under Workers Compensation Law is that the injured person be an employee and this certainly seems like a cut and dry term, but sometimes, there’s a legitimate question as to who is an employee. George, who counts as an employee?

George: Well, you’re exactly right, Cindy and in most situations, an employee is exactly what you think it is. It’s a person who regularly works for their employer, but there’s a lot of people out there who may or may not be employees.

Cindy: Like what kinds of people?

George: In the construction industry, you often have subcontractors and employees. They are different and sometimes, under the law, they can be the same. So it’s pretty confusing.

Cindy: So what happens if you’re injured, George and you don’t qualify as an employee?

George: Generally, you’re not eligible to recover if you’re not an employee, but there are exceptions like what’s called a statutory employee where the statute—those are the laws in the State of South Carolina, in our case, will treat you as if you’re an employee. Like all Workers Compensation issues, this varies widely from state to state.

Cindy: Now, George, I’ve heard Workers Compensation referred to as an exclusive remedy—what does that mean?

George: Cindy, that means that if you’re an employee, your only remedy for on the job injuries is Workers Compensation in South Carolina. If you’re not an employee, under the law, you can sue whomever is responsible for your injury. If there’s ever a question, call a lawyer to help you figure out where you stand.

Cindy: And George, if someone wants to call you, how can they reach you for more information?

George: Well, they can call us toll free at 1-800-849-SINK or find us on the web at www.sinklaw.com.

Cindy: George, thank you so much.

George: Thank you, Cindy.

Cindy: This is Cindy Speaker reporting for State Law TV.

Impairment Rating & Permanent Disability

Video Transcript:

Cindy: Workers Compensation is an area of the law that many workers have limited understanding of. Today, we’re going to be talking with South Carolina Workers Compensation attorney, George Sink of George Sink Injury Lawyers. We’re going to discuss two key terms, impairment rating and permanent disability. So George, thanks for being with me today.

George: Thank you, Cindy.

Cindy: George what is impairment rating and how is it determined?

George: Impairment rating is assessment of how much damage is done to a certain part of a person’s body or their whole body. For example, if I lost my right hand in an accident, I’d have a 100% impairment of my right hand. So that’s an important thing to know and I may have some arm impairment too.

Cindy: Okay, what is maximum medical improvement?

George: That’s when a doctor treats you and when they’re done treating you, they say, we can’t do any more for you, George. So at that point, I have reached what they call maximum medical improvement and at that point, you can assess an impairment rating which a lawyer translates into a disability rating which the Commission uses to settle a claim.

Cindy: Alright, now who makes the impairment rating?

George: The impairment rating is made by a doctor. They usually use the American Medical Association book to guide them in their impairment ratings, so they decide how much a person has lost—of the function of that particular injured part.

Cindy: Now, what if the lawyer or the client disagrees with the impairment rating, do they have any recourse?

George: Usually, what happens is, their lawyer—if they have a lawyer, will translate that into what they call a disability. Disability is a so what thing. So you have a 100% loss of your right hand, what difference does that make? To a lawyer, it makes very little difference. I can still be a good lawyer with only one hand, but to a manual laborer, they may be a 100% disabled, so the disability rating is what you look for and at that point, if they disagree with what the negotiated disability rating is, you can go in front of a commissioner—in South Carolina, the commissioner makes the decisions. You can appeal it to a meeting of the commissioners and then you can go into court if you so desire, if you totally disagree with what everybody decides the disability rating is.

Cindy: Well, this is very enlightening. So really, because it’s so complex, it seems that people really need the advice of a Workers Compensation attorney to understand it.

George: Well, you have to get the impairment rating then you have to decide how much that impairment of that part of the body affects your life, very difficult to do and experience really does help especially in preserving all the rights that you may or may not know that you have under the Workers Compensation law.

Cindy: Very good. Well, George thanks for your time today.

George: Thank you so much, Cindy.

Cindy: This is Cindy Speaker reporting for State Law TV.

TTD-Temporary Total Disability

Video Transcript:
Cindy: What is temporary total disability? That’s what we’ll be discussing on this episode of Main Street Law. I’m Cindy Speaker and my guest is South Carolina personal injury attorney, George Sink of George Sink Injury Lawyers. George, I appreciate you being with us today.

George: Well, thank you very much, Cindy. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Cindy: Well, I’m going to have you explain something to us today, what is temporary total disability? What does it apply to and what is it relevant to?

George: It’s the pay you get when you’ve been accidentally injured on the job and you’re out of work for a certain period of time. That’s the state statute that provides for injured people in South Carolina.

Cindy: And how do you determine how much income you will receive when you qualify for this?

George: Well, it’s based on what you earn and I guess that makes a lot of sense. If you earn—I’m making this up, a hundred dollars a week at your regular job, you’re entitled to two-thirds of that as your TTD or the temporary total disability rate. However, if you are working at night because you’re only making a hundred a week at the subway and in the national guard for example, all of that counts, so you have to put it together divided by two-thirds and that would be your TTD rate, temporary total disability rate. That’s what you get when you’re out.

Cindy: Now, when would someone start receiving that? How long do they have to wait?

George: It’s a little tricky in South Carolina. First week, you don’t get anything, but if you’re out eight days, you get paid for the first day. Nine days, second day, ten days, third day—so when you get to—if you’re out fourteen days, you’re entitled to the first two weeks and paid thereafter for the time the doctor says that you’re out.

Cindy: And when does it stop?

George: It stops when the doctor said you’re ready to go back and often times, it’s good to try going back to see what you can and can’t do for a bunch of reasons, but mostly to tell your doctor what you can and can’t do and to feel confident that you can and can’t do it and you can get the kind of care that you deserve while you are being taken care of.

Cindy: Now, there’s also something called TPD, temporary partial disability.

George: That’s what happens when you go back and you try it and they say, well George, you really can’t lift boxes in the warehouse anymore, but we’ll put you on the phone, why don’t you just get the phone calls as they come in, but we only pay you eight dollars an hour for the phones and we paid twenty dollars when you lifted boxes, so eight take away twenty would be twelve dollars and so, it’s temporary partial payments, so you would get a partial payment on that.

So that’s a partial payment to allow you to work your way back into the workforce from a generous employer who wants you back and it’s going to work you into the system as you recover.

Cindy: George, how can you be reached for more information?

George: You can reach us at 1-800-849-SINK and that’s 7465 or on the website at www.sinklaw.com.

Cindy: George, until next time. Thanks for coming.

George: Well, thank you Cindy. Thank you so much for having me.

Cindy: My pleasure. This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.

Plant Explosions

Video Transcription:

Cindy Speaker: Last week on State Law TV News, we shared a story about big business and how they made a decision to value profits over the safety of their employees.  Today, we have a similar story and the State of Texas, plant explosions are relatively common occurrence.  I spoke with Houston attorney, Terry Bryant about this topic and his experience representing victims of plant explosions.  Here is what he had to say.

Terry Bryant: These big companies that own the chemical plants tend to minimize the nature and extent of the injuries.  Typically, what happens is they say, just shelter employees and then a few hours later, they’ll say everything is fine, when in fact sometimes people are injured or even killed.  We had one case involving a plant explosion in which the person who died in the plant explosion was not discovered for a period of three or four hours after the blast.  In fact, the company waived the fire department off, said they could go home and then they have to call them back and tell them that someone had actually passed away from the explosion.

Cindy Speaker: I can’t imagine how a company could be unaware of the fact that a company employee died in an explosion at their plant and actually send fire company away.  What does that say about big business and their commitment to safety?

Terry Bryant: It seems like we’re having plant explosions every week now.  There is one last week and now, there is another one this week.  When you live in Houston, you had to be careful and be aware that something like that could happen at any time, be aware that these companies all talk about safety and it’s my believe that that’s al they do.  They just talk about it and the real safety issues are not addressed after these plants, and in the mean time, people are hurt because of the lack of safety in each particular plant.

Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV News.