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.