Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation Benefits

According to a recent news article from AL Live, a worker at a nuclear power plant suffered an on-the-job injury and was exposed to radiation during the accident.

Witnesses say worker was busy conducting an inspection of an area of the nuclear plant known as a dry well in anticipation of shutting down the number 2 reactor to refuel it. This particular dry well contained a depression, which is around 6 feet deep, and worker somehow fell into it. He fell into the hole and hit his forehead, causing a head injury.

Plant officials say it was in the depression where worker was also was exposed to radiation. A spokesperson for the nuclear power plant is saying worker was only exposed to a minor amount of radiation. The reason for the contamination was this dry well was in a layer of the reactor housing, which surrounds the actual Number 2 reactor.
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Hildebrant v. State ex rel., Dep’t of Workforce Servs., a case from the Supreme Court of Wyoming, involved claimant who was injured while working as a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technician.

In August 2011, claimant was employed as an HVAC technician at college located in central Wyoming. He was working on a ladder when he fell approximately 20 feet to the ground and was unable to move. Claimant was able to use his radio to call for help, and an ambulance was called to the scene to offer immediate medical attention to claimant.

While in the emergency room, claimant complained of pain in his back, shoulder and leg. After doctors performed an initial evaluation, they decided to transfer claimant to a larger state hospital with better equipment, so a proper diagnosis could be completed.
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State ex rel. Viking Forge Corp. v. Perry, a workers’ compensation appeal from the Supreme Court of Ohio, involved claimant who was injured while working at an industrial plant. His on-the-job accident resulted in severe injuries to claimant’s thumbs, and a surgeon had to partially amputate his left thumb and repair his right thumb.

Claimant filed for workers’ compensation benefits and was awarded temporary total disability benefits. After time to recover, claimant returned to work at his old position with light restrictions to due his earlier hand injury. Four months after returning to work, his light work restrictions were lifted, and he returned to his full job responsibilities as before the work-related accident.

Two months later, his surgeon determined claimant was no longer in need of treatment and discharged claimant. He referred claimant to an occupational therapy clinic for him to be fit with a prosthetic device and for further physical rehabilitation.

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Appeal of Brandon Kelly, a case from the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, involved claimant who was injured while working for a sheet metal company. His job responsibilities including driving a truck carrying sheet metal products to various job sites and making deliveries to customers.

On the day of the incident, claimant had been driving his truck to a job site when he fell asleep behind the wheel. After falling asleep, his truck hit a utility pole, and claimant was seriously injured. As a result of his serious on-the-job car accident, doctors had to amputate claimant’s leg.

Following amputation of his leg, claimant filed a claim for workers’ compensation with employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company. Employer’s insurance company denied his claim for benefits, and claimant appealed to the state workers’ compensation commission. After a hearing, commissioners determined he was entitled to workers’ compensation benefits and ordered insurance company compensate claimant for his work-related injury.
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Smiley v. Vermont, a workers’ compensation appeal from the Supreme Court of Vermont, involved claimant who injured his left ankle during his employment as a state game warden in January of 1996.

In July of 1996, claimant’s doctor documented it had been six months since claimant had surgery on his ankle, and claimant was back at work without physical limitations, though he did have trouble walking up stairs. Claimant’s doctor also found progress and limitations to be normal given it was only six months following surgery, as it generally takes a full year to recover from this type of ankle injury.

Doctor also noted claimant was offered psychical therapy, but declined. Doctor further expressed his opinion that claimant reached an end of his medical improvement around that time and any disability was likely to be permanent.

During this same time, the state department of labor had created a new rule that required employers or employers’ insurance companies to take necessary steps to determine if an employee has permanent impairment as a result a work-related injury or illness at the time claimant reaches maximum medical improvement (MMI).
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Provo City v. Utah Labor Commission, an appeal from the Utah Supreme Court, involves a claimant who worked for the city as a facility service technician. He was injured in an automobile accident while driving his truck for a work-related purpose. Claimant alleged the accident caused further injury to an existing congenital spine consider. The accident caused claimant to suffer chronic pain and other disabilities, according to his claim for workers’ compensation benefits.

Claimant continued working for city, but after four years, he claimed his pain and other symptoms were no longer manageable and requested reassignment to a job with less physically demanding responsibilities. After city told claimant such a position did not exist, he left his job and filed a claim for permanent total disability (PTD) benefits through employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier.
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Armstrong v. State, an appeal from the Supreme Court of Nebraska, involved claimant who injured herself while working as a staff nurse at a veteran’s hospital. Both claimant and her employer stipulated (formally agreed) she tore a hole in the rotator cuff of her right shoulder to a severity entitling her to compensation for her on-the-job injury.

Her employer paid her temporary total disability (TTD) workers’ compensation benefits from May 2010 to April 2010. At this point, doctors opined she had reached her maximum medical improvement (MMI).

MMI means doctors have done all they can feasibly do to improve a patient’s condition, and there is nothing else worth doing to improve his or her condition. Essentially, a doctor is saying he or she has done everything that could be done, and it’s not worth trying anything else in terms of cost and patient discomfort.
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