Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Central Flying Serv. Inc. v. Circuit Court, an appeal from the Supreme Court of Arkansas, involved claimant who was killed in a plane crash. Claimant was a licensed pilot employed by an airline. He was to fly from Little Rock, Arkansas to Monroe, Louisiana, pick up passengers, and fly them to Beaumont, Texas.

On his flight from Louisiana to Texas, his plane crashed, and claimant and all three passengers were killed. Claimant’s estate filed a wrongful death civil action against employer on grounds he was not trained or certified to fly the particular aircraft he was flying the day of his crash. The aircraft involved in the deadly crash was a Beechcraft “Bonanza” A 36.
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The concept of workers’ compensation benefits is most often associated with work-related injuries. But occupational illness are equally as pervasive and can be just as serious.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates between 26,000 and 72,000 deaths occur annually in the U.S. as the result of occupational diseases. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates approximately 300,000 new work-related illnesses occur annually. These run the gamut, from occupational cancers like mesothelioma to work-related heart disease to negative impacts on reproductive health.

Establishing a link between a worker’s condition and his or her job can be challenging, particularly when there is a period of latency between the exposure to illness-causing agents and development of the disease. But making this connection is critical to ensuring the person affected can obtain workers’ compensation benefits.
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Moreau v. Transp. Ins. Co., a workers’ compensation appeal from Supreme Court of Montana, involved claimant who work at an asbestos mine from 1963 until 1992. Claimant died as a result of asbestos-related lung cancer in 2009. Claimant’s surviving spouse, in her capacity as personal representative of claimant’s estate, filed a claim with employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier for benefits due to an occupational disease. Insurance carrier denied her claim.

In 2012, she filed a claim before the workers’ compensation commission requesting insurance company be found liable for claimant’s medical expenses. The following year, insurance company agreed to liability and entered into a settlement agreement to pay for medical expenses.

Employer paid providers who had already paid for claimant’s medical expenses and also reimbursed his estate for money it spent prior to his death. One provider, which had already paid $95,000, was a fund set up by claimant’s employer (asbestos mine owner) to compensate employees who developed asbestos-related injuries. Both the fund and employer refused to accept any reimbursement from insurance company. Claimant demanded any money declined by employer or fund be given to the estate.
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Schultz v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Bd., a case from the Court of Appeal of the State of California, involved claimant who filed an application for workers’ compensation benefits after being injured in a traffic accident. He was driving his personal vehicle at the time of the crash, which occurred on an Air Force base. He worked for employer in a facility located on base.
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City of Danville v. Tate, a workers’ compensation case from the Supreme Court of Virginia, involved claimant who was employed by the city as a firefighter for 39 years. In March of 2009, claimant suffered a major heart attack and did not return to work. He retired six months after his heart attack.

Prior to becoming ill, claimant had accrued around 6,000 hours of paid sick leave. His employer paid out his sick leave prior to retirement in the amount of approximately $40,000. This sick leave payout was roughly equivalent to his annual salary. He used the balance of his sick leave, as permitted, to earn another year of employment credit with respect to his retirement plan.

However, before he retired, he filed a workers’ compensation claim seeking a rating of two-thirds impairment from the heart attack-related disability. The city first denied his claim, but it accepted liability the following year. He was paid for his six months of disability prior to retirement. The city did not ask to be given an offset credit with respect to money it had already paid out in sick leave.
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Duarte v. CA. State Teachers’ Ret. Sys., a case from the Court of Appeal for California, First Division, involved claimant who was a teacher for the state’s unified school district. He worked as a teacher there from 1993 to 1995. Claimant took personal leave in 1995 that was authorized but unpaid and then took educational leave until 1999. During his leave, claimant worked for one season as a firefighter for the state forestry department. He also completed law school, but, after failing to pass the state bar exam, began working as a paralegal.

In 2003, claimant returned to the school system, and his second day back on the job, two students he refused to let into the classroom due their disruptive behavior assaulted him. His specific claim was that one student injured his shoulder when he pushed claimant into the doorframe to get past him. He also alleged one student continued to the threaten him and told claimant “[he] was going to put a put a cap in his ass.” The other students repeatedly mocked claimant for the remainder of the day, making teaching virtually impossible. Claimant never returned to teach at the school.
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State, ex rel., Dep’t of Workforce Servs. v. Hartmann, a workers’ compensation appeal from the Supreme Court of Wyoming, involved claimant who was injured while driving a 240-ton truck in the course of his employment. A 240-truck is a giant dump truck typically used in conduction with a mining operation to haul material to a processing plant.

While driving, claimant was struck from behind by a shovel bucket of another huge piece of mining equipment. According to court records, the shovel bucket was large enough to hold an automobile. It hit the rack of the dump truck located behind the operator’s cab. Claimant testified the force from the impact caused his entire body to go numb and to nearly knock him unconscious. He was not sure where he was or what he was doing following the collision and was taken to the emergency room.

At the hospital, he complained of neck pain and was diagnosed with cervical spine pain. He was released and cleared to return to work with instructions to return for a follow-up appointment in seven days. This was not the first time a doctor treated claimant for neck pain, as he had previously suffered a C5-6 disc herniation. He was given more medication and told there was a 90 percent chance his condition would improve within a few weeks.
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Paulino v. Chartis Claims, Inc., a case from the Untied States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, involved claimant who suffered a spinal cord injury while working for employer. His work-related accident left him a permanent paraplegic.
Following the accident, employee’s workers compensation insurance company paid the cost of claimant’s medical treatment and rehabilitation services. After a considerable amount of time at the rehabilitation center, claimant was transferred to another post-operative care center, where he learned how provide himself with basic care and was supposed to be transferred to a permanent assisted living facility.

Employer’s insurance company was unable to find a center he could afford on the less than $400 he was receiving in workers’ compensation benefits they were paying him. He was also unable to seek federal disability assistance under the Social Security Administration (SSA) due to his status as an undocumented worker from Mexico. Even without an assisted living facility, he was in need of wheelchair accessible housing, with appropriate accommodations, and access to public transportation. Employer’s insurance company case manager tried to assist him with finding suitable housing but was again unable to help him.
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State ex rel. Varney v. Indus. Comm’n, a case from the Supreme Court of Ohio, involved a claimant who was lost four fingers on his left hand in a workplace accident. This industrial accident occurred in 1983. Following the accident, three of the fingers were reattached completely and the forth was partially reattached. The fingers however, never regained their full functionality following reattachment.

The state workers’ compensation bureau awarded claimant benefits for the amputation of his four fingers after the accident, allowed a further claim for a one-third disability in his index finger in 1985, and another claim in 1990 for two-thirds loss of his other three fingers.
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