Tag Archives: denial of benefits

Workers’ Compensation Basics: Trials

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judgeIf your workers’ compensation claim has been denied or if there are any disputes involving your workers’ compensation claim, your lawyer may file a Petition with the Workers’ Compensation Court. This Petition is a lawsuit against your employer and the workers’ compensation insurance carrier, seeking benefits to which you are entitled but are not properly being paid.

Once a Petition has been filed, the case will be assigned to one of the seven workers’ compensation judges in Nebraska. Then, the case will eventually be given a trial date; this date is usually less than a year after the petition is filed (nine months is a good estimate).

The trial will then be held in the county where the accident occurred. If the accident occurred out of state, then the trial will be held in Lincoln. However, the parties may agree to have the trial anywhere within the state if another location is more convenient for those involved. In situations where it may be difficult for a witness or party to attend trial in person, the parties may agree to conduct the trial via videoconference with the judge.

When it comes time for trial, the judge assigned to the case will hear all of the evidence (including the testimony from all witnesses). The trial usually takes about a half day or sometimes a whole day, depending on the number of witnesses. Rarely do workers’ compensation trials go beyond one day. After the trial has concluded, the judge will issue a decision in approximately one to six months. At times, however, issuing the decision can take even longer than six months on more complicated cases. The decision will be either an Order of Dismissal of the case or an Award of Benefits for the case. In either instance, any issues that were presented at trial will have been addressed by the Court in the decision, which is a final order. Although the decision is final, either party may choose to appeal the decision to the Nebraska Court of Appeals and/or eventually to the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Today’s blog post is a part of a continuing series that explores the basics of workers’ compensation. Please read the previous blog posts in the series by clicking on these links, and be sure to consult an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer with questions:

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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Hurt at Work? Here’s Your Eviction/Foreclosure Notice

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For too many of our clients, an injury at work means certain financial distress. Even for clients whose benefits are paid in a timely manner, there are certain built-in time frames when they will receive no benefits or benefits at a much lower rate than a full paycheck (sometimes as little as 5 or 10 percent of a typical paycheck).  

In Nebraska, temporary benefits are paid only until maximum medical improvement is reached. We try to have a report waiting for the doctor when it appears as if he may conclude an injured worker is at that point. However, due to the workload of the doctors and sometimes the need for a Functional Capacity Evaluation, a worker can go months without any benefits coming in before the receipt of the report. There is no interim benefit payable to get a worker and his or her family by until permanent benefits are paid.  

This situation is made worse when a claim is denied. In that situation, a worker may find herself unable to work for several reasons. First, an employer may not think it’s their responsibility to accommodate work restrictions for a non-work-related injury. This may also ultimately result in a worker being fired for missing too much work. Second, a doctor may not allow the worker to work due to the severity of the injury. Typically an employer will refuse to pay temporary benefits since the claim was denied.  

Most families in this country live paycheck to paycheck or with only a month or two of built-up savings.

“Forty-four percent of Americans are either in debt, have no savings at all, or have only enough savings to tide them over for up to three months if they lose their jobs, according to an Assets and Opportunity report last year,” according to this article on the Fiscal Times website

Too often in this country, families of injured workers are being evicted or losing their homes due to gaps in the compensation system for work injuries.  “In reality, the costs of workplace injury and illness are borne primarily by injured workers, their families, and taxpayer-supported safety-net programs. … Workers’ compensation payments cover only a small fraction (about 21 percent) of lost wages and medical costs of work injuries and illnesses; workers, their families and their private health insurance pay for nearly 63 percent of these costs, with taxpayers shouldering the remaining 16 percent,” according to a recent OSHA report titled Adding Inequality to Injury: The Costs of Failing to Protect Workers on the Job

Legislatures should endeavor to create a payment system to alleviate the built-in financial woes for even compensable injuries.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

This entry was posted in Government, Legislation, Workers' Compensation and tagged , , , , , .