A decision recently handed down by the North Carolina Court of Appeals found an employer responsible for paying benefits to an employee who suffered from a serious health condition, in combination with a work-related injury, after she had returned to work doing a modified job. In workers’ compensation cases, a company may offer an injured employee […]
Work Injury
The rights of injured workers are at risk: CJG calls on you to act now
New legislation has been proposed that would dramatically change North Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation Laws, stripping workers of the legal protection they require when injured on the job. The new bill seriously limits the workers’ access to medical care and changes the protections workers have when they are looking for work. Injured workers would have to […]
Court upholds ruling that employers must provide disabled employees new roles
The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from an airline about what accommodations it must make for employees no longer able to perform their current jobs because of a disability. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued United Airlines for failing to make reasonable accommodations for injured workers who were unable to perform […]
Workers’ comp settlement deemed unjust by Court of Appeals
The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled last Tuesday that an injured worker and his employer cannot independently agree on a settlement if the North Carolina Industrial Commission has gotten involved in the claim, according to the Triangle Business Journal. Danny Allred was injured in a motor vehicle accident while he was employee of Exceptional […]
Investigation shows preventable deaths in grain industry, OSHA oversight weak
National Public Radio and The Center for Public Integrity have been reporting this week on the results of an investigation into needless deaths from suffocation in grain storage bins. Nearly 500 farmers and workers have died in these bins in the last 40 years. The worst year on record was just recently, in 2010. The story is […]
Court of Appeals says that employer had notice of injury, cannot direct medical care
Today, a three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals held that an employee of Bank of America did not need to give written notice of his injury, where he was hit by a car while driving at work. The employee called his employer from the car, and several co-workers went to help him, […]
Court of Appeals decides two new workers’ compensation cases
On August 2, 2011, the NC Court of Appeals decided the case of Capps v. Southeastern Cable, in which it held that an installer of cable TV and internet services was an employee, and not an independent contractor. The Court based its decision on the conditions of the employment, and gave no weight to the […]
Win in Court of Appeals: Campbell v. National Pipe and Plastics
Although the employer and insurance company refused to pay for time out of work following an admitted workers’ compensation injury, the North Carolina Court of Appeals found that defendants were liable in Campbell v. National Pipe and Plastics. The Court awarded benefits for Ms. Campbell’s time out of work and for treatment for depression caused by the pain and inability to work from the […]
NC Supreme Court denies review in Taylor v. Town of Garner; win for plaintiff
The North Carolina Supreme Court denied the defendants’ petition for discretionary review (PDR) in Taylor v. Town of Garner. The Court of Appeals decided earlier this year that Officer Taylor is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits from the Town of Garner for the injury he suffered while working as a mounter officer at an N.C. […]
NC Court of Appeals rejects another Woodson claim
Earlier this month, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued an opinion concerning the viability of plaintiff’s Woodson claim — a wrongful death tort action based on an injury sustained at work. In Valenzuela v. Pallet Express Inc., the Court once again rejected a Woodson in what seemed to be an egregious case. Typically, plaintiffs injured […]