Debra* walked into our office with a pile of papers. She wanted every penny that she was owed from her workers’ compensation carrier, and she intends to get it. We combed over the information and asked her what checks she had been receiving since she went out of work for her knee injury four months ago. […]
Workers' Compensation
Valerie Johnson co-chair of WILG Convention
The Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group convened for its 19th Annual Convention on October 27-29, 2014. Co-chairing the event were Valerie Johnson and Michael Gruber of New York. The Convention focuses on workers’ compensation and safety laws around the country. Among the topics presented were The Affordable Care Act and workers’ compensation, the attacks on […]
Injured law enforcement officers lose benefit
We depend on state law enforcement officers to keep the rest of us safe — from running our prisons to enforcing alcohol laws. When they suffer injuries, these men and women have been able to receive their salary instead of workers’ compensation while they healed. But now many state law enforcement officers will NOT receive […]
Workers’ comp and Medicare
A new client, Ralph, came to talk with us about settling his workers’ comp claim. He wasn’t sure that he needed a lawyer, but since his friend urged him to call Johnson & Groninger, he figured that it couldn’t hurt. A workers’ comp consultation is free. He met with Valerie Johnson to talk about his […]
Valerie Johnson presents at NC Industrial Commission Conference
The North Carolina Industrial Commission (NCIC) Annual Educational Conference is now taking place in Raleigh. The three-day conference is taking place through Friday, October 9 at the Raleigh Convention Center. The conference covers every aspect of North Carolina workers’ compensation law. Valerie Johnson presented on Wednesday, October 8, concerning the newest Industrial Commission Rules, along […]
How not to lose your workers’ comp claim
If workers’ comp were an animal, it might be a liger, a cross between a lion and a tiger. That’s because workers’ comp claims are a crossbreed — the same as filing a lawsuit, but the courts, judges and rules are different. (Judges are called deputy commissioners and the court is called the Industrial Commission.) […]
Natural gas workers are inhaling hazardous chemical benzene
Now that North Carolina is poised to start hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in order to drill for natural gas, we are concerned about the possible health effects on workers in the gas industry. Researchers for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently finished a study of workers at six oil and gas sites […]
New edition of North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law Guidebook
The second edition of North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law: A Practical Guide to Success at Every Stage of a Claim, co-edited by Valerie Johnson, was released by LexisNexis on July 24. The comprehensive guide to workers’ compensation law provides guidance for the North Carolina lawyer who wants to stay on top of the many recent changes […]
Workers’ Comp 101 class at Labor School
Valerie Johnson taught Workers’ Comp 101 to more than 70 union presidents, stewards and members in Wilmington at UNC-W on July 24. The North Carolina AFL-CIO’s yearly Labor School covers a variety of subjects important to working people. Students learned the nuts and bolts: how and when to report injuries, the meaning of “injury by […]
Court says former employer has to pay workers’ compensation benefits while employee looks for a different job
If you were injured on the job and it took years for you to heal from your injury, would it then be too late to ask your former employer to give you retraining for something different, or help you look for a job? The Court of Appeals recently ruled that where an injured worker provides […]