Legal Question in Workers Comp in California
Workmen's Comp Claim
My adult son (28) was injured at
work 7/05 (he is a finish carpenter).
He received a 6 inch cut across his
face (from his nose to the side of his
face) when a grinding tool kicked
back into his face. The laceration
was repaired by a plastic surgeon
that day. (We do have photos of his
injury). He obviously has a scar. He
also has some numbness on his
nose. He missed 3 weeks of work
(per the doctor's request). He went
to an attorney over a year ago. He
has been contacting the attorney
every few weeks to months regarding
the status. First he was promised he
would receive his 3 weeks lost wages
immediately, separate from a
settlement for his injury. He has not
received anything to date. Last
Friday he received a call from the
attorney's assistant stating that the
insurance company offered him
$9000 (for both the lost wages and
the injury). This seems very low. A
general contractor we know told us,
based on his past experience, that a
facial disfigurement should be must
higher. We would appreciate
anyone's opinion.
Thank you!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Workmen's Comp Claim
You do not state it, but I assume he was working for a contractor who had a contract to do some work for a third party. In that situation, your son has two different remedies.
For the Workers' Comp. case, by law they must pay the three weeks lost wages [should have been done within 2 weeks of reporting injury]up to a certain maximum amount based upon his wages. They must also pay for all medical treatment necessary to cure or relieve from the effects of the injury. And he is entitled to permanent disability payments, but those will be fairly low in amount because a scar does not prevent his working [[might be only 1-2% PD]. That case should have been resolved a long time ago. Not knowing the cost of the medical treatment, I have no idea if the $9,000 offer is from the WC carrier or not.
He may or may not have a civil suit against the maker of the equipment or the owner of the premises where he was working. You do not present enough information as to how the accident occurred for me to know the answer to that. He can not sue his employer unless the contractor had no WC coverage.
He should make an appointment for wlithin the next few weeks with the attorney and demand that he tell him what he has done, glive him a copy of all the pleadings lin the case, expalin the bails of the $9,000 offer and find out what his demand was, etc. If the attorney will not provide that basic information, fire them right then, demand a copy of your entire file, and find a new attorney [one for the WCAB case and one for the product liability matter]. Getting a anew attorney for the civil case should not result in any increase in attorney fees.
Good luck.
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