Legal Question in Workers Comp in New York

Re: I was injured at work. Working under a temp agency. Receiving Workers Comp.

Injuries to legs typically result in a schedule loss of use award which means they examine the loss of range of motion and come up with a "percentage schedule loss of use". For a leg the maximum (100% or amputation is 288 weeks). So hypothetically if you had a 10% SLU it would be .1 x 288 = 28.8 weeks of benefits. If you were paid more than 28 weeks already, you would get nothing to live on. IF you were paid less, you would get the balance and that is all you would get. Pretty unfair if you are permanently disabled from your past work. There are ways to get benefits beyond this but they are the exception, not the rule. One way is if your loss is greater than 50% to the leg. Another way is if your leg is too unstable to come up with a per centage of loss. Other than that, there is a possibility of a 3rd party law suit if your injury was caused by the negligence of a "third party" i.e., someone other than your employer or co-employee. This is tricky when you are a temp because you may be considered "independent" of the hiring employer or you may be considered a borrowed or loaned employee meaning you cannot sue for your damages at all. There is usually a 3 year statute of limitations that will prevent you from suing at all if a lawsuit is not filed by then. Since you indicate the case is 4 years old, you are probably beyond that time period.