Legal Question in Workers Comp in North Carolina
I work in a tire shop in NC. While changing a very heavy tire on a pickup truck, I ruptured my biceps tendon and tore tendons in my shoulder. I went to an orthopedist the next day, and he ordered an MRI. Now the insurance company has denied my workers comp claim, stating it wasn't an accident, I was just doing my normal duties when it happened, so it isn't covered by workers comp, and now I have to pay for the MRI and doctor. How can that be true? I've done this work for 35 years and never ruptured a tendon. Why doesn't it qualify as a job injury? Why doesn't it qualify as cumulative stress?
1 Answer from Attorneys
NC is conservative in the kinds of injuries it allows to be covered under the WC Act. I suggest you contact your local House & Senate representatives and tell them how crazy your situation is being handled. I also suggest you speak with your treating orthopaedist to see if he or she is willing to testify, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, that 1) your job duties, over a period of time, significantly contributed to the development of your condition, and 2) that your job as a tire changer put you at increased risk of contracting this condition compared to members of the general public not similarly exposed. If he answers in the positive to both questions, you can pursure the claim as an occupational disease at the NC Industrial Commission. Get a Bulletin, Form 33 and Form 18. You can link to their website from our Links page at ncworkcomp.com. Good luck, and
Best regards,
S. Neal Camak
Lennon & Camak, PLLC
Raleigh, NC
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