Asheville Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Understanding Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Workers’ compensation benefits are designed to provide injured workers with relatively quick payouts and coverage for medical bills and a portion of their lost wages. Workers’ compensation may also pay for vocational rehabilitation and retraining in certain instances.

Medical Bills

Injured workers in North Carolina are entitled to seek coverage for all of the reasonable medical treatment necessary for their injuries. This includes:

• Medical transportation costs
• Medical procedures
• Hospital stays
• Surgeries
• Medication.

Workers’ comp also covers any medical equipment or devices a worker might need, such as wheelchairs and crutches.

Wage Replacement

Wage replacement benefits are available for employees who are unable to earn their pre-accident wage due to a workplace injury. Workers who qualify get 66.66% of their average weekly wage up to a certain amount, which is adjusted annually.

Workers receive this weekly benefit after seven days of being out of work and can potentially receive the payments for up to 500 weeks or more, depending on the category of disability. If a worker ends up missing more than 21 days of work, they will be paid for the first seven days of being out of work.

Generally speaking, an injured worker is one of the following:

• Temporarily, Partially Disabled: Modified work, expected to return to full duty
• Temporarily, Totally Disabled: Zero work, expected to return to full duty
• Permanently, Partially Disabled: Modified work, with no return to full duty
• Permanently, Totally Disabled: Zero work, with no return to full duty.

When determining benefits and disability levels, doctors and case workers use a detailed rating system with formulas for calculating the duration of injuries and their corresponding benefits.

Vocational Rehab and Retraining

Vocational rehab is intended to get injured workers back into the workplace doing suitable jobs. Certified professionals work with injured workers to determine their suitability for other work and for programs that can train them to learn other job skills.

When working with an injured worker, the certified professional will:

• Assess an injured worker’s skills and qualifications
• Assess an injured worker’s current obstacles to returning to work
• Arrange for classes, courses, and training to help with a worker’s job prospects
• Search for and identify potential job opportunities.

To be eligible for vocational rehab, a worker must not have returned to work or must be making less than 75% of their pre-injury wage if they have returned to work.

Beyond Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation is meant to be the exclusive remedy for injured workers — in most cases. There are certain cases where an injured worker can seek compensation from a source other than workers’ compensation insurance. Workers’ compensation serves to cover on-the-job accidents caused by the negligence and carelessness of employees or the employer. However, when a work injury occurs because of someone else besides the employer or the employee (a third party), the injured worker can initiate action against the third party by way of a compensation claim or a lawsuit.

Third parties who may be liable for a work accident might include:

• Employees of other companies
• Customers or clients
• Criminals
• Property owners
• Product manufacturers.

The advantage of filing a third-party lawsuit is that it allows injured workers to seek full damages for their losses, whereas workers’ compensation does not. Workers’ compensation only allows for 66.66% of wage replacement, but a third-party lawsuit allows for 100% recoupment of wages.

A third-party lawsuit also permits the claimant to seek non-economic damages, none of which are available through workers’ compensation. Compensable non-economic damages in North Carolina include:

• Pain and suffering
• Loss of consortium
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Mental anguish.

If you are injured on the job, you will likely have access to workers’ compensation. But keep in mind that you may have a claim against a third party. Contact our office for a case review to learn whether you are leaving potential compensation on the table.

How Our Asheville Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Can Help

Giving You Time to Heal

After a work injury, workers need time to recover and adjust. They also need money coming in as soon as possible. But handling a workers’ compensation claim is often stressful and can put an overwhelming burden on an injured worker. That is where attorney Lakota Denton and his team come in.

Attorney Denton and his team handle every aspect of your claim, so you get the peace and time you need to recuperate. While you get better, Mr. Denton will be tending to all of the tasks important to your claim, including:

• Investigating your accident
• Properly calculating your benefits
• Managing and filing all claims-related paperwork
• Consulting with accident-reconstruction and medical experts
• Arranging medical examinations when necessary
• Negotiating with insurance companies for a benefits settlement
• Identifying other potential sources of compensation, such as negligent third parties.

Don’t take on the workers’ compensation system alone. You deserve to access the full array of benefits available to you. Contact Lakota Denton to get what you deserve. Call 828-333-5996 for a free consultation today.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can contact our office anytime to get answers to your workers’ compensation questions. Here are some of the questions we receive most frequently from clients.

Can I afford an Asheville workers’ compensation attorney?

Yes. When you hire an Asheville workers’ compensation attorney, you pay nothing up front and only pay at the end if your attorney is successful. If your workers’ compensation lawyer in Asheville recovers zero in compensation, you owe nothing.

Do I need an Asheville workers’ compensation lawyer?

Yes. If you have been injured on the job and are interested in getting maximum compensation, you should hire an Asheville workers’ compensation lawyer to represent you. With an Asheville workers’ compensation attorney handling your case, you are likely to get more compensation than an injured worker without a workers’ compensation lawyer in Asheville.

Can I sue my employer for a workplace injury?

In most cases, employees are barred from suing their employers for a workplace injury. However, there are exceptions. One exception is when the injury is caused by an employer’s intentional act. For instance, if an employer strikes an employee and causes them to fall down a flight of stairs, the employee could sue the employer. An employee could also sue an employer if the employer engages in acts that are substantially certain to lead to the injury or death of a worker.

How long will my workers’ compensation claim take?

It depends on your case. Without any complications or issues, your case could be resolved within a few weeks to a few months. That said, a workers’ comp case will take longer if the sides cannot agree upon a proper settlement figure.

What happens if my claim is denied?

Denied workers’ comp claims are not uncommon and occur for many reasons, including:

• Missed filing deadlines
• Incorrectly filled-out forms
• Lack of medical evidence
• Bad faith

If your claim is denied, your workers’ compensation lawyer in Asheville can help you with an appeal. And if the insurance company was behaving in bad faith, your Asheville workers’ compensation lawyer can help you seek damages in a claim against the insurance company.

What can I do if my boss retaliates?

It is illegal for an employer or manager to retaliate against an injured worker for filing a workers’ comp claim. Unfortunately, employer retaliation is still common and destructive. If you are a victim of retaliation, you can file a complaint under the North Carolina Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act with the Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Bureau.

For more information regarding workers’ compensation and benefits, do not hesitate to call us anytime to speak with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Asheville.

Consult with an Asheville Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Today

Take the Next Step Toward the Benefits You Deserve

Injured workers deserve access to workers’ compensation benefits if they have been hurt while on the job. Yet insurance companies frequently make it difficult and sometimes impossible for injured workers to get the full amount of benefits they are entitled to.

If you have been harmed on the job, don’t go through the workers’ compensation process alone. Reach out to a workers’ compensation lawyer in Asheville who is ready to fight for you. Call 828-333-5996 for a free consultation and case review today.