Teen hurt in work-related crash settles for $3.85M

A teen who was permanently and totally disabled in a car wreck while working for his family’s business has settled a workers’ compensation claim for $3.85 million, his attorney reports.

Matthew Sullivan of White and Allen in Kinston represented the teen, whose name was withheld in order to protect his privacy and that of his family. Sullivan said the teen had worked sporadically for the family business the previous summer and he had just returned to work the day that the crash occurred.

While Sullivan was initially retained to work on a third-party liability claim, the family sought his advice when the workers’ compensation carrier, Auto-Owners Insurance Company, denied claims for medical treatment.

The family eventually brought suit over issues concerning the lack of payment for medical treatment, including past and future attendant care, and wage indemnity. Those issues were highly contested throughout the case but resolved at mediation, Sullivan said.

“One of the more intriguing issues was the dispute regarding the wage indemnity and the application of N.C.G.S. 97-2(5) for minor employees,” Sullivan said, referring to “minor” in the sense of being under 18, not being unimportant. While Auto-Owners calculated the teen’s wages based on the prior 52 weeks before the work-related injury, the teen argued that because of his permanent disability, this was a mistake.

The law requires that a permanently disabled minor’s compensation should be calculated “up to the average weekly wage paid to adult employees employed by the same employer at the time of the accident in a similar or like class of work which the injured minor employee would probably have been promoted to if not injured or, second, upon a wage sufficient to yield the maximum weekly compensation benefit,” Sullivan said.

The same statute explains that compensation can be increased in proportion to an employee’s expected earnings when the disability extends more than 52 weeks, Sullivan said.

Because there was evidence suggesting the teen should have been considered permanently and totally disabled from the time of the wreck, Sullivan said the computation method should have been adjusted accordingly. But because the case was resolved at mediation, the issue of how to calculate wage indemnity for a permanently disabled minor will remain unlitigated.

“I spoke to several lawyers who specialize in workers’ compensation regarding this issue and the application of 97-2(5) to this case, and not one of these lawyers had seen or dealt with this particular issue previously,” Sullivan said. “While it would have been interesting to get a ruling on this question and the application of the statute as to minors in cases like this one, the case ultimately resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.”

Kara Glidewell of McAngus Goudelock & Courie represented Auto-Owners Insurance Company in the case. She did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Follow Matt Chaney on Twitter @NCLWChaney

SETTLEMENT — WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Amount: $3.85 million

Injuries alleged: Permanent and total disability including brain trauma

Case name: Confidential

Case number: Confidential

Court: Lenoir County Superior Court

Mediator: Terry Kilbride of Kilbride Mediation in Raleigh

Date of settlement: April 15, 2019

Most helpful experts: Ashley Johnson of Vargas Vocational Consulting in Belmont (rehabilitation and life care planning expert); J.C. Poindexter, professor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh (economics expert)

Insurance Carrier: Auto-Owners Insurance Company

Attorney for plaintiff: Matthew Sullivan of White and Allen in Kinston

Attorney for defendant: Kara Glidewell of McAngus Goudelock & Courie in Charlotte