On a matter of first impression, the court construes the “extended benefits” available under G.S. § 97-29(c), i.e., temporary total disability benefits past the usual 500 weeks, to be available under the same terms as temporary total disability benefits; however, ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation

Even though plaintiff had chronic medical conditions – hypertension, diabetes and obesity – which, if left uncontrolled, could cause a syncopal episode, plaintiff was not feeling sick or nauseated on the day of his fall at work until he mixed ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation

While plaintiff’s surgeon said he would expect to see the same degenerative conditions in anyone’s 58-year-old shoulder regardless of occupation, this does not undercut his expert opinion that plaintiff was “at a little bit greater risk because of her job” ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation

Plaintiff argued that opioid medications should continue to be prescribed and paid for by defendants. Defendants raised the issue of whether some prescriptions were related to plaintiff’s compensable work-related injury. However, neither party raised the issue of treatment for opioid ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation

An announced NASCAR rule change and defendant’s ranking of its crew members had caused plaintiff to lose his tire-carrier position before he was injured, and, once the rule went into effect, plaintiff and other employees who had held the eliminated ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation

  A 20-year-old who was injured while he was working on a roadway maintenance crew has settled his workers’ compensation claim for $1.35 million, his attorney reports.   Ben Whitley of Whitley Law Firm in Raleigh reports that his client, who works for a company based in North ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation

  A former truck driver who was injured in a work-related accident will receive $2.37 million after he settled a lawsuit against his former employer and its insurance company, his attorneys report. Michael Greer and John Hensley of Hensley Cloninger ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation

  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 ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation

  Editor’s note: This settlement report was submitted to us in January 2017, but was never published due to an editorial oversight. It should have been included in our Top Verdicts & Settlements list for 2017 but wasn’t. Lawyers Weekly ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation

  Superior court judges have the discretion to consider additional evidence when deciding whether to award additional attorney fees involving workers’ compensation claims and home health care aides, the North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled. The decision overturns a 2016 ...

Tagged with: Workers Compensation