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Charlotte Workers Compensation Lawyer

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Charlotte Workers Compensation Attorney

Advocating For Those Who Have Been Injured At Work in Charlotte & Throughout NC

When you deal with unsafe work conditions, injuries are not uncommon. The Sumwalt Group works with clients throughout North Carolina who have been hurt at work. We can help you understand your rights throughout a workers’ compensation claim and fight for the benefits the law promises you. A Charlotte workers’ compensation lawyer is an important resource for anyone who has suffered an injury on the job.

Filing a claim for workers’ compensation benefits may at first appear to be similar to what you would face when filing any other type of insurance claim. However, you face additional layers of complexity due to your employer’s role in the claim filing process, the limitations applied to the benefits you could receive, and the requirements for filing a workers’ compensation claim. The rules for navigating the workers’ compensation system are complex and often not common sense. Our firm can assist you with every step of this process to help you get the benefits you deserve.

Over 50 Years of Total Experience In The Legal System

Workers’ compensation claims are never easy. Corporations and insurance companies have lawyers at their fingertips and on call that look for ways to save them money. At The Sumwalt Group, we believe the right to work and to earn an honest living is what makes us Americans.  It makes us who we are. Our practice is focused on helping injured workers navigate the workers’ compensation claim filing process, file their claims efficiently, and secure fair benefit determinations.

When a machine breaks at work, companies either fix it or replace it. When injuries break people at work, our workers’ compensation law requires employers to compensate them fairly so they can get back to work or, if not, reach the next step in their lives so they can move forward. Workers’ compensation exists as a safeguard for both employees and employers when injuries happen in the workplace.

Why You Need a Charlotte Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Charlotte is one of the largest cities in the Carolinas and centrally located to all locations throughout North Carolina.  An experienced Charlotte workers’ compensation lawyer can help you understand every step of the claim filing process, resolve unexpected complications that arise with your employer and/or their insurance carrier, and ultimately guide you toward recovering the benefits you need. They can also assist with additional avenues of legal recourse that might be available to you after an injury at work, further enhancing your total recovery.

For over 50 combined years, we have helped workers and other injured people through their uncertainty. We will evaluate your case, make a mutual decision on whether it is one we can help in, and gather the evidence needed to make the best case for you. We have experience in the following areas:

  • Third-party claims, where someone other than your employer caused your injury at work. You may not only have grounds to seek workers’ compensation benefits, but you may also be able to file a third-party personal injury suit against whoever caused your injury.
  • Construction and Industrial injuries, for those injured in the organized chaos of construction worksites and industrial settings. These are some of the most dangerous workplaces, and the risk of severe injury is quite high. If you have been injured in these lines of work, you need an attorney who understands the workplace risks in these fields and who knows how to help you secure the benefits you deserve.
  • Burn injuries, where recovery is long, painful, and critical when it comes to having the right medical care in place.
  • Shoulder and back injuries, causing tremendous stress in your everyday life. Whether such an injury resulted from a specific traumatic accident or you have acquired an injury over time, we can help you prove that it is work-related so you can secure the benefits needed to address it as completely as possible.
  • Amputations, for those with life-changing injuries who now face not only the high costs of initial medical care leading to the first prosthetic, but the lifetime costs of prosthetic replacements and advanced technology in limb replacement.
  • Knee injuries, and injuries to other joints like your shoulders, elbows, and ankles. Injuries to the joints can be incredibly debilitating and often require long recovery times. Victims often require not only immediate emergency care but also extensive ongoing rehabilitative treatment. Some can eventually return to work, while others may be permanently disabled or forced to look for different types of work.
  • Repetitive stress injuries caused by the wear and tear from work on your body. These are some of the most commonly reported workplace injuries in North Carolina, and it may seem difficult at first to prove how such an injury is work-related. With our help, we can help you show that your repetitive stress injury is the direct result of your job duties and assist you in securing the benefits you deserve.
  • Severe Brain Injuries, where the life and personality changes are catastrophic and interrupting to both work and family, not to mention the intense medical needs during the few years after the injury.
  • Acquired illnesses. Many people work with or near substances that can cause severe illness. This may happen very quickly, but it is also possible for serious illnesses like cancer to develop gradually over time in a work environment. Our firm can help you prove your illness is work-related and assist you in securing workers’ compensation benefits.

These are only a few examples of the types of workers’ compensation cases our firm has represented on behalf of Charlotte area clients. Our first goal is getting you back to work to provide for yourself and your family. We understand your bills don’t stop when your paychecks have. Our attorneys can take care of your legal issues so you can focus on your recovery. No matter if your claim is admitted, under investigation, or denied.

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Vernon Sumwalt

Free Consultation Today 704-565-0621

Understanding Workers’ Compensation Eligibility in North Carolina

In North Carolina, almost every employer with more than 3 employees has to have workers’ compensation insurance, and virtually every employee is covered. Certain workers in specific fields are exempt from workers’ compensation coverage, such as federal employees, and employers are not required to extend coverage to any independent contractors they hire. We can help you verify your employment status to make sure you qualify for workers’ compensation coverage.

Workers’ compensation serves two primary purposes in North Carolina. First, it provides protection to the employer from liability for civil damages when an employee is hurt on the job. As long as the employer has required insurance coverage and handles employee claims in good faith, they cannot be held liable for civil damages after an employee is hurt at work. Second, this insurance provides financial relief to injured workers along with a measure of job security.

As long as your injury occurred while you were performing your job duties in good faith, or you acquired an illness directly from your work environment conditions, you likely qualify for workers’ compensation benefits through your employer. However, there are some possible exceptions. For example, if you caused your own injury because you were intoxicated at work, it would disqualify you from claiming workers’ compensation benefits.  North Carolina also has a unique rule that disqualifies some injuries that happen from your normal work routine as being “accidents.”

If you have any concerns about your employment status or believe your employer has intentionally misclassified your employment status to avoid covering you with workers’ compensation insurance, you need to consult a Charlotte workers’ compensation lawyer right away. Legal counsel can also assist you if you have any concerns about whether you still qualify for workers’ compensation benefits even if you feel you have contributed to your own injury or should have been safer.

It is important to remember that workers’ compensation functions on a no-fault basis. This means that you do not necessarily need to prove your injury was the fault of another party, but if this applies to your case you may have additional avenues of recovery available to you. It’s possible to recover compensation for an injury that you caused yourself as long as it occurred because of an honest mistake or simple negligence while you were working in good faith.

Filing Your North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Claim through a Lawyer in Charlotte, NC

The workers’ compensation claim filing process begins when you notify your employer about your injury. To qualify to file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, the injured employee must report their injury to their employer within 30 days unless your employer has actual knowledge of it; otherwise, the employer might have the right to refuse to honor the claim unless the Industrial Commission decides otherwise. Additionally, the claim must be filed with the insurance company no later than two years following the date the injury occurred or after the last payment of medical treatment by an employer or insurance company.

The victim claiming workers’ compensation benefits must prove that the injury or illness occurred through the scope of them performing their job duties and that it is severe enough to not only require medical treatment but also prevent them from working for an extended period of time. The employer must provide the injured worker with the forms needed to file their claim. If your employer has not done so, we can provide those to you or, if we accept representation in your claim, file the forms ourselves.

Understanding Disability Ratings and Functional Capacity Evaluations

Before an insurance carrier will process a workers’ compensation injury claim and award benefits to the claimant, they will typically require the claimant to undergo a medical evaluation from a workers’ compensation physician in the area that the insurance company has approved. An injured worker can see any doctor in an emergency but seeing an approved workers’ compensation physician is usually a necessary step in their claim filing process.

When you visit a workers’ compensation physician, their job is to get you medically fit to return to work.  At the end of treatment, this usually involves a functional capacity evaluation, which is a test to determine what restrictions you have on a permanent or long-term basis that might affect your capacity to return to work. Doctors will then assign you a disability rating, which is a numerical or “percentage based” indicator of the severity of your injury, at least in terms of the medical damage caused by the injury.  In North Carolina, you can still recover money for this medical damage, even if you are able to return to your former job earning what you earned before the injury happened.

You may disagree with the workers’ compensation physician’s assessment, and if so, your attorney can help you obtain a second opinion, if the other side agrees to authorize it or the Industrial Commission approves it. Once you have been accurately evaluated and have received your disability rating, you have a right to a second opinion on the percentage given by your doctor, and your Charlotte workers’ compensation lawyer can guide you through the remaining steps of negotiating a recovery based on these evaluations. A lawyer will also be prepared to assist you if you encounter any unexpected complications with your claim and need to reopen it within two years of the last payment of compensation.

Disability ratings might not be your best option if a functional capacity evaluation shows permanent restrictions that frustrate your ability to return to work or find other work.  Knowing how to figure out your best options is something a Charlotte workers’ compensation lawyer can help you with.

How Are Workers’ Compensation Benefits Awarded using a Lawyer in Charlotte, NC?

The goal of workers’ compensation benefits is to help the victim of a workplace injury manage the cost of the medical care they need to heal and, if possible, assist them in rehabilitating so they are able to return to work. A successful workers’ compensation claim in Charlotte can yield two types of benefits: medical expense coverage and disability benefits. Your Charlotte workers’ compensation lawyer can help you maximize your benefits.

When it comes to medical expense coverage, if your claim is approved, you can generally expect your employer’s insurance carrier to cover the cost of all of the medical care you need to recover as much as possible. This includes immediate emergency treatment after an acute traumatic injury at work, as well as ongoing rehabilitative care when your injury requires multiple surgeries, rehabilitative care, or extended therapeutic treatment regimens.

If you have any concerns about medical billing or if your employer’s insurance carrier refuses to pay for specific types of treatment, your workers’ compensation attorney centrally located in Charlotte, North Carolina, will know how to help with your options. They can assist you in resolving any conflicts that arise regarding medical expense coverage, ensuring that your employer’s insurance carrier pays for all of the medical care you require per the terms of their workers’ compensation insurance policy, when there is a benefit to doing this.

When it comes to disability benefits, these are more variable and determined on a case-by-case basis. Medical restrictions—for example, from a functional capacity evaluation—and the disability ratings assigned for an injury are two of the main factors that go into how much an employer or insurance company has to pay in workers’ compensation benefits. The amount you receive and the length of time you can continue receiving these benefits hinges on multiple variables.

Calculating Workers’ Compensation Disability Benefits with a Lawyer in Charlotte, NC

When a workplace injury or illness prevents the victim from working, workers’ compensation insurance can provide disability benefits that help to offset a diminished earning capacity. These benefits are paid at varying rates based on the worker’s disability rating, their usual weekly income, and how long it will likely take for them to recover enough to return to work. Disability benefits can also be paid in partial or total designations. Our Charlotte workers’ compensation lawyers can verify if these calculations are correct.

Partial disability benefits apply when the worker is still able to work after an injury but cannot earn their usual level of income. They may be assigned to light duty, reduced work hours, or alternative work in a lower-paying position while they recover. During this time, they will need to report weekly income to the insurance carrier, and their partial disability benefit payments can make up the difference between their earnings and their usual weekly pay.

Total disability benefits are paid to a worker when they are completely unable to work due to their injury. The rate of pay will generally be about two-thirds of their average weekly pay before an injury, and the maximum benefit payment amount is adjusted every year. If you qualify to receive total disability benefits, you will continue receiving these weekly payments each week until you are able to return to work. It is also possible to transition to partial disability benefits if you still have work restrictions and can return to some, but not all, work.

Your workers’ compensation lawyer centrally located in Charlotte, North Carolina, can be crucial for ensuring that you receive an appropriate determination of benefits that accurately reflects the severity of your condition and your reduced earning capacity because of your injury. In the event that the insurance company sends an unacceptable determination of benefits, or if your benefits are denied, your attorney can help you resolve the situation and secure the benefits you deserve.

Understanding Third-Party Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Claims

Workers’ compensation insurance is considered the only remedy for workplace injuries, meaning injured workers cannot file personal injury suits against their employers in response to their injuries on the job. However, this “exclusive remedy doctrine” does not apply if the employer does not have the required insurance. In this situation, the employer not only faces civil liability for the injured workers’ damages but also penalties from the State. These are not technically “third party” claims but direct actions against non-compliant employers.

It is more likely that an injured worker will have grounds for a third-party personal injury claim against a party that is different than their direct employer. For example, if you drive for work and another driver hits your vehicle and injures you while you are performing your job duties, the claim against the at-fault driver will qualify as a work-related incident. You could still file a workers’ compensation claim through your employer, but you would also have grounds for a civil claim for damages against the at-fault driver.

A third-party personal injury claim can potentially yield compensation for the damages the third party inflicted that workers’ compensation does not cover. For example, workers’ compensation insurance may pay 100% of your medical expenses, but it only covers a portion of your lost income and it does not provide any compensation for pain or suffering. With a third-party personal injury suit, you could potentially enhance your recovery beyond the remedies available only through workers’ compensation.

Success with any third-party personal injury suit through our office in Charlotte, North Carolina, will require clear proof of liability for your damages. You must accurately identify the party or parties you believe to be responsible for causing your injury, prove how they caused it, and then show the full extent of the damages you suffered because of their actions. Your workers’ compensation lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina, can advise you as to whether you have grounds to file a third-party personal injury claim and build our trial team to prosecute the claim.

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Building Your Third-Party Personal Injury Suit

While proving fault is not necessarily a concern for most workers’ compensation claims, it will be crucial for any type of personal injury claim in North Carolina. Additionally, North Carolina is a “contributory negligence” State. This means that the plaintiff must not have caused their injury or bear any partial fault for the injury to any degree; otherwise, they will lose their ability to claim compensation from the defendant who injured them. There are a few exceptions to this and you will need the help of an experienced attorney to see if these .

An experienced attorney can help you gather the evidence you need to hold a third party accountable for their actions that caused your workplace injury. You must not only prove how they caused the injury but also the full extent of the resulting damages. Additionally, you will need to establish causation. This means you need to show that your damages resulted from the defendant’s actions and did not result from any other cause.

If you are able to prove liability in a third-party personal injury suit, the pain and suffering compensation you receive could be a substantial increase to your overall recovery for your workplace injury suit. North Carolina’s personal injury laws enable an injured plaintiff to claim whatever amount they believe reasonably reflects the severity of their injury for several types of damages that workers’ compensation law does not cover. Generally, the more severe your injury, the more you can expect in pain and suffering compensation.

Potential Complications With Your Employer in North Carolina

Most employers in North Carolina comply with the state’s requirements regarding workers’ compensation insurance and they process employee injury claims in good faith. Most are willing to help their workers recover as much as possible and are willing to keep their employees at work after they recover from injuries. However, other employers do not fulfill their obligations, and some will even actively interfere with their employees’ claims or retaliate against their requests to file workers’ compensation claims.

An employer might do this if they are concerned that too many workers’ compensation claims will lead to an increase in their workers’ compensation insurance premiums. They may also attempt to get rid of an injured worker believing that the worker will not be as productive as other candidates who are perfectly healthy and uninjured. It is illegal for any employer to retaliate against any worker who files a workers’ compensation claim in good faith.

Retaliation may take the form of wrongful termination, creating a hostile work environment for the employee, or actively interfering with their claim filing process. If you have any concerns about how your employer has handled your request to file a workers’ compensation claim, or if you believe you are the victim of any type of employer retaliation, it is vital to consult a Charlotte workers’ compensation lawyer as quickly as possible.

Resolving Disputes With Insurance Companies

While most insurance companies process claims for coverage in good faith, it is possible for an insurance carrier to attempt to resolve a workers’ compensation claim by offering the lowest possible settlement or way out. Insurance companies lose money when they pay out claims, so they tend to do everything they can to minimize claim payouts. They will also look for any justification they find to deny claims.

If you believe the insurance company has treated you unfairly, you will need legal representation on your side to evaluate your chances and to hold them accountable. The right attorney may be able to help you explore various legal remedies. In many cases, once an insurance carrier realizes that a claimant has legal counsel, it sends a message to and encourages them to process the claim in good faith and without any unnecessary delays.

What to Expect From Your Workers’ Compensation Lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina

The right legal representative is a tremendous asset for your workers’ compensation case with our office centrally located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team at The Sumwalt Group Workers’ Compensation and Trial Lawyers has the experience necessary to handle the most challenging cases. Whether you anticipate encountering problems with your employer, its insurance company, or with a third-party personal injury lawsuit, you can rely on our team for comprehensive legal counsel in all aspects of your case.

We can assist you in gathering any documentation and evidence you will need to submit to the insurance carrier. You can rely on us to prove the cause of your injury and, if necessary, prove who is responsible for causing it. If any workplace regulatory violations contributed to your accident, or if a specific party intentionally injured you, we would explain how we can help you hold them accountable.

Our firm has years of experience negotiating on behalf of our clients with all of the major insurance carriers in the state. We know how they process claims and the potential challenges you might face in your efforts to obtain the benefits you need to recover. Ultimately, every case is entirely unique, so trust our team to take time to get to know you and learn as much as we can about your workplace injury and the effects it has had on your life.

Answers To Your Frequently Asked Questions About Workers’ Compensation in Charlotte & Throughout North Carolina

If you’re looking at our website, it’s because you have questions and concerns. The Sumwalt Group Workers’ Comp and Trial Lawyers has spent over two decades working with people throughout North Carolina. We have taught Continuing Legal Education courses on workers’ compensation and other laws and have courtroom experience to let you know how the system really works.

Below is a list of frequently asked questions for your reference. If these do not fit what you are wondering about, we welcome your call with any questions. There are no fees or charges for this, and if you remember one thing, THERE ARE NO BAD QUESTIONS. Your questions are about your case. And they’re important. You can reach us in our Charlotte office at 704-565-0621 or by filling out our contact form.

Do I need a lawyer?

Does my employer have workers’ compensation?

What should I do after an injury?

Can I go to the doctor of my choosing?

How much compensation am I entitled to?

Can I get Social Security disability while I’m on workers’ compensation?

Can I apply for short-term disability or long-term disability if I am on workers’ compensation?

Can I sue my employer?

What if I’m receiving workers’ compensation under another State’s laws?

Call Today To Learn How We Can Help

During your initial consultation with our team, we can review the details of your injury and help you understand the workers’ compensation claim filing process. We also advise you as to whether you may have grounds for further legal recourse that could enhance your total recovery. Our goal for every client is to help them secure the maximum compensation possible after they have been injured on the job in any industry.

There is no fee or charge for calling us with your questions and concerns. If you need help now, we are here to help. Call our office in Charlotte at 704-565-0621 or fill out our contact form today.

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