Our team helped a management employee get a solid workers' compensation settlement from her injury in Union involving surgery to both shoulders.
When she got hurt, Yvonne worked as a fast food restaurant general manager. After handling her case on her own for about two years, she became increasingly worried she'd get shortchanged by the workers' compensation insurance company in the end. She had no idea how to evaluate a South Carolina workers' compensation case for settlement. Her family couldn't afford her to be cheated, as she's the sole breadwinner since her husband is severely disabled.
Here's how we made sure she got a good workers' compensation settlement.
How Yvonne Got Hurt at Work in Union
Yvonne's workers' compensation case started with a bizarre accident. The office door was locked. Instead of calling a locksmith, the operations director instructed a cook to climb up through the ceiling into the office to unlock it. The cook fell through the ceiling as Yvonne stood underneath. His legs hit her left shoulder, throwing it back, and causing it to pop. As he fell, ceiling tiles and metal hit her right shoulder.
The work injury tore Yvonne's rotator cuff in both shoulders, requiring partial-thickness rotator cuff tear and subacromial decompression surgeries on both shoulders.
How We Helped Yvonne Get a Solid Settlement
Because she was so far into her case from a medical standpoint, we scrambled to get the records and analyze them as fast as possible.
Common fear dispelled: changing jobs will not end your South Carolina workers' compensation rights. Yvonne left the job where she got hurt and got another one. We assured her even if you change jobs, the insurance company for the employer where you got hurt remains responsible for your case.
To get her a bigger settlement, we worked with her to develop a list of the problems she encounters in life and work. For example, both shoulders still hurt. Her arms remain weak and shake with extensive activity. Her left hand goes numb often. She still takes the prescription painkiller tramadol.
Despite a relatively low impairment rating of 4% to both shoulders, with no future medical treatment and no permanent work restrictions, we settled Yvonne's case for $60,000. She was pleased with the result, and she was thankful for the way our staff gave her peace of mind by updating her as her case developed, answering her questions, and overall making her feel protected and comfortable by treating her like a human being instead of a case.
Lessons Learned
A few important things stand out about Yvonne's case:
- Even management level employees get hurt at work
- Even managers don't know how to handle their own workers’ compensation cases
- It's not too late to ask for legal help
- The relief brought by an experienced, hard-working workers’ compensation law firm goes way beyond a good settlement in the end
I'm glad Yvonne found me, but I'm most thankful we were able to bring her peace of mind and get her a settlement she was happy with.
