In recent years, attendant care provided under North Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation Act has gotten quite a bit of attention in the appellate courts and at the General Assembly. In particular, the Court of Appeals’ 2011 decision in Shackleton v. Southern Flooring & Acoustical Company presented a challenge for employers. Reversing the Commission’s denial of an attendant…
In Holmes v. Associate Pipe Line Contractors, Inc., the Court of Appeals determined that post-offer contingencies, such as background checks and drug testing, constitute the “last act” necessary to create a contract of employment. On October 29, 2013, Plaintiff, who was living in North Carolina, was contacted via telephone by a union representative and offered…
On April 6, 2017, the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Opioid Task Force held its first organizational meeting to study and recommend solutions for the problems arising from the intersection of the opioid epidemic and related issues in Worker’s Compensation claims. The Task Force has not yet issued a report or timeline for when a report…
Last winter we examined the Court of Appeals decision in Wilkes v. City of Greenville and its seemingly a radical extension of the Parsons presumption to injuries not initially accepted as part of the claim. The decision Wilkes was appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court and is set for oral argument in mid-February 2017. …
On May 12, 2007, Plaintiff was working as a tire builder for Defendant-Employer, and sustained injury to her right shoulder. Defendants accepted the right shoulder as compensable. Plaintiff underwent surgery and returned to work. Plaintiff sustained a number of exacerbations to the right shoulder over the course of her claim. Following one incident in 2010,…
Thompson v. International Paper Co. On February 23, 2012, Darrell Thompson was involved in an at-work accident and suffered severe burns that covered more than 23% of his body, mostly to his left shoulder and arm. Following the injury, Mr. Thompson underwent three major skin graft surgeries and received treatment from several providers at the…
Chairman Charlton Allen has been appointed for a four-year term as chairman through December 30, 2020. Yolanda Stith has been appointed as the newest commissioner. She will serve the remaining two and half years of Andrew Heath’s original term and then an additional six-year term. Of that time, she will serve a four-year term as…
Shawn Patillo suffered a low back injury on February 16, 2011 while working as a press operator for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (“Goodyear”). He was evaluated at the on-site medical clinic and was restricted to “off-standard” work, which meant he could not fully perform all his job functions and required assistance with his job…
Kelly Lewis worked as a bus operator for Transit Management of Charlotte (“Charlotte Transit”). He suffered an admittedly compensable back injury on June 15, 2009 when the bus he was driving was rear-ended. A Form 25R was completed wherein Mr. Lewis was assigned a 0% permanent partial disability rating. The last medical expense payment was…
Under the SMART Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to set minimum Section 111 mandatory reporting thresholds for liability claims, as well as establish a “safe harbor” regarding conditional payment reimbursements. For liability claims, this number was originally set as $300 as of September 6, 2011, then raised to $1000…