Hi. My husband was hurt at work back in December 2003. He had the top of his hand cut off and had to have 2 reconstructive surgeries. It is his right hand and he is right handed. He has gone to physical therapy for the last six months. The therapist has told him that he has regained all of the strength and mobility that he is going to. There is permanent damage. The surgeon is supposed to right up the official report the 15th of July stating there is permanent damage and how much. My question is, is he entitled to a settlement because of his injury? How do we go about making a claim for this settlement if he is entitled to it? We received a letter from workmans comp a couple of months ago stating that we had 2 years from the date of the accident to file a claim. They have been covering all of the medical bills and his company has been cutting him a check for gas and mileage to and from the doctors and therapy. I feel that since there is permanent damage he should be entitled to some sort of settlement. If he does make a claim for a settlement do you think his company will try to fire him for it? My dad says that the workmans comp will pay the settlement and that it shouldn't affect my husbands company other than their insurance going up. They have made a couple of comments to my husband already about how much this was costing. We are also worried that if he doesn't file a claim once the time period has passed they may fire him and then since he has permanent damage he may not be able to find another job. He is a foreman of a lumber company. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

God Bless,
Sherry :wave:

Yes, your husband would be entitled to a settlement to compensate him for any permanent damages he has suffered as a result of this injury. And yes, he should file a claim for it. It will not likely be a huge award, probably not more than his medical bills have already been. Don't think you'll be doing his company a big favor by not filing for the award... that not filing will somehow protect his job from employer retaliation over the injury.

Worker's comp insurance rates are very high and even a single claim can drive those rates through the roof. As a result, many businesses are self-insured. They might have a company that administers the benefits for them... pays the claims, processes the paperwork, etc. But at the end of the month the employer pays the amount of medical expenses and an administration fee to this company. In other words, the business assumes the insurance risk themselves instead of paying insurance premiums that may be higher or lower than their actual costs.

However you look at it, workers comp cases are extremely costly to employers and often lead to job related problems for the injured worker. It's not right, it's sad, but it's true.

As far as the settlement goes, that should all be part of the case when it is closed. You may be in for a fight in that comp will likely want him to see a physician of their own for assessment regarding the extend of his physical damages. They are notorious for coming up with a lesser extent of impairment than your treating physician will assess. Hopefully this won't happen. But if it does, it will be up to you as to what to do at that point. You may want to consult an attorney. Depending upon the settlement, it might end up costing you more for the attorney (paid out of the settlement) than what you'd gain in the end. A good comp attorney would be able to assist you in analyzing the dollars and cents so you wouldn't be completely in the dark when it comes to making this decision.

-Kaylbe

Thank you Kaylbe,

I believe their workmans comp is employer funded. The reason I say this is because they have already commented to my husband that this injury was going to end up costing them x amount of dollars by the time it is over. They are good Christian people but my husband says they are all about the bottom line so I'm not exactly sure how this will end up. He isn't completely disabled by this injury but I do think he is entitled to something for all this. I hope we don't have to hire an attorney as I don't really want to go that route. We would probably end up owing the entire settlement to the lawyer. I wonder if it would just be better for him to sit down with his employer and discuss this after the doctor has made his final determination. By the way, the doctor he is seeing is the w/c doctor. I think it would be better if they would offer him a settlement and we go from there. I don't know how much an injury like this is worth. I wouldn't think it would be a terrible amount of money, but I do think it should be reasonable. His hand is disfigured and the tendon that was cut off and then replaced with a graft is not working properly either. I know if my hand were scarred like that, I would be very upset. Him, being a man, and basically a blue collar worker, it doesn't bother him what it looks like. Well, not like it would me. It's the loss of strength and grip that bothers him. He makes a living with his hands. Granted, he is a foreman and doesn't really have to be hands on anymore, but he has always been a hands on person. He would rather show someone how to do something than tell them and most times, he will just do it himself. Anyway, I appreciate all the information. It really gives us something to think about. It actually sounds a lot easier than trying to get SSDI. (I'm in the process)

God Bless,
Sherry :wave:

Sherry, what state do you live in?

I ask, because the laws vary from state to state, but I believe all states have some sort of disfigurement reimbursement.

My ex husband worked construction for the majority of the time we were married. He was a framer. One day while cutting 2x4's the saw went a little too far and he cut off the pinky finger of his right hand. All he has left is a little nub. The finger was too mangled to reattach (the saw got him at the end of the "cut", when he'd already taken his finger off the trigger and the saw was slowing down, so it wasn't a clean cut, it was really jagged). My brother called me from the hospital (they worked together) and told me, "I'm at the hospital with XXXX". The first words out of my mouth were, "What did he cut off?"

My ex was really clumsy, and I'd told him many times he didn't need to be in the construction business. LOL He'd hit himself in the head with a hammer before, he'd fallen off a ladder and a roof...

But, workman's comp. compensated him for the loss of his finger. Around $7,000. They didn't pay him lost wages because he did this on a Tuesday, and was back at work Friday so he wasn't out of work for 7 days (which in our state is the time frame that you had to be out to get compensated for missed work).

Hi Ammy,

We live in Virginia. Our husbands sound very similiar in their work ethics. My husband did this on a Monday. Had emergency surgery on his hand, was told to stay off work for at least 8 weeks, but returned to work the next day. It was unbelievable. He also only took one day off for the second surgery. On therapy days, he works half a day. His company does pay him for the whole day though. He isn't on salary, but they pay him whether he works or not. He didn't want salary because he figured if he worked enough overtime, he could make more money in the long run and since they would pay him for 8 hrs even if he doesn't work its the best thing for him. So far the company has been decent to him and we don't want to do anything that might cause trouble.

Thank you for the information.

God Bless,
Sherry :wave: