Work Comp ?

[FB Coach13]

Heres wats going on, last year i tore my bicep at work and had to have surgery and missed about 6 weeks of work, then went back on light duty for another 2-3 months. Then went back to pretty much my normal job. Well about 2 months ago they contacted me and wanted to settle and i said ok and they made me a offer and I accepted, just verbally nothing will be sighned until tomorrow. Well right after I accepted the offer which I think is a little low but accepted because I didnt want to have any problems with my employer, and was worried about possibly getting fired for teying to get more money. 2 weeks after i accept the offer I get laidoff from this place. So the question is when go to this hearing tomorrow I will not have a legal counsel with me, i will be myself. Even though i made a verbal agreement can i back out of without a major problem happenning, or should i take what the already offered and just be done with it, I can prob get another $7000-12,000 more i have been told by people. But I dont want to hire a lawyer and have to go through a long trial, just wonder if they might give me a counter offer after I turn down their current 1.

Kind of confusing
thanks in advance for any responses

[FB Coach13]

Wayne/Spark sorry i didnt mean to put this in the sports section, meant to put it in the non-gambling section.

[bryce]

Was this an offer by Human Resources...any email documentation---who was involved..how many people. I don't know how verbal agreements work state to state but I would think there has to be some type of documentation of how this all came about. Did they do a leave of absence for you if they did it normally should state some type of reason. My question is why did they lay you off if you already had a verbal agreement...maybe I am missing something but if you have no documentation I would hire a lawyer pronto...from what you said there seems to be some info missing like what happened from the time frame of the verbal till they laid you off..were you working etc..it sounds like you are still on the job. What was the reason for the delay of the settlement.

[bryce]

I guess what I am saying coach is why did it take two months from when they said they would settle till now and keep you working if in fact you were or are

[bryce]

The more I read this the more I am confused. I re-read this and it seems you can get the settlement. Is that the case? With the economy and lay-offs happenings it seems companies can justify this. I would take the cash now based off the info you provided.

[BettorsChat]

I would consult with an Attorney. And only would hire one if they took it on contingency. I would also try asking some questions on some legal forums out there.

Is this Job a Union one? And why were you laid off?

[FB Coach13]

Yea guys this is confusing, the reason it is taking so long is because i am meeting with this companys attorney, and he has been tied up on trial for another company and said he just now has time to meet with me. This is not a union job, and they said i was laidoff because we slowed down on work, but i have been alot longer than other people and had more responsibility than other people. I think they laid me off thinking since i said i would accept the offer {the lowball offer} I wouldnt go after anymore money, bit now the situation as changed. I have to meet with their lawyer and a arbitrator{neutral} in about 2 hours. They only kept me working about 2 weeks {at the most} after I said i would settle[just seems like it was convienant timing 4 them to do this

[BettorsChat]

Yea guys this is confusing, the reason it is taking so long is because i am meeting with this companys attorney, and he has been tied up on trial for another company and said he just now has time to meet with me. This is not a union job, and they said i was laidoff because we slowed down on work, but i have been alot longer than other people and had more responsibility than other people. I think they laid me off thinking since i said i would accept the offer {the lowball offer} I wouldnt go after anymore money, bit now the situation as changed. I have to meet with their lawyer and a arbitrator{neutral} in about 2 hours. They only kept me working about 2 weeks {at the most} after I said i would settle[just seems like it was convienant timing 4 them to do this

Does this Attorney work alone? Or is there other Attornies working with him? If there is then that's a BS excuse IMO.

Tell them you want more $ IMO. I mean if it's not union why are they offering you a payout? Can't they just let you go with 2 weeks severance pay?

[tech fan]

Does this Attorney work alone? Or is there other Attornies working with him? If there is then that's a BS excuse IMO.

Tell them you want more $ IMO. I mean if it's not union why are they offering you a payout? Can't they just let you go with 2 weeks severance pay?

i agree 100%

[tech fan]

coach let us know what happens buddy

[insidethe8thpol]

Look for a Workers Comp attorney. They usually take 20% of your settlement. Just because you verbally agreed doesnt mean shit. As long as you didnt sign any papers to close the case, you will be fine but get that attorney because the company will fuck you every which way for the least amount and thats not good. What disability rating were you given by your doctor ?? Did you ever go for a IME (Independant Medical Evaluation) for the insurance company?

Make sure you have these done before you settle. The higher your rating is, the more money will get.

Dont sign shit!!

[insidethe8thpol]

Heres wats going on, last year i tore my bicep at work and had to have surgery and missed about 6 weeks of work, then went back on light duty for another 2-3 months. Then went back to pretty much my normal job. Well about 2 months ago they contacted me and wanted to settle and i said ok and they made me a offer and I accepted, just verbally nothing will be sighned until tomorrow. Well right after I accepted the offer which I think is a little low but accepted because I didnt want to have any problems with my employer, and was worried about possibly getting fired for teying to get more money. 2 weeks after i accept the offer I get laidoff from this place. So the question is when go to this hearing tomorrow I will not have a legal counsel with me, i will be myself. Even though i made a verbal agreement can i back out of without a major problem happenning, or should i take what the already offered and just be done with it, I can prob get another $7000-12,000 more i have been told by people. But I dont want to hire a lawyer and have to go through a long trial, just wonder if they might give me a counter offer after I turn down their current 1.

Kind of confusing
thanks in advance for any responses

You dont go through a trial. You go to hearings at your local Workers Comp. Office. They usually last 10-15 minutes between your lawyer and the insurance company's lawyer.

Once you sign an agreement to settle your case, they have 30days to pay you or they will incur a penalty of 20% of the amount they owe you.

You have to make sure there is enough in there to cover your bicep just in case you need another surgery and a whole lot of other shit that you wont get by yourself. Workers Comp attorneys know what to ask for, get one.

[FB Coach13]

Well guys just got back from my meeting with the lawyer representing my former employer. I told him even though we agreed on a amount, it is now under different cicumstances. I said when I talked to you I had a job with this company and a few weeks after i accepted the offer i was no longer employed, I feel i was let go because of my injury. This guy was by himself but is a member of a firm with more lawyers. He said he didnt have the authority to offer me more, but told me who to contact about this which I will do this afternoon then go from there. If they wont offer me more I will prob end up getting a lawyer. The disability rating they gave me was 20% of my right arm, from people i talked to they said it should be closer to 30%. Anyway guys thanks for all the input it is appreciated!

[insidethe8thpol]

Well guys just got back from my meeting with the lawyer representing my former employer. I told him even though we agreed on a amount, it is now under different cicumstances. I said when I talked to you I had a job with this company and a few weeks after i accepted the offer i was no longer employed, I feel i was let go because of my injury. This guy was by himself but is a member of a firm with more lawyers. He said he didnt have the authority to offer me more, but told me who to contact about this which I will do this afternoon then go from there. If they wont offer me more I will prob end up getting a lawyer. The disability rating they gave me was 20% of my right arm, from people i talked to they said it should be closer to 30%. Anyway guys thanks for all the input it is appreciated!

Dont screw yourself. Get the lawyer today. If you have 20% disability that in itself is a certain amount. These people will not offer you any more money without having a hearing with workers compensation officials.

Take it from me, I have a 20% disabilty in my back and the insurance people want to settle as low as possible. They just want to get you off their books but dont let them. Get the lawyer. The 20% you pay him from your settlement he will get you that and then some.

Dont contact someone who the other side said to. They will be in this together and will try to only benefit themselves with some private side deals that will benefit who you talk to by getting you to accept a lower offer and then he'll get some sort of perks from the insuarance company for doing so.

[wayne1218]

They won't take you seriously until you get a lawyer.