Hurt On The Job By A Third Party? What Are Your Rights?

If you are injured in an accident on the job in North Carolina or South Carolina, and that injury is caused by a third party, your company’s workers’ compensation insurance company is not relieved of its obligations under the law.  If you are hurt on the job by a third party, your company’s workers’ compensation insurance company still must provide medical care, weekly benefits if you are written out of work, and a settlement if you have a permanent injury, scarring or disfigurement, or other impairment.  Once your workers’ compensation case is concluded, you can then seek compensation from the third party that hit you.

For example, if you are working inside your company building and a third party drives through the building and strikes you causing you to suffer a broken leg, your company’s workers’ compensation insurance company must step in first to take care of you.  When your workers’ compensation case is concluded you would go after the third party driver’s liability insurance company.  But, keep in mind, your company’s workers’ compensation company is given a lien by both North Carolina and South Carolina law to recover from the third party liability insurance company for what they paid out on you, the injured worker’s behalf. Navigating this scenario can be very confusing, and intimidating.

Tippens & Zurosky is available to serve both your auto accident and workers’ compensation needs, and can help you if you have been injured on the job by a third party.  Tippens & Zurosky has represented people involved in auto accidents, or hurt on the job in North Carolina and South Carolina for nearly twenty years.  Let us answer any of your questions regarding any automobile accident, or work-related injury.  Call us toll free at (877) 372-3580, or 704-343-0018 to schedule a consultation so that we may assist you. 

Injured At Work Due to a Co-Workers Joke? You May Have a Case.

The Joke Was On You At Work – Can You Recover If You Got Injured?

Since the time human beings have been on the planet, and been engaged in some sort of employment, there have always been those instances where one co-worker for whatever reason decides to play a joke on another co-worker.  The examples are many from the simple pulling out the chair in the meeting room as the person goes to sit down, to the complicated booby trap in the storage facility, to the knocking over of the co-worker occupied portable toilet at the construction site.  But, what happens if you are that innocent co-worker and get injured in the process?

The laws of both North Carolina and South Carolina have generally held that the innocent victim who gets injured by this “horseplay” has a compensable workers’compensation case.  The theory behind holding these cases as compensable is that being the subject of workplace “horseplay” is a recognized hazard of employment.  Of note, the courts of both states have frowned on the aggressor of the “horseplay” who injures himself in failed “horseplay” on another in certain circumstances.

If you have been injured in an automobile accident, or hurt on the job by “horseplay,” please reach out to our firm so we can put our years of experience to work for you.  Tippens & Zurosky has knowledgeable, experienced attorneys who can fight for your rights if you have been injured on the job, or in an automobile accident in North Carolina, or South Carolina.  Call us toll-free at 877-372-3580, or at 704-343-0018, for a free consultation.  Let us help you!

How Does a Drug Test Affect a Workers’ Compensation Claim?

They Did Inhale – How a Positive Drug Test Affects a Workers’ Compensation Claim

In North Carolina, a workers’ compensation case can be denied if the on the job injury was caused by being under the influence of an intoxicating substance.  However, there are several factors to consider when a worker has a positive drug test.  An injured worker’s case cannot be denied if that intoxicating substance was provided, or supplied by the employer, or his agent in a supervisory capacity to the employee.  A classic example of this would be attending a work function where it is expected and enforced that alcohol be consumed to entertain potential clients, or other business contacts, and the worker then gets hurt due to his company supplying alcohol.

The workers’ compensation insurance company, or self-insured company also has to show that the worker was intoxicated, which is not necessarily so cut and dry.  For example, a positive drug test for marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs does not indicate a level of impairment like an alcohol blood test does.  Marijuana and cocaine can stay in a person’s system for days, or weeks after the drug was used.  There is no level of “stonedness” that can be measured.

Additionally, the workers’ compensation insurance company, or self-insured company must show any intoxication proximately caused the work injury.  So, if there is a positive drug test for cocaine, and the worker is injured when an automobile driven by a unrelated third-party crashes into the work vehicle the worker is a passenger in – the workers’ compensation insurance company will have an extremely difficult time proving that any intoxication was the proximate cause of the work accident.  However, even in the set of facts above workers’ compensation benefits are often denied based on the drug test alone.  

If you have been injured on the job, and had your workers’ compensation case denied for a positive drug test, please reach out to our firm so we can put our years of experience to work for you.  Tippens & Zurosky has knowledgeable, experienced attorneys who can fight for your rights if you have been injured on the job, or in an automobile accident in North Carolina, or South Carolina.  Call us toll-free at 877-372-3580, or at 704-343-0018, for a free consultation.  Let us help you!

A Safe Carolinas Summer Is The Best Summer

School is Out for the Summer!

Summer is here and with it comes vacations to the beaches, or mountains, kids playing outside, visits to area pools and lakes, and sometimes torrential downpours that make driving a challenge.  Take care this summer when driving through neighborhoods and be aware that kids may be outside playing, even after dark.  Also, make sure in rainy weather that you are allowing a safe following distance as slick roads tend to shorten the distance that we think is safe.  Don’t forget to pay attention to the car in front of you, who may be from out of the area, and thus prone to stop short, or drive distracted.  Have your eyes on the traffic, and the road conditions, both of which can change instantaneously on long trips to the beach, or mountains.

The hazards of the road are only one potential danger.  Take great caution in the operation of fireworks, and make sure your children are properly supervised, and out of any potential blast zone.  Likewise, be aware and careful when lighting a gas grill for a momentary distraction could be far longer than merely momentary, and lead to a gas build up that when ignited can have drastic consequences.  The ultimate heat of the sun is a danger during the summer months so make sure you stay hydrated, have on sun protection, and are monitoring the children for signs of heat stroke.  Finally, be aware of your surroundings while swimming, and keep in mind that we share the oceans, rivers, and lakes of North Carolina and South Carolina with wild creatures such as sharks, alligators, snakes, jellyfish, eels, and snapping turtles.  Those folks that choose to swim at night are entering a time when many animals are looking for their dinner, and if they are not careful then they may find themselves, a child, or a pet the subject of an attack.  Remember you are invading their environment, and not the other way around.

Tippens & Zurosky is available to serve your auto accident and workers’ compensation needs, and wishes you a safe and happy summer.  Tippens & Zurosky has represented people involved in auto accidents, or hurt on the job in North Carolina and South Carolina for nearly twenty years.  Let us answer any of your questions regarding any automobile accident, or work-related injury.  Call us toll free at (877) 372-3580, or 704-343-0018 to schedule a consultation so that we may assist you.

Can You Get Workers Comp For a Heart Attack on the Job?

It is a common assumption that if something happens to you on the job that it must be workers’ compensation.  A heart attack on the job is a sudden, unexpected, and often fatal occurrence, so it must be work-related, right?  If you are doing your normal job in the normal way, and have a heart attack, it is not considered an injury arising out of an accident and in the scope and course of your employment.

If a person suffers an injury, or dies due to a heart attack on the job, they must show it was precipitated by some unusual, or extraordinary exertion.  Past cases where someone was working under tremendous heat, and unusually exerting themselves and had heart attacks have been found compensable.  A case where a firefighter suffered a heart attack fighting a fire was not found compensable as the heat, smoke, excitement, and physical exertion were all part of a firefighter’s normal job duties, and expected parts of his employment.

If you get in an auto accident, or are injured on the job in North Carolina, or South Carolina, Tippens & Zurosky is available to serve your auto accident and workers’ compensation needs.  Tippens & Zurosky has represented people involved in auto accidents, or hurt on the job in North Carolina and South Carolina for nearly twenty years.  Let us answer any of your questions regarding any automobile accident, or work-related injury.  Call us toll free at (877) 372-3580, or 704-343-0018 to schedule a consultation so that we may assist you. 

Can pre-existing Injuries Can Hurt Your NC Workers’ Compensation Claim?

If you have worked for a long time in a physically demanding job, such as an order picker in a warehouse, or in the construction industry, you may have been hurt on the job before.  The older you get the more injuries you may have suffered on the job.  So, what do you do when you fill out your new job application and they ask you about your physical condition and previous injuries?  

If you are worried that disclosing your past injuries will prevent you from getting a job, you may choose to not tell your prospective employer about your past injury history.  N.C.G.S 97-12.1 governs willful misrepresentation when applying for a job.  If a worker is found to have knowingly and willfully made a false representation as to their physical condition, compensation for their workers’ compensation case may be barred.

Often a worker has worked past his previous restrictions, or has gotten clearance from a subsequent doctor to do the job.  However, they still might find their case denied by their company’s workers’ compensation insurance company.  The employer also must show they relied upon the false representation in the hiring process, and there was a causal connection between the false representation, and the injury.  Some workers will be literally facing the choice of feeding their children, or having their medical history keep them unemployed.  There are no easy answers for these folks, who are simply trying to be productive members of society.

If you have been injured in an automobile accident, or hurt on the job, please reach out to our firm so we can put our years of experience to work for you.  Tippens & Zurosky has knowledgeable, experienced attorneys who can fight for your rights if you have been injured on the job, or in an automobile accident in North Carolina, or South Carolina.  Call us toll-free at 877-372-3580, or at 704-343-0018, for a free consultation.  Let us help you!

Distracted Driving is Dangerous Driving

In this day and age of smart phones, it is extremely easy to succumb to the temptation to text, or simply look at your phone while driving.  Even a quick glance down at your phone can have deadly consequences because it is simply impossible to pay attention to what is happening around you, if your eyes are on your phone.  The reality is no matter if it is a phone, a rambunctious child in the back seat, or a meal you are trying to eat, being distracted can result in you causing, or being involved in a motor vehicle accident.

Studies show that teenage drivers are particularly susceptible to being distracted while driving.  Most state laws prohibit teenage drivers from using electronic devices, or phones while driving.  If you have a teenage driver make sure you set strict rules about radio and phone use, and encourage their good habits by modeling your own good habits and caution when you are driving.  The reality is that there is no text, or email that is worth your life, or that of an innocent party that comes into contact with you the distracted driver!  

If you have been injured by a distracted driver in an automobile accident, or hurt on the job, please reach out to our firm so we can put our years of experience to work for you.  Tippens & Zurosky has knowledgeable, experienced attorneys who can fight for your rights if you have been injured on the job, or in an automobile accident in North Carolina, or South Carolina.  Call us toll-free at 877-372-3580, or at 704-343-0018, for a free consultation.  Let us help you!