Workman's Compensation (sorry LONG)

[nkereina]

Thanks for the info. Sorry about your dad. This site was subcontracted to many companies, doing different parts. The ground was really rutted by the building and snow and ice covered. The rest of the area was smoothed out, but not where he was. The subcontractors ended up buying their crew the ice grippers to wear on their boots. Not hubby's employer though.

That might be the rub then. The fact that subcontractors were involved may open up a path for a lawsuit then. Definitely worth pursuing. My dad wasn't charged by either of the firms he spoke with, it was worth it just to go and get the insight. Good luck!

 

[piccolopat]

OP here: I want to thank you all for your advice. DH says we will see what his work does and how they handle his pay. We are getting his paycheck, but from his vacation bank. That will only last so long and WC apparently did pay him, but nobody knows where the checks are because his work does not communicate well at all. If the checks do arrive, we will have to see what they do: either we keep them or they put them back into his vacation bank, but his payroll lady does not know how to do that. They also said it maybe a case where any vacation time he earns, will go to repaying what was used and he just keep the checks. She said that may be easier for her to do.
We are just worried because dislocated knees are known to be lifelong issues and did not know how to handle that if he cannot do his job. As of now, they are allowing light duty because somebody quit, but prior to this they told him he could not come back until he was completely proficient again. So he is really worried that they will try to get rid of him or tell him that unless he can do the job to the job description, he is gone. He is union, so if that does happen, he will be contacting them. They have been really bad to other employees who have been sick or injured before (not work related). They have terminated a lot of people due to issues as stated. They are really horrible to work for in terms of caring for their employees or trying to help them in different situations. Since he is a pension employee and there are only 4 of them left there, they have said repeatedly that they want them gone.
If they are nasty and do not get things taken care of,we will contact a WC attorney. Hopefully get it settled or something. Thanks again.

You need to put a stop to having his employer pay him out of his vacation bank. This is not appropriate and they know it. He should be paid for lost wages from the WC carrier. This will usually only be a percentage of his wages. Check with your state's department of insurance to see what the requirements are in your state and what protections he has from being terminated while out on WC.

 

[morgan98]

Dr. did not say it needed surgery, but after 4 weeks, it is making really bad noises and he literally cannot lift it to climb stairs like you are supposed to. His physical therapist does not think that this is totally going to help because they should have seen this working by now. He walks with a limp and at his dr visit, the dr told him to walk normal. He said that he was. This is how he walks now and the dr says "no, walk normal." He said he cannot. There is a lot of pain on the inside of his knee and he has told the dr that repeatedly and he doesn't do anything. The dr keeps asking him in what position his knee cap was in when he fell and he told him over completely on the side. Dr. then said, that may never heal correctly and the noises hopefully will lessen, but may never stop completely. He was also told that because this happened, it has a much larger chance of it happening again. He cannot go without wearing a brace on his leg. Must support the knee cap from moving.

Are you going to the best orthopedic doctor in your area? In my previous life, my ex-husband dislocated (and shattered) his knee cap on our home construction site by sliding off a mound of dirt. His knee was off to the side as well. We had to call an ambulance and he went to the emergency room. We then made an appointment with the doctor that worked on the Notre Dame football team's knee injuries. He had surgery and the recovery and therapy were fairly long and painful.

Anyway, I agree with Pea N Me that I am not so sure this is just going to heal itself and the fact that the doctor is telling your husband to "just walk normally" makes me think this doctor is not the best.

Also, a month is not that long for this type of injury, so I am not surprised he is not functioning anywhere near full capacity.

Get a competent physician.

 

[anniemae]

I think I would have DH go for a second opinion. Find an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in knee injuries.

 

[Scootypuffjr]

Work men's comp is a long and complicated road even when the WC insurance company is seemingly taking care of things. Toward the end of his care, once they have determined that he is at Maximum Medical Improvent (MMI), they will ask for an Indepenent Medical Exam hired and paid for by the insurance company. He will have to schedule his own Independent Medical Exam to refute the first exam and then he will eventually get a Division Independent Medical Exam which will be the most unbiased of the three. They will assign him a percentage for his permanent disability (if he's not at 100%) and any future compensation or settlement is based on that percentage. You need an experienced Workmen's comp attorney because they are familiar with procedures, timelines, and WC doctor's in your area (the good and the bad). They most likely will take 20% but it will be worth it in the end. This is not something you want to handle on your own.

 

[kidshop]

Are you going to the best orthopedic doctor in your area? In my previous life, my ex-husband dislocated (and shattered) his knee cap on our home construction site by sliding off a mound of dirt. His knee was off to the side as well. We had to call an ambulance and he went to the emergency room. We then made an appointment with the doctor that worked on the Notre Dame football team's knee injuries. He had surgery and the recovery and therapy were fairly long and painful.

Anyway, I agree with Pea N Me that I am not so sure this is just going to heal itself and the fact that the doctor is telling your husband to "just walk normally" makes me think this doctor is not the best.

Also, a month is not that long for this type of injury, so I am not surprised he is not functioning anywhere near full capacity.

Get a competent physician.

I dislocated my knee and I wore a full leg brace 24/7 for six weeks before I started any physical therapy. Those muscles and tendons are stretched and weak and need time to heal. Then I wore a smaller one to hold the kneecap in place for a while. I have been fine since, no surgery.

 

[Kellydelly]

This is being handled so wrong. Your husband should not have to use his vacation pay to cover his lost wages while he is off work. Looks like his employer's human resource/payroll dept is inept. What kind of doctor has your husband back to work when he cannot even use his leg normally? What kind of damage does his MRI show? This whole situation is wonky. I am sorry that your husband has to deal with this!

 

[Lori1124]

I've dislocated my knee cap several times. It's dislocated so bad that my knee cap stayed on the side of my leg and I grabbed it and put it back in place. When you dislocate your knee you pull the tendons and muscles. That is probably why he is still having pain and swelling. it takes a good few months to heal. If it keeps dislocating, there is surgery to tighten everything back up and hold the knee in place, the surgery worked great for me. If he keeps reinjuring it he is probably looking at a knee replacement in time. While the surgery worked to hold it in place arthritis set in and I had the knee replaced 3 years ago.
With the WC we had an employee on it, we never once received a check for him. All checks were mailed directly to him. Good Luck with everything.

 

[lovemylife]

This is being handled so wrong. Your husband should not have to use his vacation pay to cover his lost wages while he is off work. Looks like his employer's human resource/payroll dept is inept. What kind of doctor has your husband back to work when he cannot even use his leg normally? What kind of damage does his MRI show? This whole situation is wonky. I am sorry that your husband has to deal with this!

According to DH, he has always heard at work, just do things this way to make things easier for payroll. Do what you need to do to make it easier on them. Don't put your time in that way, it will confuse payroll. So this was easier for payroll, instead of figuirng out how much WC paid, after 4 weeks and then checks started coming in and with insurance and pension stuff. This is what they did. Stupid we know.
He is seeing an orthopedic surgeon in our town. We have a lot of them in a building. I am not too happy about this whole thing with the dr. He never did an MRI. DH went in day after injury and was in excruitating pain and this dr was yanking his leg around and pushing it so far that I swore my DH was going to kick him in the face. He never did any testing on the leg. He told him no pain meds and he could go back to work with restrictions in 2 days after injury. This last time he was there, he was yanking on it and pushing it in ways it cannot move without major issues. Kneecap was moving all over the place. My DH was so sore after the visit. There is another one at the office that works on knees and I don't know if we should request a visit with him or a MRI from his current one.

 

[lovemylife]

I've dislocated my knee cap several times. It's dislocated so bad that my knee cap stayed on the side of my leg and I grabbed it and put it back in place. When you dislocate your knee you pull the tendons and muscles. That is probably why he is still having pain and swelling. it takes a good few months to heal. If it keeps dislocating, there is surgery to tighten everything back up and hold the knee in place, the surgery worked great for me. If he keeps reinjuring it he is probably looking at a knee replacement in time. While the surgery worked to hold it in place arthritis set in and I had the knee replaced 3 years ago.
With the WC we had an employee on it, we never once received a check for him. All checks were mailed directly to him. Good Luck with everything.

Thanks for the info. What really concerns DH is that his knee makes really bad sounds, like a ratcheting sound. He mentioned it to the dr, but he was not concerned about it or ignored him. He says it is really sore and getting worse since he is back to work. He is basically sitting there for 12 hr/day with limited movement, but still has to get around. It is swelling more and he states that his knee feels like it is bone on bone.
As for the checks, nobody knows why we received the 1st one and his work received the others.

 

[lovemylife]

I dislocated my knee and I wore a full leg brace 24/7 for six weeks before I started any physical therapy. Those muscles and tendons are stretched and weak and need time to heal. Then I wore a smaller one to hold the kneecap in place for a while. I have been fine since, no surgery.

DH was in a brace immediately and he started PT the next week after injury. He has been doing it for over 4 weeks now and it is doing some better on some things but even PT says there are things his leg physically cannot do, such as get high enough to climb steps correctly. It is a major thing for his job. They said they physically have to move his leg to get it to do that movement. DH says he tries and I watch him at the steps. He has to will himself to get his leg moving high enough and then sometimes, use his arms to lift it. DH is still wearing a brace because it moves so easily.
When did your knee start to look more normal? His is looks totally different (shape looks different) then his other one and is so much larger yet. His kneecap felt really funny to me and the noise it is making is horrible. Did yours do that too? It makes a ratcheting sound when he moves it. It is really loud.

Sorry you had this happen to you, but I do appreciate your knowledge of the situation.

 

[lovemylife]

Work men's comp is a long and complicated road even when the WC insurance company is seemingly taking care of things. Toward the end of his care, once they have determined that he is at Maximum Medical Improvent (MMI), they will ask for an Indepenent Medical Exam hired and paid for by the insurance company. He will have to schedule his own Independent Medical Exam to refute the first exam and then he will eventually get a Division Independent Medical Exam which will be the most unbiased of the three. They will assign him a percentage for his permanent disability (if he's not at 100%) and any future compensation or settlement is based on that percentage. You need an experienced Workmen's comp attorney because they are familiar with procedures, timelines, and WC doctor's in your area (the good and the bad). They most likely will take 20% but it will be worth it in the end. This is not something you want to handle on your own.

So, how long does this process take? We have no clue as to the duration of what he is going to go through. How do you schedule these exams? Is it through a WC lawyer? Sounds like we need to consult with one to make sure that all is handled correctly.

 

[lanejudy]

I do believe you need to get some legal and financial advice, soon. Asking for a consult and getting advice does not necessarily mean filing suit.

It's concerning that his payroll department has continued to cut him regular vacation paychecks, especially since you most likely have been cashing/using that money. Workers Compensation is typically a percentage of pay (often 80%) so not his full paycheck. Plus most likely you are going to have a big tax headache because, depending on the tax laws in your state, workers comp may not be taxed the same as his payroll checks. The fact that you have cashed the payroll checks and presumably spent that money is going to be difficult to sort if you are told to repay it. As others have mentioned, WC payments should come directly to you and not to the employer.

If there are other specialists who specialize in knees, I would strongly push for a "second opinion" and possibly transfer his care if appropriate. He should NOT have started back to work, even "light duty" until approved by WC.

Good luck! It's likely to be a long hard road getting him healed and straightening out all the financial/legal aspects.

 

[Scootypuffjr]

So, how long does this process take? We have no clue as to the duration of what he is going to go through. How do you schedule these exams? Is it through a WC lawyer? Sounds like we need to consult with one to make sure that all is handled correctly.

It just depends on the seriousness of the injury and when they think he is at MMI. It could take months, it could take years. The insurance company will schedule the first Independent Medical exam. The second one will be scheduled by your attorney if you have one, or by you if you don't (either your attorney will pay for it or you will). The Department exam will get scheduled to settle the discrepancy between the first two exams. Your best bet is to consult with a reputable workmen's comp attorney. Just please don't call one that advertises on TV.