YIKES! If your checks are 0 you've got to revisit you withholding numbers with payroll!!! The California Labor Code just state "Average Weekly Earnings AT THE TIME OF INJURY" and the judges do that BEFORE DEDUCTIONS. So you add up Wages AND Tips before taxes/deductions. Many... Read more »

The defense lawyer is permitted to write any one, any where. If defense wishes to put the treating physician 'on notice' about the insurance paying the treatment bill, she is entitled to do so. Your attorney's approval or disapproval is not necessary. The solution is to elect a... Read more »

There IS NO 'class action' in Workers Compensation in California. So the loss must be beyond the scope of employment. The employment relationship had to have ended and when the loss occurred, You were just another consumer or patron/patient. Then an attorney gets you... Read more »

Yes...and no. Probation is the time when the employer just needs to see if you are a good fit. It may well be that you failed to pass probation because the supervisors will not permit any worker with any industrial injury to transition to permanent employment. Labor Code 132a says that no... Read more »

AGAIN: THE JUDGE WON'T ORDER anything except likely a continuance. so AGAIN no treatment is ordered. The time to request everything to which you are entitled IS RIGHT NOW of the defense attorney. When the defense attorney says 'no' then you write down everything that you want the... Read more »

The settlement conference is just to see if this can be settled. There will be no hearing and no decisions. If the parties cannot settle, each party writes down every witness to be called at trial and each written document to be submitted into evidence. The parties write out the Pre-Trial... Read more »

The worker must prove that (1) there is a disabling psychiatric injury, then (2) that 51% of that condition is due to unfair and/or extraordinary events arising out of employment and in the course of employment. AND one must be on the job more than 6 months. Unless you took a knife or a bullet,... Read more »

It is a CRIME to (1) Forge then (2) violate HIPAA limitations, and proof of a crime can serve as proof of Duty and Breach; so you might want to start your Tort prosecution by getting the tortfeasors prosecuted by the local District Attorney. A HIPAA Complaint can be filed with the federal... Read more »

IF you can find another firm, you could fire this attorney and hire a new one you trust. But you write 2 other lawyers had it also. If they were fired too, a fourth attorney is not likely to take this on. If the insurer is disputing the incident occurred, only then are witness statements... Read more »

I just answered this on Avvo, but I'll repeat it for others reading along: the cancel is a NEW Injury, each injury get 52 weeks of LC4850 benefits, so YES you get 52 weeks of 4850 pay. The adjuster DOES NEED a medical report noting the diagnosis and writing that you are Temporarily Totally... Read more »

IF YOU were just a visitor ('invitee') and got hurt at ANY GOVERNMENT facility, you have to tell that Government Agency about the Injury/Loss within 6 months. BUT YOU can prove you have an Employment Relationship, this Government Agency controlled the hours and supplies and ways to... Read more »

There is no code section requiring any 'closed claim' letter. If "go back" means to appeal a judge's decision at trial, you had 20 days from date the decision was mailed out. If this was a settlement you signed, you had 25 days from the date the judge's Order... Read more »

Was this 'coordinator' the Employer/Supervisor of the server redirected to the trash? If not, this worker should have declined; if he becomes ill, he can pursue a Personal Injury claim against the Coordinator. If there IS an employment relationship between the Coordinator and the... Read more »

Sadly, YES. You can try to oppose this, have all records copied and delivered to the Workers Comp Judge to review and ask that the comp judge deliver only the relevant records to the defense. BUT that takes weeks and months and the insurer will likely stop providing benefits while you oppose... Read more »

This is listed in WORKERS COMPENSATION so I'll have to presume there is an on-the-job-injury and the worker has placed her physical condition in issue requesting treatment and disability payments; when there is a WCAB Case Number, the subpena service can get those records because the injured... Read more »

You're in PHOENIX? I can only answer for CALIFORNIA workers comp claims. The SMART solution is to change Primary Treating PHysicians to one who is only your side instead of 'in bed' with the insurance company. IF the doctor you are with now already wrote "MMI" then... Read more »

The Labor Code just says 'reasonable' which is as clear as mud. The FEE DISCLOSURE FORM you signed at the outset says 9-12%. The WCAB Judges regularly award 15%. The judges in MARINA DEL REY award 18% because the rent is so much higher around that region. But it's just... Read more »

Sadly, no! There is nothing in the Labor Code that requires the Employer or INsurer to pay for the increase in residential electricity during periods of Temporary Disability. The Labor Code only requires payment for 'reasonable' treatment (which includes mileage reimbursement to the... Read more »

if you went to a doctor 'in bed' with the insurance adjuster, he may be writing you have ZERO rateable Whole Person Impairment from this injury. I set a trial for one just like that today...the treating physician said the worker had permanent restrictions from her injury but no... Read more »

The trouble with this scenario is the damage was done when this doctor was selected. There is no mechanism for a lawyer to get paid anything in this fact pattern. I read there already were hearings. This means a judge has made a ruling. A ruling has to be appealed within a few days. PLUS there... Read more »