Q: How does quitting affect my claim? My employer sent me to their doctor when I gave my one week notice.
I injured my shoulder in January because I left heavy boxes and do repetitive work. I let the manager know I was hurt and she didn't seem too concerned and even suggested that I was injured somewhere else. She continued to ask me if I had seen my personal doctor for months after that but since this is my first job I wasn't sure what needed to be done. I gave them my one week notice last Wednesday and the supervisor asked me if I had been injured on the job and not reported it so I let him know about my injury. He accused me of not reporting it to the correct person when I let him know that I informed the manager months ago. He said he wanted me to see their doctor before I leave so I did. Turns out I have a shoulder impingement but can continue to work with work restrictions. How does quitting affect my claim and what outcome can I expect from all this? I'm in a lot of pain and can't lift my arm without my shoulder popping.
A:
Quitting is THE WORST move in the middle of a workers comp claim!! If a reporting physician writes you are capable of modified duty and you quit, the insurer does not have to pay you a dime. The employer will claim that if you just had not quit, the employer would have provided light work per the doctor's orders. So you won't get any temporary disability payments if you quit.
THEN if you get worse or don't heal, the insurer will sue your new employer for 'contribution'. The insurer will ask the reporting doctor if your new job duties made your disability worse or your healing slower, and if the doctor says the new job aggravated any problem, the new boss gets sued because of you.
THE SMART injured worker puts the injury claim IN WRITING to the boss and the work comp insurance company, selects a real treating physician from that insurer's Medical Provider Network (or hires a lawyer if you can't figure out how to do that), gets their shoulder range of motion back, applies for and gets Unemployment Insurance if the shoulder never gets back to where you can do that old job safely, then after getting all the UI , negotiates a top dollar settlement for that voluntary resignation.
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