Workers' Compensation

Unfortunately, sometimes the employer’s insurance company denies the claim or wrongfully refuses to pay benefits or authorize medical treatment.  Attorney Chris Evensen, of counsel to Driscoll & Associates, fights to help injured workers recover the benefits they are entitled to under Kentucky law. 

If you have been injured on the job, or if you suffer cumulative trauma or repetitive trauma in the course of your employment (i.e., you repetitively use your hands and develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome), you may be entitled to recover workers’ compensation benefits.  Additionally, if a work injury, or repetitive trauma, aggravates an underlying condition (such as Arthritis or a Degenerative Disc Disease) and causes that condition to become painful, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.   

There are four (4) benefits that injured workers may be entitled to recover:   

1. Medical Treatment:  The injured worker is entitled to all reasonable and necessary medical treatment.  The workers’ compensation carrier is required to pay for the treatment, with no co-pays or deductibles charged to the injured worker.  Medical treatment includes doctor’s visits, medication, therapy, x-rays, diagnostic tests, and surgery, plus travel reimbursement to and from medical appointments.
    
   
   
2. Temporary Total Disability Benefits (TTD): While completely restricted from work due to an injury (or under light duty restrictions that the employer is unable to accommodate), the injured worker is entitled to TTD paid weekly at 2/3 of the injured worker’s average weekly wage, up to the state maximum level.  These benefits are paid until an injured worker returns to work or is placed at maximum medical improvement by a physician.
   
   
   
3. Permanent Total Disability or Permanent Partial Disability benefits:  If, as a result of a work-related injury, the worker is unable to perform regular and sustained employment, he may be entitled to Permanent Total Disability Benefits (PTD) which are paid weekly at 2/3 of the worker’s average weekly wage up to a state maximum level, until they qualify for normal old-age Social Security Retirement Benefits.

If the injured worker is able to return to work following recovery from their injury, she might be entitled to Permanent Partial Disability Benefits (PPD).  This benefit is calculated based on an impairment rating assessed by a physician, and inserted into a mathematical formula which takes into account the level of impairment, the injured worker’s age, education, post-injury wage level and whether the worker can physically return to the job he was performing when injured. 


PPD benefits are paid for 425-520 weeks, depending on the level of impairment. If a claim does not settle and is submitted for a judicial determination, the Administrative Law Judge can only award weekly benefits for 425-520 weeks. If, however, a settlement is reached, the PPD benefits can be paid in a lump sum, after reduction to “present value.” 



4. Vocational Rehabilitation:  If the injured worker is unable to return to the work he was performing when injured and lacks transferable job skills to obtain other employment, the Administrative Law Judge may award Vocational Rehabilitation, ordering the workers’ compensation insurer to pay to retrain and/or educate the injured worker.

If you have suffered a work-related injury and would like to discuss your claim, please call attorney Chris Evensen at (502) 587-5052 or toll free at 1-877-587-5052. 

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