Comp Settlement

by goodnatured » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:58 am

Just had a nephew go through a year of compensation hearings, he was hurt on a drilling rig and ripped his rotator cups, he can not do this type of work anymore so he is going through the office of vocational rehabilitation to get retrained in another field that won't be as laborous and won't affect his injury.

He was initially promised around $80,000, when it was all said and done he got $40,000 and the attorney took 33% of that. He settled out last week and is moving on with his life.

I am curious as to how a settlement is chopped up like this, this don't even cover his wages for the year. The wage and the availability of overtime he would have worked which they could have verified through his wage record would have been over $45,000.

It is all done now, the paperwork signed and I am sure the check is on it's way. I am just curious about how they can chop it up, where you end up with half of the initial offer, makes you wonder, should you jump at the first offer and let it go.

Total Comments: 11

Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 01:45 pm Post Subject:

Depends where did this inital 80k figure come from? Couldn't have been an offical offer unless he refused it and rolled the dice with an attorney which, if that's the case, he lost big time.

Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 02:08 pm Post Subject:

Well his attorney was yacking about getting more than the initial offer, which was the $80,000, I think that is how this all played out. The attorney did not want to settle for the initial amount, stating that they should be able to get more, in the end he got less.

Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 02:13 pm Post Subject:

yeah just what i thought they rolled the dice (attorney), all companies can and do (usually) withdraw offers after 'x' amount of days, and isn't unheard or or even uncommon to start lowering the offers...poor nephew, i'll bet he's kicking himself, couldh've had 80k all by himself....rather than having to 'share' much less with an attorney...dang that sucks! I'd be really ticked off at that attorney if it were me and might even consider a malpractice suit.

Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 02:32 pm Post Subject:

Right now, I am trying to get him into the rehab program where I work, They are supposed to calling him on Tuesday. He has gotten himself in a little bit of trouble as a young man, he has been good for a while now. He just got custody of his 9 year old daughter and is living with his mother.
I want him to get back into the workforce as soon as possible because I know that idle time for this young man is no good, he will end up in trouble for something stupid, not violent, just stupid. He has done good for so long I want him to stay on track. Women and booze are his downfall. He will have to take $9000 and pay court costs and attorney fees to the attorney that helped him get his daughter, $5000 will go to the dead beat mom, who is really drugging it up right now, but he owes past child support.

My thoughts are that it is only money, nice to have but he has his daughter, she is safe, I was nervous about her being around the druggies her mother is hanging with now, thought something would happen to her. Her two brothers are with their grandparents, two different dad's in the situation.

It is one of those long drawn out american loser stories, drugs, drugs, drugs. He is no angel either, but I see a great change in him over the last year. Hopefully for his kid's sake he will stay on the staight and narrow, he is under the watchful eye of his mother so maybe she can have some good influence. Hopefully.

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 07:52 am Post Subject: These folks have been there, done that

goodnatured, check this out:

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 07:54 am Post Subject: nevermind

nevermind...my bad!

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:46 pm Post Subject:

I think sometimes you are better off settling out yourself, he lost out over $40,000 listening to the attorney and trying to test the insurance company. I think that if they do this and they don't win, they should have to guarentee the initial offer. That was really a big lose for him. that is a shame.

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:51 pm Post Subject:

We are all happy that he has been drug free for this long. I to think that he would have been better off settling, but you know what they say about hindsight, it is 20/20.

Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:19 am Post Subject: comp

comp is not an easy discussion. how old is your nephew and what other circumstances are involved? first they have to consider how much he could of earned ahd he still been able to work. secound did he do any thing wrong if they have any evidence like alcohol drugs or even medical drugs with restrictions they can claim your partly at fault. there is a lot of things you have to consider.

Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:34 am Post Subject:

I don't have all the details on the what happens of the day the accident happened, I know in this line of work he was in that drugs were definately going a little wild out there, don't know the specifics, don't know if he was high, they did not do blood and urine the day he went to the hospital so the company don't know either. Hard to say, if you would ask him of course the answer would be no, even if he had been, he would not have admitted to it.

I know you can not get a job at that company now with out passing a drug screening.

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