CASE STUDY: Labor Lawyers Eden Rafferty Wins Workers’ Comp Settlement for Older Union Worker

Background:

A 60-year-old employee was going to work every day on a strenuous job of driving and delivering material for his company. He performed this job for over thirty years. He was having repetitive pain from his hip and knee. He wanted to keep his job but didn’t know if he could physically continue to do it. Then one day he caught his foot on a step while delivering freight and he fell to the ground. His hip was very painful. He didn’t know what to do and decided to talk to his union.

The union referred him to the legal team at Eden Rafferty because they knew this firm had been successful in dealing with workers’ comp cases.

Approach:

Attorney Jane Eden reviewed his case and agreed to represent him as she believed they could win the case. She worked with the client as a partner and teammate, sharing information and strategies. She coordinated everything – Social Security Disability, workers’ comp, and a workers’ comp settlement. The case became more complicated medically, and that added more weight to the legal claim for disability.

The employee’s doctor stated that he needed a hip replacement. While the need for this surgery was not solely caused by the injury, it was due to the combination of the injury and the repetitive strains/sprains that he sustained every day while performing his heavy job.

While the employee was recovering from the hip replacement, his medical team realized that he had also damaged his knee in that same injury. The employee ended up having medical treatment for the knee including two surgeries and injections.

Workers’ comp paid for the initial injury and hip surgery. They also paid for the subsequent knee surgeries. After the surgeries, the employee’s company offered him a “light duty” job. But the “easier” job was in a very cold facility and required six to eight hours a day of walking. Attorney Eden felt that, for someone who just had a hip replacement surgery and two knee surgeries, this was not really appropriate.

Because of her concern about the job offer, and because the employee was not getting better, Attorney Eden filed a claim for permanent and total disability, which is another category of entitlement. As she put it, “We ended up settling the case for a very fair amount, because the insurer knew that there was definite potential that they would be paying him for a long time. Instead, we settled it.”

Along the way, Attorney Eden had filed for Social Security Disability for the employee, proving that he couldn’t work in that same job again. Because he was close to retirement age, he did not have to prove that he could not work at any job in the open labor market, but just had to prove that he could not return to his job. Since he had significant medical conditions, he was given social security disability at an early level.

Result:

Attorney Eden and her team won a significant settlement for the employee. Since the employee’s job of driving and delivering was strenuous, the doctor agreed with the legal team that the injuries were due to repetitive sprains and strains rather than years of wear and tear that led to the disability. Wear and tear would have been exclusionary under workers’ comp.

Attorney Eden encourages anyone who is concerned about their work-related injury to call Eden Rafferty. Taking legal action can remove the burden so many employees have about their jobs, their income, and their future. They don’t have to face these issues alone.

DISCLAIMER: This is a real case study of an actual case from our files. Details pertaining to the client have been changed to protect their privacy. These case studies are published to demonstrate real outcomes. We do not guarantee a similar case will get the same result. Please note that we post results at our discretion, therefore while many case studies are average results, others are notable for their exceptional outcomes.