Workplace Injury

Appellate Court Reinstates Injured Truck Driver’s Benefits

April 17, 2019 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Injury Lawyer Matt Arnold answers the question: “What happens if the at-fault driver doesn’t have insurance?”

Imagine you are at work, performing the required duties, when something happens and you find yourself injured and facing months, or even years, of recovery. Your entire life is changed by this one incident. Is anyone responsible for the medical bills and expenses that you have after being injured at work? What if this injury impedes on your ability to perform your job at all in the foreseeable future? The North Carolina appellate court has rules on benefits to individuals who have been injured at work.

OSHA Violations can Lead to Injury

March 27, 2019 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “Can my employer fire me because I filed a workers’ compensation claim?”

Every year, the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) publishes a list of the past year’s most frequently cited workplace safety standards. OSHA exists to set and enforce workplace safety standards. OSHA is dedicated to maintaining standards for a worker’s safety in the workplace and their rights if they should be injured while on the job. If there are violations of an OSHA standard, the workplace is cited and can face serious consequences. The following are the 10 most commonly cited standards in 2018.

Court of Appeals Hears Case on Workers’ Compensation

October 17, 2018 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “What if my employer doesn’t have workers’ comp insurance or doesn’t file the claim?”

Employees who are injured while working at their job sometimes have the opportunity to seek compensation for their injuries in the form of a workers’ compensation suit. This is a complicated process that has developed over the years. Recently, the North Carolina Court of Appeals made a ruling on workers’ compensation cases. In Seguro-Suarez v. Key Risk Insurance Company, the court of appeals found that an employee can sue the workers’ compensation insurance company for malfeasance that occurred in civil court.

Rights of Construction Workers in North Carolina

September 5, 2018 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “Can my employer fire me because I filed a workers’ compensation claim?”

Look around. Every building and structure is a result of the hard work of construction workers who make it their life’s work to be a part of the construction of buildings and structures. Working in construction is not without its risks. Every day, construction workers across the country go to emergency rooms with injuries sustained on the job. One of the biggest risks of injuries to construction workers is the danger of serious falls. However, that is not the only danger to construction workers. In North Carolina, the leading cause of fatal accidents in the state are incidents in which the worker has been “struck-by” an object. It is important for construction workers to know their rights when it comes to work related injuries and for their families to know their rights in the event of a fatality.

Mistakes to Avoid After Being Injured in the Workplace

July 11, 2018 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “Can my employer fire me because I filed a workers’ compensation claim?”

Workplace accidents happen all the time. Mistakes happen, equipment fails, and other unplanned events occur on a daily basis. A workplace accident should not be the end of your career or a financially devastating situation. In North Carolina, employees who are injured while on the job might be entitled to workers’ compensation to help them through the tough times that might follow an accident. While compensation should be available, this is not always the case. There are certain things an employee must do following an accident and similarly, there are mistakes that every employee should try to avoid after an injury. Errors after an accident can be devastating to a workers’ compensation claim and result in a loss of compensation for the injured employee.

Ruling In New York May Give Plaintiffs Leverage

May 2, 2018 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “How do worker comps payments work?”

We all know that in personal injury cases, settlement is a common end result. Though there are lots of reasons why this is the case, a big one is the degree of uncertainty on both sides. No one knows for sure how a jury may find, no matter how strong the case may appear in advance. The reality is that going to trial is inherently risky. Settling helps reduce that risk, ensuring you walk away with something, even if it is not what you may have hoped for.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Rejects Workers’ Comp Law Catering To Special Interests

February 7, 2018 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “What if my employer doesn’t have workers’ comp insurance or doesn’t file the claim?”

We routinely hear that special interest groups exert outsize influence on legislation. Whether at the local, state or federal level, those industries with money to spend and lobbyists to hire are able to profoundly influence laws that govern us all. Though we might hear about this as a general area of concern, it is not often that we have specific examples of this playing out. One recent case in Oklahoma that made it all the way to the state Supreme Court did just that, revealing the power of certain moneyed special interest groups and the importance of an active judiciary to keep that power in check.

Texas Court Sides With Worker In Personal Injury Case

January 31, 2018 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury Lawyer Matt Arnold answers the question: “If I am injured in a car accident or at work what should I do?”

It is unfortunately all too common in personal injury cases that employers and insurance companies to dig up dirt on injured employees. In cases where a company has a lot of money on the line, it is routine for the company to pull out all the stops in putting together its defense. This means combing through social media accounts, talking to friends and family members and even hiring private investigators to follow the person. The goal of all of these actions is to find an inconsistency in the injured person’s behavior that can be used against him or her in court. These inconsistencies can make jurors doubt the injured worker’s claims and lead to a reduced injury award.

Georgia Injury Case Holds Employer Liable For Contractor’s Actions

September 13, 2017 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”

A terrible case in Georgia appears to have resulted in a massive penalty for one of the country’s largest rental car companies, Avis. The case shows that though corporations often try and evade liability by labeling contractors as “independent”, this trick is not entirely effective in eliminating legal risk, even for companies as large and wealthy as Avis.

What’s the Scaffold Law?

July 26, 2017 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury Lawyer Matt Arnold answers the question: “If I am injured in a car accident or at work what should I do?”

A recent legal article about liability for harm suffered by employees on-the-job contained a curious reference to a New York law that few outside of the state ever encounter. The law is known as the Scaffold Law and it apples to construction projects located in New York State. To learn more about the law, its origins, its critics and what may come of it, keep reading.