We all know that truck drivers tend to get a bad rap, but what happens when good people get grouped into that “box”? They need to get a good lawyer like our client did in one of our most recent workers’ comp cases that we settled.

In this case, our client – a truck driver – had gotten to his destination and was trying to load a pallet onto his box truck as instructed by his company. Unfortunately for him, the floor was uneven and when he tried to move the loaded pallet on the uneven floor, the pallet got away from him and he popped his back. Complicating the situation, our client had a preexisting narrowing of the spinal canal from a previous work-related injury.

After the orthopedic surgeon picked by the insurance company said that the work-related injury was the prevailing factor in causing our client’s symptoms and his need for surgery. The insurance company wanted to settle by closing out his claim and not pay for his surgery. We declined that offer.   The insurance company then wanted to send the client for a second opinion or “Independent Medical Exam”. We declined to make our client voluntarily available for this exam. We believed that their desire for another opinion was not reasonable because the surgeon chosen by the insurance company had already given an opinion on this matter. This was simply an effort by the insurance company to avoid paying for our client’s surgery.

A judge agreed with us and declined to order our client to appear for the exam.

After our client had his back surgery, we believed that our client was likely permanently and totally disabled. The definition of permanently and totally disabled is that given our client’s age, relevant work experience and disability that no employer in Missouri could realistically be expected to hire him. The experts we had our client evaluated by agreed with our position.

As the case moved towards trial, the insurance company tried various maneuvers to try to evade responsibility. Those efforts included (unsuccessfully) trying to obtain our client’s urological records in an attempt to blame his back pain on prostate cancer and seeking (unsuccessfully) an order from the Court compelling our client undergo a dubious functional capacity evaluation.

Prior to trial, the insurance company suggested meditation. The mediation was filled with absurd negotiating strategies and outsized puffery. Their initial offer was lower than they had previously offered. Our response was to tell the defense counsel to get back in her car and immediately drive back to St. Louis because we were terminating the mediation. They responded by substantially increasing their offer. Later, the insurance company said they had damaging video showing our client doing physical activities he testified he could not do. We demanded to see the video before we would negotiate. It turned out the video footage was NOT of our client, but his roommate. The insurance company then made a final “take it or leave it offer”  of $ 275.000. We told the mediator that we rejected their offer and that he could leave. Defense counsel stopped the mediator as he was leaving and wanted to negotiate further.

It was an incredibly intense and emotional case. It is never easy when you’re suffering, and no one believes you. BUT we did and were able to get the matter resolved for $400,000 including compensation for future medical bills, to ensure that our client can live comfortably with his injury.

 

If you’ve been injured at work, don’t let your company or their insurance company bully you. If your quality of life is affected, especially for the remainder of your life, then you should be compensated appropriately. Call us and we’ll help you navigate your workers’ compensation claim or case to get you what you deserve.

Not sure what to do if you’ve been injured at work? Check out our fact sheet on what you should do if you’ve been hurt at work.