Sep 21, 2012 | Personal Injury, Uncategorized, Workers' Compensation
A man working at Marshall Steam Plant in Catawba County was trapped in a bulldozer at the plant Wednesday morning.
The emergency call was received around 6:15 a.m., where the authorities were told that the bulldozer fell in a hole where they put coal, and trapped the worker inside. Luckily, the emergency crews were able to lower down a ladder and free the worker, without the worker suffering any serious or life-threatening injuries.
In the event that the worker has been seriously hurt at while ” on the job,” he would have a valid workers compensation claim in the state of South Carolina.
The Rock Hill Workers’ Compensation Attorneys
After being injured at work, many of our clients are initially afraid of losing their jobs and are not sure if they even want to pursue a claim. In these difficult times, these are good people in tough financial situations that need help.
Attorney Robert J. Reeves has practiced workers’ compensation law for over 22 years and knows how to protect your rights as well as your job. As a former workers’ compensation insurance defense lawyer, he knows what a carrier needs to quickly evaluate your claim and get your benefits started.
Sep 19, 2012 | Uncategorized, Workers' Compensation
In a new workers’ compensation decision, the South Carolina Supreme Court actually excluded from the substantial evidence standard speculative testimony that benefited the employer, not the employee.
In review of workers’ compensation cases, the standard for reviewing decisions of the workers’ compensation commissioners is whether there is substantial evidence in support.
In this case, Hutson v. SC State Ports Authority, the only issue on appeal was whether a specific bit of testimony was speculative, and thus unable to support a ruling for wage loss.
Facts: Hutson, the employee, had been a crane operator for the port authority. He was injured while trying to remove a container from a ship, presumably manually rather than with the crane. The injury was to his lower back and legs. After shrugging the injury off as a pulled muscle, his doctor diagnosed him with a disc bulge at L2-3 and spondylosis at L5-S1. His treatment included steroid injections, physical therapy, and use of a back brace.
The problem: In testimony, Hutson mentioned that he dreamt of starting a restaurant with the workers’ compensation money he was expecting to get. This is a problem because although Hutson had never owned or worked in a restaurant and had worked as a crane operator most recently, operating a restaurant requires standing up which would defeat wage loss if substantiated.
Obviously, this is quite speculative, but the single commissioner, the workers’ compensation commission panel, and the court of appeals accepted it as substantial evidence to defeat claim of wage loss. The Supreme Court rejected the testimony as unsupported by fact and only by the injured employee’s overly hopeful testimony. It preferred use of the facts that he lost a great deal of the use of his back and the facts that he no restaurant experience and had lost the ability to work in his lucrative crane operator gig.
Fort Mill Workers’ Compensation Attorney
If you or someone you know has been injured or killed in an accident on the job, you need a serious workers’ compensation law firm. Contact our workers’ compensation attorneys at 877-374-5999. We’ll give you the help you need to get the recovery you deserve.
Sep 19, 2012 | Uncategorized, Workers' Compensation
In Belton, South Carolina, near Anderson and Clemson, a 47-year-old worker was crushed to death in an accident at a South Carolina scrap metal yard, while he was on the job. Heavy equipment equipment ran him over .
The Anderson man was run over by a machine, a track hoe, loading a truck with scrap metal.
The Coroner said the trackhoe was lifting metal in a tight space. In the tight space either the injured victim or the machine operator failed to realize what the other was doing. Despite no reporting of foul play, both the Sheriff’s Office and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are investigating the death, possibly wrongful.
Rock Hill Workers’ Compensation Attorney
If you or someone you love has been injured or killed on the job, you need a serious workers’ compensation attorney. Contact the attorneys of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower at 877-374-5999. Getting your best recovery depends on the attorney you choose. Call now.
Sep 18, 2012 | Uncategorized, Workers' Compensation
More analysis of last week’s Court of Appeals workers’ compensation decision, Lewis v. Dynasty, Inc.:
The South Carolina Court of Appeals in a workers’ compensation appeal ruled that an exotic dancer paid in cash was not an employee for the purposes of workers’ compensation.
The plaintiff was on her third night dancing at the Boom Boom Room in Columbia was shot while dancing (a few of the customers had gotten into a fight). She had not filled out an employment application nor signed an employment agreement. She simply showed up unannounced, gave the club a sort of bond, changed, and began dancing. This is apparently the custom.
The club, allegedly her employer, did not have workers’ compensation insurance as was required by law. Thus, the claim and appeals were defended by the South Carolina Uninsured Employers’ Fund.
Both the single Workers’ Compensation Commissioner and the panel ruled against the plaintiff, deciding that she was an independent contractor rather than an employee (to recover in workers’ compensation, the injured person must be an employee under the workers’ compensation statute).
The injured worker appealed the panel’s decision to the South Carolina Court of Appeals.
The only issue was whether she was an employee or an independent contractor.
In South Carolina, the analysis of whether a worker is an employee is to “examine[ ] four factors which serve as a means of analyzing the work relationship as a whole: (1) direct evidence of the right or exercise of control; (2) furnishing of equipment; (3) method of payment; [and] (4) right to fire.” Wilkinson ex rel. Wilkinson v. Palmetto State Transp. Co., 382 S.C. 295, 299, 676 S.E.2d 700, 702 (2009). Perhaps surprisingly though, the question of whether the worker is an employee is jurisdictional, which means on appeal, the appellate body “may take its own view of the preponderance of the facts upon which jurisdiction is dependent,” Pikaart v. A & A Taxi, Inc., 393 S.C. 312, 317, 713 S.E.2d 267, 270 (2011), despite none of the judges being at the trial.
Before applying the Wilkinson test, the court tips its hand, pointing out that in its view the dancer was “an itinerant artistic performer.” Since she was a travelling dancer, not tied down to any one club, and since she kept the majority of her tips, she faces something of a presumption against being an employee. Besides the court emphasizing the unorthodoxy of the situation, and the method of payment, nothing special is going on.
- Right or exercise of control – The court decided that this factor weighed against an employment relationship, despite club’s control of prices and dancing times, because the club did not tell the worker how to dance.
- Furnishment of equipment – The court disregards as unimportant under the Wilkinson analysis the equipment provided by the club, i.e. the stage, poles, couches, rooms, and music. In the view of the court, the only relevant equipment is the “equipment” brought by the dancer to the club. Thus the court finds that this factor weighs against an employment relationship.
- Method of payment – This factor weighs heavily against the worker. The dancer actually paid the club for the right to perform there, she paid the club a portion of her VIP, private dance fees, and she tipped the DJ and bartender. The club paid her nothing.
- Right to fire – The court decided that the right to fire factor weighed against the worker as well. The employment was to only last the evening, and virtually the only actions that would get a dancer kicked out were illegal.
The factors as applied by the court all weighed against the worker.
In the dissent, Judge Short, recognizing the unusualness of the situation just as the majority did, goes the opposite way. Since the club provided everything to the dancer except the dancing, since the club had the right to throw the dancer out at any time without contractual recourse, the dancer was in fact an employee rather than an independent contractor and should be entitled to a workers’ compensation recovery for being shot on the job.
Rock Hill Workers’ Compensation Attorneys
If you or someone you love has been injured in a workers’ compensation accident, you need serious legal help. At Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, we have the experience necessary to get the recovery you deserve, the best possible recovery. Call us today at 877-374-5999.
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Sep 12, 2012 | Brain Injury/Head Trauma, Uncategorized, Workers' Compensation
Columbia Police made an arrest in a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian that took pace near the intersection of Assembly and Greene Streets around 5 a.m. Wednesday.
23-year-old Natalie Jacobson was charged with felony DUI for driving into a construction zone and striking a victim construction worker.
The construction worker was a member of the Lovelace Commercial Construction crew that was doing road work at the scene at the time of the incident. According to the report, the victim was doing traffic control. Police say that the injured crew member is still in the hospital with a head injury.
It takes just an instant of inattention on the road to hit a construction worker doing his or her job. The traffic laws are strict in this area in an attempt to try and prevent what happened here. Please be aware and pay extra attention in road construction areas. The difference could literally save a person’s life.
South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Attorneys
If someone you love is seriously injured while at work on the job, call the experienced workers’ compensation attorneys of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower LLP. Our seasoned litigators have over 75 years combined trial experience. Our team of personal injury attorneys include former insurance defense lawyers, a former Registered Nurse (RN), and former criminal prosecutor. We can investigate all aspects of a serious accident and hold all parties accountable for your loss. Call us today and speak directly with one of our lawyers at 803-548-4444 or 877-374-5999 toll free. We have offices throughout South Carolina and proudly represent injured workers and their families in York County, including Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Indian Land, Tega Cay, Lake Wylie and Clover. We would be honored to have an opportunity to help you and your family get through this most difficult time in your lives.
