WORKERS' COMPENSATION
Haley v. ABB, Inc.
In January 2001, Mr. Haley slipped off a pallet while working as a stock room attendant and receiving clerk for ABB, Inc. He hurt his right knee in the fall and underwent surgery.
However, Mr. Haley's condition worsened after surgery and doctors diagnosed him with a painful and debilitating chronic nerve injury called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, or RSD. They also found considerable scar tissue in his knee joint, which contributed to his pain and limited his movement.
Almost a year after his original injury, Mr. Haley still wasn't able to walk without crutches and was unable to do any heavy lifting or other physical labor. However, he returned to work at ABB as a paperwork clerk (a madeup job) and for a while received temporary disability payments for his injury.
His pain persisted with no relief, and Mr. Haley slipped into depression as a result of his workplace injury. Eventually, Mr. Haley's depression became so disabling that he was unable to work.
Though several physicians attested to Mr. Haley's ongoing disability, ABB stopped paying Mr. Haley's temporary partial disability benefits about a year into his illness.
In October 2002, the N.C. Industrial Commission ordered ABB to pay Mr. Haley temporary partial disability benefits, plus a 10 percent penalty for past-due payments.
ABB didn't abide by the ruling, creating severe money woes for Mr. Haley. The NCIC eventually ruled that the financial hardship worsened Haley's depression to the point that it became disabling.
The Industrial Commission ultimately ruled that Mr. Haley was entitled to temporary total disability compensation, temporary partial disability compensation and compensation for medical expenses incurred for the treatment of his disability. The Commission also ordered his employer, ABB, Inc., to pay attorney's fees and a $1,000 sanction for failing to comply with the Workers' Compensation Rules. The N.C. Court of Appeals upheld the ruling in October 2005.
Also see:
What basic benefits are you entitled to under workers' compensation? (3 MB)
Find out more about Workers' Compensation and Social Security. Watch our other information videos
The following cases are reported Deuterman Law Group Workers' Compensation cases and are available for the public to access in the N.C. Court of Appeals. Reported cases tend to be significant cases where precedence has been set, or that deal with significant issues in Workers' Compensation law.
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