Broken wrist from wet floors

[christianirc]

What is the name of your state? Kansas.
I am posting this for my aunt. She is a janitor at a juvenile detention center. One day she was coming out of the bathroom and slipped on the wet floor and fell. Another janitor had been mopping and tried to yell out to her, but it was as she fell. The sign "wet floor" was at the other end of the hall... when she came out of the bathroom she was in the middle of the hall. She broke her wrist and was unable to perform tasks which her job required because the doctor said she couldn't lift over 5lbs, etc (things a janitor would need to do). She missed work for about 4 weeks (because they told her not to come in since she couldn't do anything). She did receive pay for that. It has been several months and she is still having pain and weakness in the wrist. They are no longer paying for physical therapy and she feels she still needs it. Do you think she should bring legal action against them? Do you feel she would be able to force them to pay for further physical therapy that her doctor is recommending? What about any kind of monetary compensation?
Thank you

 

[BelizeBreeze]

why has she not filed for worker's comp?

 

[christianirc]

She did receive workers comp for those few weeks she was off.

 

[tigger22472]

What she FEELS she needs is irrelevent. What has her doctor to say on the issue of needing more therapy... and what did they say when she returned to work?

 

[christianirc]

Do you feel she would be able to force them to pay for further physical therapy that her doctor is recommending? Thank you

I will ask her exactly what they said when she went back to work. Thank you for the responses.

 

[weenor]

What is the name of your state? Kansas.
I am posting this for my aunt. She is a janitor at a juvenile detention center. One day she was coming out of the bathroom and slipped on the wet floor and fell. Another janitor had been mopping and tried to yell out to her, but it was as she fell. The sign "wet floor" was at the other end of the hall... when she came out of the bathroom she was in the middle of the hall.

*****all of this is irrelevant. Workers' compensation is not a "fault" based system. She can recover if she does something stupid and she can recover if the employer does something stupid. The Kansas Workers' Compensation Act is her sole remedy against the employer. In other words she cannot sue her employer, she must receive the compensation provided for under the Act.*****

She broke her wrist and was unable to perform tasks which her job required because the doctor said she couldn't lift over 5lbs, etc (things a janitor would need to do). She missed work for about 4 weeks (because they told her not to come in since she couldn't do anything). She did receive pay for that. It has been several months and she is still having pain and weakness in the wrist. They are no longer paying for physical therapy and she feels she still needs it.

****The comp. insurer is no longer paying because, in all likelihood, the doctor and/or pt say that pt will do her no good and that she is at maximum medical improvement. In other words, there is nothing more medically that they can do.********

Do you think she should bring legal action against them? Do you feel she would be able to force them to pay for further physical therapy that her doctor is recommending?

****she probably should get a lawyer involved if nothing else to explain to her how the system works. Under most state wc laws she can get a second opinion as to whether more pt and/or treatment is warranted. If nothing else can be done, the doctor will, if he has not already done so, give her a permanent impairment rating to account for the loss in physical functioning. That impairment rating (%) is mutltiplied by the number of weeks listed in the Kansas workers' compensation statutes (schedules) for a dollar amount that should would be entitled to.

What about any kind of monetary compensation?
Thank you

See above. Since her injury is to a scheduled member it is unlikely that she can receive addtional compensation for vocational loss. However, a local lawyer, after reviewing her medical records, is int hte best position to advise her on that.

 

[christianirc]

Thank you Weenor, for you thorough and informative response. I will tell her to seek a wc lawyer for advice if she wishes to pursue if further.
Thank you again,
Brenda