[amsterdam]

I was injured in 2002 at work, had a 6,000lb machine fall on me. Broke my tib/fib/ankle and clavicle. I have had ongoing pain ever since. I had a third party settlement. I had the option of keeping my comp available for future/ongoing need by paying it back the cost to date on all surgeries/time off work, etc. I had to pay back 50k to keep the benefit, which I did.
If I didn't pay it back, I would have lost it. I was still having treatment and knew I would probably be dealing with it for the rest of my life, so I opted to pay the 50k and keep it.

Since the injury occured I had been on/off work due to pain , surgery. The employer wouldn't let me return with restrictions. I was making very little money on comp, and thought I might be able to return and then work on getting transferred to another position in the company. I basically told the docs that in my job I could sit down as needed and wouldn't overdo it. When I returned, I had much more trouble than I thought, difficulty being on my feet. I tried everything I could to get a transfer, even flew out to WA state to have an interview with another branch. The only job I could do after being injured would be a desk job, in which they all require bachelors degrees to make anywhere near what I made as a journeyman electrician.

So being back at work, in the facility where I almost lost my life due to the employers incompetentcy. I was trying to do my job but everyday was torture because I always found myself reaching my limits due to pain. It was embarrasing and I felt I had to get out. I started looking for jobs, but the economy in MI was in bad shape. I found a position at another employer in WA and even though it was a 30k/yr paycut, I wanted out bad. I took a 50k loss to sell my home in MI, spent 10k on moving my family to WA and thought everything was great. My new employer agreed to work around my school schedule while I got my bachelors degree. They had me on a 2 year job that was going to give me great experience to move up in the company. Even though I was going to be making much less, I thought the outlook was good.

About 6 months after moving to WA for that job, the company had issues with the customer and the project was ended. I was laid off and given no warning. I tried to get unemployment, but was denied because I am in school. My wife and I just had a child 4 months before the layoff, so things are very tough. I can't go back to what I did before my injury because of the pain, so I decided to call workers comp. I was told that they would send me to an IME before they did anything else. The pain has also increased recently and the dr's say they need to do further tests.

I'd like to know if comp would pay me my weekly benefit because I cannot work. Do I need to have a doctor state that I have restrictions in order to qualify for workers comp weekly benefits? Should I go see the doc that I've been seeing out here even if comp says they won't pay for it, since he might be the only chance I have at a doctor stating I have restrictions? I certainly don't think that the IME is going to say I have restrictions.

thanks for your time.

[Mr. Knowitall]

They can require an IME. If you don't like the outcome you can try to dispute it with your own doctor's opinion.