[havanail]

My wife was injured at her work (broken leg bones requiring a plate and several screws). She is employed by the state of Illinois, and filed a claim under workers compensation. The first offer was minimal and a condition of the settlement was that she resign her job. Her lawyer advised her to refuse the offer which she did. The second offer was for about 250% of the original offer. She has been unable to decide whether she would accept the second offer or go to arbitration. Is there a time limit as to how long she has to decide whether to accept the offer without losing her claim?

[LawResearcherMissy]

What has her lawyer said?

[havanail]

Her attorney has suffered a stroke, and will probably be unable to handle her case.

[4eyedbuzzard]

There are a couple of concerns I would have here, the biggest being them wanting your wife to give up a government job as part of a settlement, which might not be the best thing given the current and future economic conditions. Another concern would be them terminating her. I would seek out the services of another attorney to advise me. Perhaps the former lawyer's office can be of some help.

Note that as a state employee, the commissions decisions/rulings are final and cannot be appealed to the courts, so I would make sure that any decision to take a lump sum or go to arbitration is extremely well thought out.


http://www.iwcc.il.gov/index.htm
http://www.iwcc.il.gov/faq.htm

[havanail]

Thanks, 4eyedbuzzard. I forgot to add that the second offer did not require her to resign from her job as a condition of the settlement. The orthopedic surgeon that put the plates and screws in her leg (3 breaks in the left leg right at the lower end by the ankle) mentioned that they might want to cash her out and retire her but they have made no mention of that .

[4eyedbuzzard]

Not knowing your wife's age and retirement eligibility from the original post I just wanted to caution you regarding the future earnings aspect as it can be very hard to get employment at the same level after a WC injury when you've been severed from the original employer.

If she's eligible to return to her position or for retirement and they're no longer pushing for resignation that throws a whole different spin on it.

You're going to have to crunch the numbers on the current settlement offer and any retirement scenario (and estimate what you might be able to negotiate and/or what an arbitrator might order) vs staying on wage indemnity benefits, returning to work, voc rehab, etc and factor in how a final settlement may be affected by that choice. There is apparently a point at which IL will be able to demand settlement/arbitration especially if she's reached maximum medical improvement/medical endpoint.

Just as a general rule, from my personal experience as an injured worker, you want to control the settlement process as much as possible and obviously negotiate from a position of power, while the insurer is still unsure of their ultimate exposure. This normally means sooner than later. An experienced attorney is usually well worth it in many instances as he/she will have a pretty good idea about a lump sum number given the circumstances and impairment rating, etc.

Glad to hear that your wife has options and some job protection here. Just be sure that she can not be terminated by length of absence. FMLA, if it applies, only provides 12 weeks protection, but there may be other protection under a CBA, state policy, or state law.

Hope all works out well.