Workers' compensation claims are relatively simple to understand in principle. Basically, employees are automatically provided certain types of compensation for injuries sustained in the course of work, and employers are assured in knowing how much they will have to spend without ever worrying about future court and legal expenses.
However, workers' compensation claims are not always cut and dry in practice. Issues arise constantly in the course of workers' compensation claims, such as with billing or when amounts paid by an employer to the employee (or their family) turns out to be incorrect.
In a recent Missouri case, an employee of an electric company died from extended asbestos exposure. The electric company was ordered to pay the man's widow a weekly death benefit. Somehow through billing errors, the company had overpaid the widow around $20 extra a week until they realized the mistake-- when the overpayments accumulated to over $4,000.
The electric company brought the widow to court based on the first workers compensation claims to dispute the amounts paid and to seek reimbursement for extra monies paid.
The court in this case determined that the widow did not owe the electrical company or their insurance provider for the extra money. Further, the court also found that the widow's future payments could not be reduced lower than the original amount owed to her per week. Meaning, she would no longer receive the additional $20 a week, but beyond that adjustment nothing else could be altered in the amount she was paid as determined by the first workers compensation lawsuit.
As this case shows, there is more to a workers compensation claim than simple payments to an employee injured on the job. Several situational circumstances may arise in workers compensation lawsuits. It is important when dealing with such suits to contact a workers compensation lawyer who has dealt with similar claims before.
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