What's The Difference?
I have this caller, well, he eventually became a client. This guy called me up, he got hurt at work. He went to his family doctor; the doctor referred him to an orthopedic doctor. He had a back injury and both his family doctor, and the orthopedic doctor wrote a note saying that he should do light duty.
So, when you're going to work in the off work note from a doctor, it can either be a note that says you can't work at all or it can be a note that says light duty, no standing or lifting more than 20 pounds or more than 10 pounds. This guy had a very physical job and so actually, the family doctor told him not to work at all and the orthopedic doctor gave him a light duty work note where it was like no sitting and standing repetitively and no lifting above 20 pounds. Well, this guy worked in a factory, and he had to lift more than 50 pounds, basically all day.
The main reason he called me is that the company was calling him and saying,
“You got to come to work.”
They provided him with the off work note and they still wanted him to come to work and they actually threatened his job. They told him,
“If you don't come in, we're going to fire you, we don't do work comp here.”
That's what they told him, I'll tell you what, I told him the way workers comp works is if you have an off work note or a light duty modified duty note from a doctor and your job requires you to do things that exceed that modified duty, and it's a really bad idea for you to go to work.
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You Only Have One Body In Life
The main reason why is like I said in other videos, you get one body in life. And if you go back to work and don't follow your doctor's orders, you could easily hurt yourself much worse. So, I don't like to see my clients get hurt at all. But certainly, you don't want to get hurt worse, you ought to follow your doctor's work restrictions and the company can't force you back to work.
They’re not allowed to call you up and say, “We don't care about your doctor's note. We want you to come in and do it.”
They Will Have Penalties
And if they do that, there are penalties in workers comp, so we can get a case filed and get in front of the arbitrator and actually get them penalized for the act of doing that, because that's dirty pool. But there's one exception, so if you watch some of the other videos that I've shot, the company can hire their own doctor to examine you--not to treat you.
You get to pick who treats you and I rarely or never recommend that somebody treat with the company doctor. But the company, the insurance, and the workers comp insurance company can hire a doctor to examine you almost as many times as they want to. But your doctor directs your treatment, so they can easily, if it's a scenario where your doctor says, Jim stay home from work and the company doctor says no. He's a hundred percent ready to go to work, he doesn't need to be off work, that might be a situation where me or another workers comp lawyer might tell you to try to go to work based on how you feel.
That's how I do it, so if I got a treating doctor who says, “Don't go to work.” I'm inclined to follow that and not follow the company doctor things saying go to work. But if there's a conflict and my client feels good and my client feels like they're ready to go to work, then I'll sometimes tell them, “Look, we will get some credibility with the judge and with the insurance company if you try to go back to work and that if you can't do it report it.”
You Might Win Your Case
You can always get another off work note and then at least you tried to go back to work considering the conflict. And in a conflict like that, we're much more likely to go to court and win and get all that medical care and get that that TTD, that lost wages paid for you. Because you tried to go back to work, but you just couldn't do it. So, I hope that makes sense. The general rule is, if you have an off work note from a doctor, you are a hundred percent within your rights not to go to work. But if there's a conflict between the company doctor and your doctor and you feel up to it doesn't really hurt your case to try, but if you're not able to do it, you got to get back to your doctor right away.
Report to the doctor what they had you doing, how it made you feel, and what happened. Get your attempt to go back to work documented and then get a fresh lost work note and honor that one and it puts you in a in your best position to win the case, and get your benefits
If you've been injured and you need to talk or you have any questions, I offer a free no-obligation case strategy session. You can reach me 24/7 at 312-540-500. I am happy to answer your questions or you can get more information at my website at www.DeSalvolaw.com.
