Workers Comp Lawyer

A package car driver for a courier delivery service has received $215,000 in benefits for his workers compensation case, according to Libertyville attorney Douglas Rallo.  The claimant’s hand truck was on the pavement at a delivery location.  When the claimant was stepping out of his package car to make the delivery, he jammed his knee into the hand truck.  This resulted in a “valgus misalignment” which required surgery.  A “valgus misalignment” is an outward bending of the lower leg which causes “knock knees”.  This can be treated by removal of a piece of bone of the inner leg to achieve proper re-alignment.

The claimant had injured the same knee several years before and settled his first workers compensation case for 30% loss use of the leg.  This raises the issue of “credits” or offsets, where a worker’s compensation claimant has multiple injuries to the same part.  “When a claimant settles a workers compensation case for a specific body part, the employer is entitled to a credit against future injuries to that same part of the body”, said Rallo.  “For example, if a claimant’s original settlement was for thirty percent, and the second injury was forty percent, the claimant would only receive the difference – ten percent.  In this case, I was able to negotiate a settlement equivalent to 75% disability of the leg for this UPS driver, which is a very high settlement, especially since he is back working full-time, with no medical restrictions whatsoever”.

Questions about this article?  Call Douglas Rallo at 847-816-8780.