I work with dogs for a non-profit organization as a behaviorist. On Thanksgiving, I was putting a fairly aggressive dog into his kennel when he started flipping out, tangling himself up in the rope lead, which had gone through his mouth and was choking him. I had to remove the lead and when his jaw became free, he lunged for my face and bit me in the eye and mouth. He didn't do any actual damage to the eyeball, but he tore my bottom eyelid open, destroying the tear duct.
I had to have plastic surgery to repair the damage to the eye. About a month ago, I had a surgeon attempt to repair the tear duct and try to reconstruct it from what was left, unfortunately, nothing was. My next option is to have a small tube implanted into my eye, I believe drilled through a nasal bone, into my nostril. This will be in there till I die with me having to have it cleaned 1-2 times a year for life.
Day to day my eye continues to hurt. Some days, it feels like someone is punching me in the eye or pressing in on my eye ball. The eye tears constantly, because the tears can't drain. This has affected my vision. The damaged eye does not see as well as the other, with it being partially blurry most of the time. So, have the surgery, which isn't a guarantee it'll even work, if it does, have to have this treatment for life. Or, deal with some pain, watery eye and partially blurry vision.
I figured it'd take the work comp to pay me what was owed. I got my back wages paid to me last week, 3 months later and it wasn't my back wages, it was about 70 percent of what I make.
I have been told already that they will probably not want to pay for the surgery, instead, close up my claim and settle. I would be fine with this.
What I am wondering is how long should I really expect this process to take? What kind of settlement offer would be fair? What would the minimum offer be, or maximum? Should I get a lawyer already (which I'd really want to avoid if possible)? I'd rather get a settlement, get the money and be done with this so I can go on with my life.
OK we need a state as every state is different....and you need someone to look out for you......to explain all your options....this is your eye for goodness sake and as I have been having to deal with my eye the last 2 weeks I wouldnt settle poop till I have done everything to fix it.......now as to your wages 66% is the norm and some states have caps.....so saying if you are getting 70 % you are lucky as you will pay no taxes on this.....there is no get on with my life so be very careful 2 years AFTER SETTLEMENT I am having issues I now have to pay for because I settled remember no insurance will pay on it after it has been a WC issue.....so be very careful what you do.....dont let anyone rush you to settle
It's almost impossible for some one on here to give you a min or max on a settlement. You will not get rich in the end. If you do settle without getting everything you need done on your eye you will be paying for it out of pocket. And I would bet it will cost more then your settlement amount. Please don't be in a hurry to settle, take your time and speak with a lawyer or two. find out everything you can about your options. Make sure you are doing what is best.
Oh yes, I agree with Jayne. I wouldn't be in such a hurry to settle, since insurance wouldn't pay for anything that happens after you do..I'm thinking it might be considered a pre-existing or something of that nature. It sounds like your not wanting to do the surgery, but are there any long term problems if you don't? I think that I would be finding out about that and make that decision from there and if there would be something, I would push for comp to pay. Finally, don't settle at all without a lawyer, they always try to pay the least of what they have to...it is insurance after all...and heaven forbid, if after you settle you find out something more about your eye that's worse..they won't do anything to fix it, since you signed away that right when you settled. At least in my state, they can't fire you if your on comp, but they can if you settle, since you lose that protection.
Deescows, what state are you in? I am not aware of any state that prevents termination while on comp. None will allow you to be fired BECAUSE of comp, but to the best of my knowledge, all states allow termination at some point, as long as the companys policies are consistent and not retribution.
Deescows, what state are you in? I am not aware of any state that prevents termination while on comp. None will allow you to be fired BECAUSE of comp, but to the best of my knowledge, all states allow termination at some point, as long as the companys policies are consistent and not retribution.
**************What I meant was that they can't fire you for taking comp and following what the company wants you to do. I'm in Indiana and I know that...according to what the business people I'm friendly with...that here they might have trouble denying you unemployment, should you get terminated.
My daughter had pulled her whole bottom eyelashes off with the lid with a rug hook when she was 2 yrs. old. She had the same problem as you as far as the tear duct and wanting to put a tube in there. She actually did not have fluid and it was dry. She ended up not getting the surgery and she is 24 today. She had no trouble with her eye and they did a beautiful job putting her lid back together but when she went for her driving test and had to read the letters she could not get one letter right. I thought she was teasing but all these years she never said she had trouble reading. She had her eyes checked and has to wear glasses to drive.
The reason I am telling you that above is because I do not know how old you are but do know that you may need glasses some day if you do not wear any now and have to have your eyes checked all the time ( so many times a year) and this could run into big money if the insurance co. does not pay due to it being a work injury. You have to remember that your eyes could get alot worse and end up needing the surgery and if you settle you might have a hard time with your personal insurance paying.
The settlement amount might not be much at all. Did they send you for a IME yet? Did you get a rating from your doctor? These are things you need to have done. I never had a lawyer for my case and had a 31% rating. I was sent to the IC IME and they gave me a 10%. Of course the IC won because they found the IC doctor more credible which was BS. This is some of the games they may play wiht you. It would not hurt to get a free consult.
These are all appreciated. I am in Nevada. I have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon next week. I did talk to my case worker and she explained that I need to see a doctor so they can determine percent of disability. I'm not in a huge rush to settle, I was just hoping I could avoid a lawyer, but it doesn't look like I will. I know this will drag on some, which I hate. I have had my sight/eye checked by 3 doctors now and there isn't any damage to the eye. My vision issues are due to there being too much moisture from my tears not draining. I have been explained in detail about the next surgery that is recommended and I really don't think I want it. From the many people I talked to, doctors and who not, this sort of injury is rare, especially it being caused by a dog. I was hoping maybe someone had something similar happen at work and was curious as to what kind of settlement offer was made.
My daughter had pulled her whole bottom eyelashes off with the lid with a rug hook when she was 2 yrs. old. She had the same problem as you as far as the tear duct and wanting to put a tube in there. She actually did not have fluid and it was dry. She ended up not getting the surgery and she is 24 today. She had no trouble with her eye and they did a beautiful job putting her lid back together but when she went for her driving test and had to read the letters she could not get one letter right. I thought she was teasing but all these years she never said she had trouble reading. She had her eyes checked and has to wear glasses to drive.
The reason I am telling you that above is because I do not know how old you are but do know that you may need glasses some day if you do not wear any now and have to have your eyes checked all the time ( so many times a year) and this could run into big money if the insurance co. does not pay due to it being a work injury. You have to remember that your eyes could get alot worse and end up needing the surgery and if you settle you might have a hard time with your personal insurance paying.
The settlement amount might not be much at all. Did they send you for a IME yet? Did you get a rating from your doctor? These are things you need to have done. I never had a lawyer for my case and had a 31% rating. I was sent to the IC IME and they gave me a 10%. Of course the IC won because they found the IC doctor more credible which was BS. This is some of the games they may play wiht you. It would not hurt to get a free consult.