07-31-2015, 12:14 AM
I'm in Tennessee. I've been off work for two months with a back injury and I haven't received any wage payments since my injury. Here's the back story.
I was injured on May 23, 2015. I filled out an injury report before I left that day but didn't request a workers comp claim. I went home thinking my back would feel better if I took some pain medicine and rested. That didn't happen so I ended up at a late night clinic and was told I had a pulled muscle in my back and was taken off work for a week. After that week it hadn't gotten any better but I went back to work and filled out a workers comp claim and worked 8 hours that day on light duty as assigned by my supervisor. After the 8 hours I was in unbearable pain. I left that day and I haven't been back since. I talked to the lady that handled my workers comp claim and she said I was fine with being off because she knew I was in pain.
I was assigned a claims adjuster to make my doctors appointment and take care of my claim. I was told by my work that she would take care of things from that point on. It was over 2 weeks before I even heard from the claims adjuster. My conversation was recorded and I told her I was off work because of my injury. I just seen the doctor on July 22, 2015. I haven't received any wage payments since I was injured.
Now my question. Should I have been receiving wage payments of 66 2/3rds of my salary since my injury or do I receive nothing if the doctor says it's a preexiting injury since I've had back problems in the past? I was under the impression that I should be receiving weekly payments until the claim was denied. I just need to know the facts so I know what to do next. I'm waiting on an MRI to be approved now. It's been a week since that was started. The adjuster won't return phone calls or emails so it makes this very frustrating. Thanks for any advice.
I was injured on May 23, 2015. I filled out an injury report before I left that day but didn't request a workers comp claim. I went home thinking my back would feel better if I took some pain medicine and rested. That didn't happen so I ended up at a late night clinic and was told I had a pulled muscle in my back and was taken off work for a week. After that week it hadn't gotten any better but I went back to work and filled out a workers comp claim and worked 8 hours that day on light duty as assigned by my supervisor. After the 8 hours I was in unbearable pain. I left that day and I haven't been back since. I talked to the lady that handled my workers comp claim and she said I was fine with being off because she knew I was in pain.
I was assigned a claims adjuster to make my doctors appointment and take care of my claim. I was told by my work that she would take care of things from that point on. It was over 2 weeks before I even heard from the claims adjuster. My conversation was recorded and I told her I was off work because of my injury. I just seen the doctor on July 22, 2015. I haven't received any wage payments since I was injured.
Now my question. Should I have been receiving wage payments of 66 2/3rds of my salary since my injury or do I receive nothing if the doctor says it's a preexiting injury since I've had back problems in the past? I was under the impression that I should be receiving weekly payments until the claim was denied. I just need to know the facts so I know what to do next. I'm waiting on an MRI to be approved now. It's been a week since that was started. The adjuster won't return phone calls or emails so it makes this very frustrating. Thanks for any advice.
