How Important Is It That I Confirm With The North Carolina Industrial Commission That My Employer Accepted Liability For My Workers’ Compensation Claim Early In The Claim?

The answer is, Very Important. The reason for this was recently addressed by the North Carolina Court of Appeals in Godley v. New Hanover Medical Group (2023).

In this case the injured employee had a history of pre-existing arthritis in his left shoulder, but he sustained an injury to his left shoulder at work. The employer accepted liability for the injured employee’s left shoulder injury. It is important to note that the employer did this by filing a form with the North Carolina Industrial Commission noting their acceptance of liability for the injured employee’s injury at work.

The issue of whether the injured employee’s ongoing medical treatment was the result of his injury at work vs. his pre-existing condition was brought before the North Carolina Industrial Commission. The injured employee’s treating physician testified that he could not say whether the ongoing medical treatment for the injured employee’s left shoulder was due to his injury at work vs. his pre-existing left shoulder arthritis.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that because the employer accepted liability for the injured employee’s left shoulder injury there is a legal presumption that the additional medical treatment for the injured employee’s left shoulder is due to the workplace injury. The court further noted that the treating physician’s inability to say whether the ongoing medical treatment for the injured employee’s left shoulder was due to his injury at work vs. his pre-existing left shoulder arthritis only meant that the employer did not rebut this legal presumption regarding ongoing medical treatment. As a result, the court ruled that the employer was responsible for paying for the ongoing medical treatment for the injured employee’s left shoulder.

This case highlights the fact that as soon as possible an injured employees needs to confirm that the employer has accepted liability for the injury at work with the North Carolina Industrial Commission, so that if at some point the treating physician cannot say whether the ongoing medical treatment was due to the injury at work vs. a pre-existing condition that the employer will still be responsible for paying for medical treatment for the injured employee.

Should you have any questions about this or any of issues involving your work-related injury, please feel free to reach out to one of the Board Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardinal Law Partners for a free consultation by calling (833) 444-4127.