Do I Need To Be Looking For Work For My Workers’ Compensation Claim If I Cannot Perform My Position For My Employer?

The answer to this question is ABSOLUTELY! And you may also need a vocational expert to testify that you are not able to find new employment as well.

This was recently highlight by the North Carolina Court of Appeal in Fenty v. Wake County Public School System (2024). In this case an employee was injured at work in February 2020 and the employer agreed to provide payment for medical treatment and weekly disability checks for the time the employee was missing from work.

A hearing later occurred in this matter before the North Carolina Industrial Commission in September 2021, wherein the employer was requesting an Order allowing them to stop payments for weekly disability checks to the injured employee.

The evidence before the North Carolina Industrial Commission was that:

1. The injured employee was assigned permanent work restrictions due to the injury at work.
2. The injured employer was unable to perform the pre-injury position for the employer due to the assigned permanent work restrictions.
3. When the injured employee was assigned permanent work restrictions on January 12, 2021, the injured employee did not begin looking for new employment until September 28, 2021.
4. From September 28, 2021, moving forward the injured employee was looking for new employment, but unable to find it.
5. However, the vocational expert for the employer offered evidence of 22 jobs the vocational expert testified that the injured employee could obtain given the injured employee’s education, work history and permanent work restrictions.

The North Carolina Industrial Commission issued a final decision allowing the employer to stop payments for weekly disability checks to the injured employee.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals agreed with the final decision of the North Carolina Industrial Commission based on the fact the injured employee did not look for work from the time permanent work restrictions were assigned on January 12, 2021 until September 28, 2021 and based on the fact that although the injured employee began looking for new employment on September 28, 2021, without success, the employer’s vocational expert offered evidence that there were jobs the injured employee was capable of obtaining.

This case really highlights the need to search for new employment without any delay if your work restrictions prevent you from performing your pre-injury position for your employer, as well as the fact you may need to obtain the services of a vocational expert to testify concerning your inability to return to work for any new employer, should the case come before the North Carolina Industrial Commission for a hearing.

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.