r/WorkersComp

On September 12th at 10:45am while working for the MODOC i was running to an incident that had been called over the radio. While running I had felt what I thought was my radio falling out of my holster and hitting the back of my heel. When my foot met the ground once more I felt a pop and extreme pain shot from my heel to my knee. I fell to the ground and began the process of workman comp ( my right foot ). After being taken to the local ER they said there were no injuries they were able to see because swelling may be an issue. I was understanding of this, being that I spent 10 years working in healthcare ( 5 in trauma ) so I was given crutches and sent on my way, my first question was how am I going to drive home? Well when I asked this question I had so many blank stares, and I felt as if I had somehow become mentally incompetent over the course of the last 5 hours. so after managing to drive home in extreme pain I propped my foot up with some ice in bed. The next day I woke up and had to use the bathroom. I thought, maybe I'll try putting some weight on it while sitting down. nope, immediately I could feel in my heel something was extremely wrong, this small amount of weight should not make my foot feel as if it is going to snap in half. So I grab my crutches and wait for the weekend to be over. I asked many fellow co-workers if they were able to bring my paperwork to HR ( since this is my right foot and I'm unable to use it ) no one was able to or no one replied. so I finally went to see the first doctor and his bed side manner was atrocious, along with contradictory statements making me question his knowledge. After putting me in a boot ( that was not the right size ) I asked for a driving restriction. (now in my mind I figured it would be common sense that If im in a brace. and it's my right foot. I obviously am and have been unable to drive. ) but unfortunately I happened to find a " medical professional " that was incapable of using common sense. he looked at me and told me "well I guess you'll have to get used to driving with your left foot". At this point I googled a workers comp lawyer, I didn't know who to call. So I was sent to another doctor. At this point I've been in pain for weeks, and this female doctor was absolutely awful and made it very clear she didn't care, But I finally got a driving restriction from her but she was absolutely awful. I tried to express my concerns of pain and mobility but it fell on deaf ears. I thought, there's no way this could get worse, so at this point workers comp does not want to follow the driving restriction I clearly need, expecting me to pay 6000$ ( 300$ a day ) of my own money to travel to a job that only pays me 2400 a month. I pitched the idea of changing my schedule and having a co-worker give me rides but that was made extremely difficult by administration and HR to the point I just gave up. so now about 5 weeks later I get in to see the foot and ankle specialist. Our first meeting i recorded and he was extremely rude and had no sense of bed side manner, and to me felt like he was trying to intimidate me, after that incident would have panics attacks going to this specialist. he holds my mobility in his hands, I can't afford to go see a doctor, after weeks of asking HR to help me enroll and with no luck or no help i just started working and the next open enrollment wasn't for another month. he continued to look at my ankle even tho I expressed that it was my heel, I began to have neuropathetic symptoms and they've only gotten worse at the time of this post. I did the physical therapy, and was still having the same and now worse issues with my heel at this point. But this doctor continued to be hateful. So one visit, I was over it and then I went for another round of PT. My next visit I just started agreeing with him and smiling through the pain and suddenly his bedside manner changed, he became a somewhat decent person. At that moment I realized he wasn't wanting to help me from the very beginning. So I told him to clear me of treatment. I figured if he didn't want to help me I'm not going to waste my time anymore. I told him " I'll go back to being a cna, cna's dont have to run". From that day to the day of this post ive lost all joy. I walk with a limp now because my foot doesn't work right and it helps with the pain. I can't play with my kids. I can't fish, or mushroom hunt. I can't walk, by the end of my shifts I want to bite a belt and scream. Most days on my drive home I'm almost in tears, I feel trapped in my own body at this point. My hip, my back, my knee are starting to suffer and I just feel no joy is left in my life. I'm tired of always being in pain, I wish my lawyer would have fought harder. I wish workers comp would have just fixed my foot. I just want to be able to walk and enjoy life again.

I am about one year and a half since my injury and claim began. I am now to the point the doctor can no longer do anything for me, and wants me to attend a physical exam to assess my disability if I have one, and do some work hardening pt. Not sure what to expect. I broke my humerus Jan 2025 and had surgery repair with a plate and some screws. I still have neck pain they denied and some deltoid muscle pain with swelling upon overuse. Seems like the doctors are chalking it up to being medically stationary. What can I expect next? I don’t have an attorney, and when I called one he said he would basically just be getting a third of my settlement without doing any work since I’m so far along.

Searched appeal but only returned claimants appeal. Has anyone had the insurer appeal the judges decision when ruled in your favor? ime Dr. who's 100% work is ime work found 10% SLU each hand. After 7 minutes. My Dr who I've seen multiple times avg 40 min each time plus the EMG testing found 25% and 27% for my hands. they filed an appeal stating the normal SIU is between 10 and 20% and my doctor inflated the loss. This is for carpal tunnel btw. What are other people‘s experiences when the insurance company appeals, the judges decision? Do you think this will make it to the three panel board is it likely they want to settle before I understand that IME’s testimony was really an embarrassment to them, so this is likely a stall and intimidation tactic.

Hello, All - I have a call in to my attorney but I wanted to get a general opinion: I’m in the process of settling my workers comp case. In the settlement agreement/ release, it states that I can’t file for any other disputes; specifically, wrongful termination. I was shorted shifts after my injury until I was terminated. I did not attend the termination meeting because I was a good, long-term employee without any write-ups so whatever reason they came up with to fire me was bogus. (Yes, I know I’m in Florida, which is a right-to-work state.)

I feel that I have enough on my employer to file for an age-discrimination complaint with EEOC. I doubt it will go anywhere but I retain my right to file. From my understanding, workers comp is for lost wages & medical; the money from this settlement is going to cover that. I do not agree to release my former employer from ALL claims; just the ones involving my work injury.

Am I being pedantic about this?

I cut myself a while back and went to hospital for stitches since nothing else was open. was off for 12 days because they didn't have accommodations. I submitted initial claim for hospital treatment. I then didn't want to fight with wc over where to go and drag it out for another 3 months so pulled the stitches myself and went to a doctor that wrote me a return to work paid out if pocket. I haven't received any workers comp payments, no medical bills related to it. yesterday I received a bill from a law firm claiming to represent the workers comp insurance for 700ish dollars claiming I owed them for legal fees. I didn't contact them. Should I lawyer up or just trash it and tell them get fucked? I really doubt they'll sue me for literally nothing and its just an intimidation tactic.

What to do when the employer (upper management) is asking the injured employee if they really need to file a claim?

Feeling guilty for filing claim due to ongoing pain:increased pain and feeling like an inconvenience.

I am writing on behalf of my partner who doesn’t Reddit.

He is 41, and a disabled veteran. As a result of his injuries in Iraq, he is a recovering addict (10+ years) and cannot be prescribed opioids.

He was a machine operator at a well known Big Name.

On Nov 10, 2025 he slipped and fell on coolant leaking from his machine. (Tickets had been placed requesting repair.)

On Nov 11 he returned to work on light duty after being seen by his primary care doctor.

On Nov 12 he was sent home, stating no work accommodations available.

He begin receiving workers comp benefits (on paper, though they took a while to start showing up) at 2/3 of his salary.

Issue is, his salary is HALF of what he was actually making because it doesn’t take into account OT, shift differential, etc. (Actual Salary: $56k - With Extras: $106k)

He saw workers comp doctors who confirmed a torn meniscus via MRI. This was Dec 2025.

At a follow up with workers comp doctors, they confirmed he needed surgery. The pre-surgical appointment was scheduled for March of 2026.

He followed up with his own doctor just after Christmas, 2025 - due to pain. He was given his first pain intervention at this point. (Meloxicam)

He remained off work, but due to the limited compensation, he couldn’t afford his bills.

He took a job elsewhere, with full transparency about the knee injury and employment on both sides. He was promised restrictions and accommodations at his new job.

He stopped taking STD when he began his new job.

On day 4 of the new job, they had done significant walking and he ended up being in severe pain. He overslept his alarm the following day, but called in and reached out to his doctors when it became apparent he couldn’t keep up. He was given a note at this point.

When he returned to the new job, (two days out) they held a meeting where he was told he was being demoted from his management position and his pay docked by almost half as a result of attendance in his probationary period.

His newly assigned position would be manual labor. He wasn’t able to do this job had to resign.

His March pre-surgical appointment was rescheduled to April 2 by the office.

His April 2 pre surgical appointment was then cancelled and he was told he needs to do PT instead and was told to go private pay if he wanted surgery.

It’s now been nearly six months since the injury, he has no income or projected date of knee repair. The injury is getting worse the more he has to use it in the meantime. He has no insurance. He lost his house and his car.

We’ve reached out to a lawyer.

What else can we do?

I have an IME in Philadelphia coming up. I’m 21, 1 herniated disc 4 bulging. Already had 2 rounds of injection and I go see my surgeon in 2 weeks to see what surgery he recommends. (Obviously injections aren’t working) I can barely walk, I have awful pain and numbness down my right leg that causes it to be completely useless almost.

My question is, if everything goes well with the IME which I pray it does. How likely is it that Travelers insurance is going to want to settle?

Not saying settling is my top priority but I would like to weigh my options.

My previous job was tower technician, climbing and fixing cell phone towers. So that’s obviously out of the picture.

Also how much is my case worth?

I posted a bit over a month ago about my wife’s workplace injury which occurred in February 2025. Sedgwick is the claims administrator. She sustained a TBI and has been off work since that time. Her employer has made us aware that they will be terminating her employment as she has exhausted all federal and state job protections and they will terminate her employment effective within the next week. There are no accommodations that can be made at this point. She only just began OT which was supposed to start in April 2025, but didn’t.

We have been told by multiple individuals who are part of her care team and by staff within Leave Management at her employer (a large healthcare system here in CO) that this does not affect her worker’s compensation claim … both her medical care and compensation will continue.

Today we received an email from her employer stating that her medical care will continue but her wage coverage will not.

We have not had any issues with compensation payments although it was slow to be set up but since then no delays.

Does anyone know if this is accurate … once an employer terminates an employee (in Colorado) who was injured on the job and has not returned to work due to the injury - and is still on “out of work” per the provider, and who has exhausted all federal and state job protections, does that mean that employee is no longer eligible for compensation payments they have been receiving every two weeks?

She doesn’t go back for another follow-up until mid-May, and she is off-work through that date and likely beyond. Her doctor wanted at least 10 weeks of OT and they’d reassess. That ten weeks won’t be up until the first week in June.

Thanks for any input or clarification.

Workers’ Comp can feel like an evil system. I suffered a severe ankle injury — syndesmotic disruption with ligament tears and a fracture — and what should have been about healing turned into a battle.

Instead of focusing on recovery, I’ve had to fight just to prove my pain and limitations are real. The system is trained for this fight. Injured workers are not.

All I ever wanted was to heal and walk normally again.

Sometimes the hardest part isn’t the injury… it’s the system.

Hell is not empty.