WORKER'S COMPENSATION: Governor's Reform Bill Cuts Worker's Compensation Benefits By 40%

On May 20, 2004, Governor Bredesen's legislation to severely limit worker's compensation benefits was approved by the State Senate, and the bill was signed into law by the governor. A copy of the bill is found here. A newspaper story on the bill's passage is found here.

Before this bill became law, an injured worker who has a permanent medical impairment and who returned to work, was able to rceive worker's compensation permanent disability benefits of 2.5 times his/her impairment. For example, a worker who had a worker's compensation rate of $250 per week, a work-related back injury with a resulting medical impairment of 5%, and who returned to work at the same or greater wage could recover a maximum permanent disability award of $12,500. Under the new law, the maximum hat worker could recover for permanent disability would be $7,500. That's a 40% reduction in benefits. Governor Bredesen called this devastating blow for Tennessee workers "a real victory for working people in this state." The real victor here is the insurance industry, which stands to make more than $42 million per year, based on the reduced benefits to workers.

In addition to this draconian lowering of the permanent disability benefit, the new law will force workers to attempt mediation of their case, before they are allowed to file a lawsuit against their employer or its worker's compensation insurance company. Mediation is a form of assisted negotiation, where a Department of Labor Worker's Compensation Specialist attempts to resolve disputes and bring the parties together in a settlement. This mandatory mediation sounds like a good idea, but all too often, the insurance companies use it as a way to delay the claim, essentially "starving" the worker's compensation claimant into either giving up or accepting an unreasonably low settlement.

Even the sponsors of the legislation were unhappy with it. Senator Joe Haynes called the bill "a poor excuse for worker's comp reform," and Senator Ward Crutchfield actually voted against a bill that he sponsored, referring to it as a blow to Tennessee workers.

With the worker's compensation bill already signed into law, there is nothing to do, other than let your representatives and senators know your displeasure at their approval of a law that hurts workers. Slovis, Rutherford & Weinstein, P.L.L.C. will continue to review and accept new worker's compensation cases. Senior partner Norbert J. Slovis, in response to questions about the new law, said, "I've been representing injured workers for over 45 years. We take our responsibilities to our worker's compensation clients very seriously, and we will not let this disastrous law stop us from representing those clients aggressively and to the best of our abilities, within the law."

For More Information Contact:

Douglas C. Weinstein
Slovis, Rutherford & Weinstein, P.L.L.C.
Eighth Floor, Medical Arts Building, 603 Main Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902

Tel: (865) 544-0550

Toll Free: 866-LAW-KNOX [529-5669]

FAX: (865) 637-2372

Email: dcw@knoxlawyers.com