Injured Workers in New York: Attorney Craig Rosasco Explains Cash Awards & Settlements

Video Transcript

Hi, my name is Craig Rosasco and I’m an attorney practicing in the state of New York in the area of both workers’ compensation and disability claims. Today we’re going to discuss the different types of cash awards and settlements that are available under the statute to injured workers. You may have seen on my prior videos where I discussed the different cash benefits that people are entitled to, today we’re gonna break it down for you. The first one is cash benefit for lost time. This is where and someone suffers an injury and goes out of work and let’s say they stay out of work for three months. That person is entitled to workers’ compensation, cash benefits for those three months while they’re out of work. If they should return to work making less money, they may be entitled to a portion of that reduction as a result of the work-related injury. And if they don’t return to work, they could be entitled to weekly benefits into the future, currently for a definite period or, unlike the most severe of injuries, maybe permanently, okay.

Additional type of cash settlement underneath the workers’ compensation law is what’s called a scheduled loss of use award. That’s where an employee injures an extremity, for example, a shoulder, an elbow, a wrist, a finger, a hip, a knee and ankle or a toe. Those type of injuries, you’re entitled to monetary benefits during the initial period of lost time but we’ll also revisit the injury one year after the accident or one year after your surgery to determine whether or not you’ve suffered any restrictions in range of motion and if so, you could be entitled to a cash award at that time. Additionally and lastly but most importantly, everybody [inaudible 00:01:38] the buzz term in the industry is a Section 32 settlement. What is a Section 32 settlement? Section 32 settlement is designed to compensate you for both injuries and the costs of future medical care for the injuries received on the job. The carrier is gonna give you a lump sum of cash and what they’re gonna expect from you is for you to never come back. This is not for everybody and you really need to consult an attorney to verify and determine whether or not this is in your best interest. Why do I tell you this? Because you may have a claim. You gotta have questions if you’ve got a claim and I’ve got the answers. So I want you to call me. I can be reached at 1-877-NY-DBLAW or you can find me on the internet at nydisabilitylaw.com. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.