Legal Question in Workers Comp in District of Columbia

permanent total disability

My fiance is trying settle a case of permanent disabilty. We were

just informed that if you are awarded total permanent disability

you do not receive payment per week for the rest of your life. but

only for a certain amount of weeks. How is this possible, if you are

Totally Permanently disabled? what happens after the set amount

of weeks, which I think is 638?


Asked on 12/01/04, 6:45 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

Re: permanent total disability

As defined in the workers compensation law, "permanent" disability means you have lost use or function of a certain body part permanently, that is, you won't get any better. "Total" refers to the extent of the disability--in this case, it's 100%, as determined by your fiance's doctor. The law determines the number of weeks of benefits that an injured worker is entitled to, depending on the part of the body involved. For example, under DC law, if the injury is to an arm, he would get 312 weeks of compensation. A leg is worth 288 weeks. If more than one body part is injured, there could be a combination of weeks. If the injury is to the back or neck, it's based on income loss.

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Answered on 12/02/04, 9:48 am


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