Legal Question in Workers Comp in Illinois
light duty,employer wants to lower wage
i was injured at work,recieved work comp.insurance wanted IME.IME dr. says i need surgury but its not a work related injury, now my employer says that work comp. is going to stop paying,im on light duty and employer says that i have two options until i can get my shoulder fixed(1)either take FMLA or take a cut in pay and work on the dock. can they cut my pay?(3$an hour loss)will i be able to recoupe this loss in the end?work comp. decided they werent going to pay any more since thier dr. says its not work related,he didnt look even have copies of my x-rays or MRI
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: light duty,employer wants to lower wage
If your treating doctor put you on work restrictions related to your injury you should still get your TTD payments. However, if the IME doctor said that you could work without restrictions the insurance company would have a good faith reason to stop your benefits.
You need to file an 8(a) petition and a 19(b) petition in order to reinstate your benefits - if you do not know how to do this you will need an attorney.
In general, an arbitrator will put the opinion of your treating doctor over the IME doctor. Many IME doctor are just paid hacks for insurance company especially a group of orthos well known in Chicago. However, if your treater is a family practice doctor or a chiropractor and the IME doctor is an ortho surgeon you may need a referral to your own orthopedist.
Again, all of this depends on the type of injury and the part of body. Let me know.
Good Luck,
Matt Belcher
Re: light duty,employer wants to lower wage
The WC issue you are facing is classic. If you do not have an attorney, you must get one so that the issue of what is work relted and what is not may be resolved by a judge. You have no other choice.
I hope this helps,
Taradji Law Offices
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