The Wilmington personal injury attorney, Frederick Freibott, has helped injury victims and families in Delaware deal with the painful consequences of a personal injury accident or wrongful death claims involving workplace injuries.
Examples of some successful cases include, but are not limited to:
(1) On August 16, 2010, the Industrial Accident Board issued a ruling on behalf of our client that found that she was still totally disabled from work and that her recent surgery was reasonable, necessary, and related to her original work accident. The Industrial Accident Board found our client to be credible; found her orthopaedic surgeon to be credible; and found that the doctor hired by the worker's compensation insurance company to be unpersuasive. Our client originally injured herself in February of 2007 and underwent her first surgical procedure in September of 2008. The claimant attempted to return to work; however, her duties at work severely aggravated her back condition and she decided to undergo a fusion surgery with her orthopaedic surgeon in March of 2010. The worker's compensation insurance company refused to pay for her surgery and her ongoing total disability because of its belief that her surgery was not reasonable, necessary, or related to her original work accident. Based upon the combination of the claimant's credibility and her clear need for a second surgery, the Industrial Accident Board awarded ongoing total disability benefits from July of 2009 to the present; awarded all outstanding medical expenses, including the second surgery, as reasonable, necessary, and related to the original work injury; awarded reimbursement of claimant's expert witness fees; and awarded attorney's fees to be paid by the worker's compensation insurance company. (Shipp v. United Distributors, Hearing No. 1298510 and 1311641)
(2) Our firm was recently successful in obtaining total disability benefits for a limited period of time on behalf of our client when he had a flare up of his neck injuries. The Industrial Accident Board awarded total disability benefits between July 1, 2008 and November 21, 2008. Our firm also sought a ruling from the Industrial Accident Board that our client's medical bills of just over $17,000.00 were reasonable, necessary, and related to the work injury. This was a very highly contested case and the Industrial Accident Board concluded that our firm, on our client's behalf, carried our burden of proof to show that our client had sustained an exacerbation (worsening) of his neck symptoms, entitling him to total disability for the above referenced time period and that the medical expenses claimed were compensable. The Industrial Accident Board found that our client and his treating doctor were credible in their testimony. The Industrial Accident Board also awarded an attorney's fee and reimbursement of the expert fee (Johnson v. Wal-Mart, Hearing No. 1290150, Date of decision June 28, 2010.)
(3) FREDERICK S. FREIBOTT was recently successful in arguing that his client should be compensated for an injury she sustained to her thumb while working as a cook. The client sustained an injury called a "trigger thumb" after she had been chopping meat for a cheese steak. She developed a mass on a tendon in her thumb which caused her thumb to get stuck when she attempted to extend it. The thumb became very painful and ultimately required surgery. The employer in this case denied that the "trigger thumb" injury was related to any activity associated with work. The Claimant's surgeon testified that the thumb injury was clearly related to her work activities. The doctor hired by the employer's insurance company did not believe the surgeon's findings at the time of surgery and testified that the Claimant suffered from a large cell tumor on her thumb that was, in no way, related to a work injury. The Industrial Accident Board found the defense doctor not credible and relied upon the testimony of the Claimant's treating surgeon. The Industrial Accident Board awarded a period of total disability; the reimbursement of medical expenses; payment of an attorney's fee; and the reimbursment of the Claimant's medical expert fees. (Johnson v. Allen Family Foods, Hearing No. 1343997, Date of decision March 9, 2010.)
(4) FREDERICK S. FREIBOTT recently received a favorable award on behalf of his client who was injured when he fell down steps at work in December of 2006. The Claimant underwent a total knee replacement as a result of the injury. The employer denied that the knee replacement was related to a work related injury because of the Claimant's preexisting arthritic condition and/or a second work accident of February 23, 2007 when the Claimant was coaching softball for another employer, Wilmington College. The Industrial Accident Board deemed the original work accident to be the proximate cause of the Claimant's injuries and awarded total disability; the payment of medical expenses; the reimbursement of medical expert fees; and attorney's fees. (Zebley v. Delaware Motor Sales, Inc. and Wilmington College, Inc., Hearing No. 1329351 and 1299831)
(5) FREDERICK S. FREIBOTT recently won a case on behalf of his client wherein the Employer refused to admit compensability of a work incident. At the hearing, the Claimant testified that he felt a pop in his shoulder when he was unloading automotive parts without the presence of a witness. Because the Claimant was on a 90 day probationary period with his new employer, he did not want to report the problem with his right shoulder to his employer. Ultimately, the pain in his shoulder was so bad that he appeared at the St. Francis Hospital wherein the medical staff considered the Claimant as having a heart attack and put him through heart related medical tests. The Industrial Accident Board believed the testimony from the Claimant and did not find the testimony of the Employer's manager credible. Accordingly, The Industrial Accident Board deemed the work injury compensable, awarded also the Claimant total disability benefits, medical expenses, attorney's fees, and the reimbursement of expert witness reimbursement. (Haman v. Keystone Automotive, Hearing No. 1330189, Date of decision August 13, 2009.)
(6) FREDERICK S. FREIBOTT recently won a case where his client was awarded the compensability of a shoulder injury two years after her original date of injury. The doctors in this case treated the Claimant for a neck injury to which she underwent an anterior cervical diskectomy on May 26, 2006. Many of her symptoms resolved; however, the claimant continued to feel pain in her shoulder area. The Industrial Accident Board relied upon the testimony of the Claimant's shoulder surgeon, who, after reviewing all medical records, was able to show a clear pattern of continued complaints to the left shoulder from the date of the original accident. In essence, the Claimant's medical experts believed that the cervical injury would have resolved all the complaints of pain. However, subsequent to the neck surgery, the Claimant continued to have shoulder pain. The Industrial Accident Board awarded compensability to the shoulder. The Industrial Accident Board also ordered the Employer to pay for medical expenses, total disability benefits, attorney's fees, and the reimbursement of expert witness fees. (Palmer v. Fox Rothchild, LLP, Hearing No. 1280805, Date of decision August 26, 2008.)
(7) FREDERICK S. FREIBOTT was successful in obtaining a wage benefit for a client by convincing the Industrial Accident Board to calculate an injured worker's overtime hours into his wage benefit which provided more money to support his family while recovering from his injury.
(8) FREDERICK S. FREIBOTT successfully argued in front of the Industrial Accident Board; the Superior Court; and The Supreme Court of Delaware that an injured worker's treating psychologist was competent to testify as to why the injured worker was unable to work from a psychological standpoint.
(9) FREDERICK S. FREIBOTT successfully argued that a worker who was seriously injured when she fell at a company sponsored awards dinner was in the scope of her employment enabling her to collect worker's compensation benefits.
Contact our Delaware personal injury lawyer today to schedule your free initial consultation.
