I am so tired of seeing claimants get schedule loss of use awards. They do not represent lost time. They are windfalls. I am in the process of drafting a stipulation for a woman who is going to get $15,000 when she had no lost time from work. It’s a gift to her.
I will be having left CTS release in a couple of weeks. I also had the right done 3 years ago. I didn’t miss any time from work. The surgery made me better. I proably won’t miss any time from work this time either. I did not file a claim – I have the risk factors for CTS – I am a 51 year old overweight woman. If I put this through workers’ compensation, and I believe I could have established a compensable claim if I sought to, I would receive awards for approximately $53,000. (Two 15% SLU awards at $850.00) Why? I am not going to ever lose time from work for this condition. I am typing now and I will continue to type. It will not affect my ability to earn a living.
And then there are some people with conditions that are schedulable who end up worse off because of this crazy system. I believe that those people should be able to continue to get payment if their condition keeps them from being able to work. Disability exceeds the schedule? How is that possible? It is possible because the SLU process is completely divorced from realty. It is a fiction that really needs to be changed.