Firm Obtains Over Six Figure Savings for Client at June 25 Lien Trial at The Van Nuys WCAB
In the matter of Gary Hernandez v. Western Tear Off defendants denied injury based on the following defenses, post termination claim filing, good faith personnel action defense, and the employer level investigation.
Throughout the discovery process it was learned that applicant had obtained extensive orthopedic and psychological treatment on a lien basis totaling charges well in excess of $100,000.00.
As a result it became of paramount importance to not only resolve the case by way of Compromise and Release based on the disputed issues but to avoid liability for liens.
As a result defendants negotiated a Compromise and Release with specific language in which the applicant declared under penalty of perjury that all of his claimed injuries had not arisen out of or occurred during the course of employment.
This settlement was approved by the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and served upon all lien claimants with a proof of service. After waiting for the statutory period for Petition for Reconsideration to pass defendants advised all lien claimants of the disputed issues and that applicant had stipulated to his injuries being non compensable.
All lien claimants were served with the defense file including deposition, medicals, and denial correspondence and the matter was activated for lien conference by defendants.
At the lien conference multiple lien claimants appeared. At the initial lien conference of April 17 defendant resolved six liens totaling $58,905.97 for a total of $9,379.90. In addition one lien was dismissed in its entirety for failure to pay an activation fee.
The remaining liens were set for trial on June 24, 2013.
At the trial date an additional four liens were dismissed for failure to appear totaling a savings of $13,493.00. The remaining liens which did appear for trial totaled a outstanding value of $45,849.16 and all liens were resolved for a total of $4,768.32.
In total defendants obtained savings for our client in the amount of $105,554.90 due to the language demanded in the Compromise and Release settlement which specifically was drafted to avoid liabilities for unauthorized self procured medical treatment on this denied case.
For further information please contact Christian Colantoni at (415) 529 5506.