maximum medical improvement (MMI) Archives - Workers' Compensation Defense

January 27, 2020 North Carolina / Temporary Total Disability (TTD)

North Carolina Court of Appeals Retains Pre-Reform Definition of Suitable Employment

Suitable employment is an issue frequently litigated in workers’ compensation claims in North Carolina. Typically, a job is offered and the claimant refuses the job on the basis that it is allegedly unsuitable. For decades, this issue has troubled employers because claimants could, with seeming impunity, refuse legitimate work and continue to collect temporary total disability.

Prior to 2011, North Carolina case law dictated that post-maximum medical improvement (MMI) employment must be (1) available in the local labor market, (2) reasonably attainable and offers opportunity …

September 22, 2017 Illinois / Temporary Total Disability (TTD)

Holocker Widens the Interstate: A New Workers’ Compensation Decision Sets Forth Employer Defenses to Terminate Temporary Total Disability Benefits

A recent Workers’ Compensation decision has outlined employer defenses to terminate temporary total disability (TTD) benefits prior to a maximum medical improvement (MMI) finding.

In Holocker v. Ill. Workers’ Comp. Comm’n, 2017 IL App (3d) 160363WC (June 16, 2017), the Appellate Court affirmed that termination of temporary total disability benefits was proper despite the petitioner’s ongoing causally related treatment. The court also affirmed that termination of benefits due to the petitioner’s discharge for cause was proper because the petitioner’s restrictions had no effect on …