NC Family Member providing Attendant Care can recover interest on late payments

The NC Court of Appeals filed a new attendant care decision on December 20, 2011.  This case, Chandler v. Atlantic Scrap & Processing and Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., NC COA11-618, holds that a husband who provided attendant care services to his disabled wife was entitled to be paid for 15 hours a day of attendant care at $11 per hour, beginning in June 2004.  His wife’s doctor had informed Liberty Mutual that she needed someone with her all the time, and Liberty Mutual ignored the doctor and never provided attendant care.  These good folks finally got a lawyer and filed for a hearing.  The Industrial Commission at each level awarded attendant care compensation to the husband and the Court of Appeals affirmed the Full Commission decision.   In fact, the Court affirmed an award of attorney’s fees against Liberty Mutual (whose TV ads talk about how Liberty Mutual always “does the right thing”) because Liberty had ignored  the need for attendant care and refused to pay for it for years, and then defended the litigation without good reason.  In other words, the Court popped Liberty Mutual with attorney fees for NOT doing the right thing.  The Court allowed the husband to have a payment not just of the hourly wage but also interest on it at the legal rate from and after the date of the original hearing in the comp dispute.

If you want to know more about attendant care in NC work comp cases, contact attorney Bob Bollinger in Charlotte at 704-377-7677 or by the contact form associated with our web site, www.BollingerLawFirmNC.com

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