Q: AS part of my job, I drive and travel to various client locations. While stopped at an intersection, I was rear-ended resulting in fractures to my shoulder. I had surgery which caused me to be absent from my job for 4 weeks. My doctor informed me that I will need another surgery which may cause me to lose several more weeks from work. Am I entitled to recover my lost earnings in full? What about my lost earnings in the future?
A: Yes, you have the right to recover in full the wages you lost in the past from the person responsible for the accident. This means you are entitled to recover the wages you lost for the 4 weeks you were absent from work for the surgery. This is true even if you were paid by your employer for the time that you were absent from work as a result of the accident. You can also claim future loss of wages caused by the injuries sustained from this accident.
Injuries require medical treatments. Expenses for these medical treatments are paid to the injured person under the law. Injuries also restrict employees’ abilities to do their job for which they suffer wage losses as a result. In addition to recovering the value of medical expenses, employees are also entitled to recover the wages that they should have earned had they not been absent from work as a result of injuries from the accident.
The claims may include past and future loss of earnings. Past loss of earnings cover wages already lost as a result of inability to work. Future loss of earnings are wages that will be lost with reasonable certainty in the future. In the above inquiry, these wages are those that will be lost by the employee because of the future surgery.
In some instances, employers still pay wages to employees who have been absent from work due to the injuries. Even if this is the case, the employees are still entitled to recover these damages from the party who injured them.
In other instances, the injured working man or woman is self employed. Because their income varies and do not show the same amounts every month, it is important to review past earnings for a period of time to arrive at a reasonable estimate of future loss of earnings. If this amount is significant, a forensic accountant or economist may have to be retained. These experts can help determine if the injuries will diminish or lessen the injured person’s ability to earn more money in the future.
Claims for future loss of earnings are often a source of dispute in litigation. This is because the claim, namely the future absence from work, has not occurred. It is, therefore, important to identify a person’s disabilities as a result of the injuries from the accident. Once the person’s medical condition is established, it becomes possible to determine with reasonable certainty the person’s need for future medical treatments. All claims for past and future losses of earnings can thus be related to each other.
Injured persons who find themselves in this difficult situation are better served in engaging the services of an experienced lawyer who can skillfully coordinate with the various experts whose opinions are necessary to establish the claim for future loss of earnings – the medical doctor, and the rehabilitation and economic experts.
Such coordination is important in order to arrive at a reasonable estimate of the person’s future loss of earnings. An estimate that has credibility to insurance companies and their defense lawyers will more likely be paid to the injured working man or woman.
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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully obtained significant results, including several million dollar recoveries for consumers against insurance companies and big business. He is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum—a prestigious group of trial lawyers whose membership is limited to those who have demonstrated exceptional skill, experience and excellence in advocacy. He has been featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements for his professional accomplishments and recipient of numerous awards from community and media organizations. His litigation practice concentrates in the followaing areas: serious personal injuries, wrongful death, insurance claims, unfair business practices, wage and hour (overtime) litigation. You can visit his website at www.joesayas law.com or contact his office by telephone at (818) 291-0088.
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