Employer/Carrier Obtain Denial and Dismissal of Workers' Comp Claim

On May 5, 2017, Loraleigh Phillips obtained a defense verdict from the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission, where the Administrative Judge denied and dismissed the claim following the workers' compensation trial.  In this denied claim, the Claimant alleged injury to his cervical spine while carrying a surveying gun down a hill, and underwent cervical surgery.  Prior to the workers' compensation trial, the Employer/Carrier offered nominal value to settle, but the Claimant's attorneys had been unwilling to consider such, demanding 450 weeks of permanent and total disability benefits totaling $204,489, and then on the eve of trial, had mentioned a potential settlement in the range of $20,000.  The trial proceeded, witnesses were called and cross-examined, and evidence was introduced.  Ms. Phillips was able to successfully poke holes in the Claimant's testimony, and in finding for the Employer/Carrier, the Judge actually cited "numerous inconsistencies and contradictions in and to the claimant's story," dismissing the claim.