May 2018

Is Your Work Status Slip Up To Snuff?

When you see your doctor for treatment for your maritime injury, make sure you get a proper work status slip. It must contain the nature of your ongoing treatment, return appointment date and what your duty status is. If you are not fit for duty it should say how long you will be not fit. If your doctor thinks you are capable of doing some work and places you on modified or light duty, it must state what your limitations are. If any of this information is missing, the employer may have reason not to pay your maintenance or compensation disability without further information.

Question From The Bridge

I was injured on a ship and have been treating with an orthopedist. The company was paying my maintenance but they didn’t issue me a check last week. They said it was because the doctor didn’t say why I was receiving treatment. Can they do this?
Paul N.
Oakland, CA

Answer:
Paul,
Unfortunately, yes. Ask your doctor to add what he is treating you for on the slip. You will have to re-submit the slip to the shipowner and ask them to bring you current on your maintenance. To avoid this in the future, check your duty status slip before you leave the doctor’s office to make sure it has all of the required information.

The Law Offices of Cavin and Marks, Jr.
428 Alice St., Suite 128
Oakland, CA 94607

About Our Law Firm

For more than four decades, merchant mariners, longshoremen, fishermen and harbor workers plying their trades at sea, on the docks, on our U.S. coastal waters and inland waterways have turned to the maritime law firm of Law Offices of Cavin and Marks, Jr. & Associates in Oakland. Today, we are proud to be recognized as one of the preeminent maritime law firms serving injured marine workers nationwide, as well as one of the most successful personal injury litigation firms serving victims of negligence in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the West Coast.

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When you retain Law Offices of Cavin and Marks, Jr. & Associates for a Jones Act injury claim, or personal injury claim, you don’t get just one attorney, you get our entire team of dedicated professionals. Our attorneys offer more than 150 combined years of courtroom and negotiated claims settlement experience. We will represent your interests with unwavering dedication, speed and expertise.