Finger Injury

[Jeffc39]

I am a city truck driver and on 11/4/19, I was making a delivery to one of our customers. I went to raise their dock plate and for some reason, their forklift driver came forward while my hand was in dock plate and closed it on my dominant middle finger crushing it. I am on workers comp and also have attorney for that along with personal injury. I came close to cutting the tip off but the doctor saved it. The break was severe enough that it broke up through my nail bed and the doctor says that I may have to have surgery again in a year to remove nail plate so I can’t grow nail back. I can never bend tip of finger again and can’t make a fist due to loss of motion. I have been doing hand therapy but hoping to get released at MMI on 1/27/2020. Did not know if anyone has any ideas on what kind of settlements I would be looking at from workers comp and personal injury due to it was 100% 3rd party fault. Thank you and god bless and hope everyone in this group has positive outcomes

[tony]

Jeffc39

what kind of settlements I would be looking at from workers comp and personal injury due to it was 100% 3rd party fault.

The carrier will get reimbursed for any money paid on medical from from this 3rd party case.
You may see an award for pain and suffering from the 3rd party case, it's up to the courts discretion.
As an example of what to expect, I've never heard of anyone getting more that five grand for the total loss of a finger.

The max allowed for the total loss of the second finger is 30 weeks of benefits in the worker comp system.
Depending on your rating you will be paid a percentage of the max allowed based on that figure.
So if you lost 50% use of your middle finger, that would be 15 weeks of benefits.

50-6-207 - Schedule of compensation.
(c) For the loss of a second finger, sixty-six and two-thirds percent (662/3%) of the average weekly wages during thirty (30) weeks;
(f) For the loss of the first phalange of the thumb, or of any finger, which shall be considered equal to the loss of one half (½) of such thumb or finger, compensation shall be paid at the prescribed rate during one half (½) of the time specified for the thumb or finger;
https://law.justia.com/codes/tenness...rt-2/50-6-207/

Permanent Partial Disability
Permanent partial disability benefits are paid pursuant to the statutory schedule depending upon which part of the body is injured. The most common schedules are body as a whole, which entitles the employee to up to 400 weeks of benefits, and extremity cases, which entitle the employee to up to 200 weeks of benefits. Other scheduled member injuries are:
2nd (Middle) finger 30wks
https://wiki.theclm.org/wiki/264#Gen...eEuUmf8tWU3BmA

Tony