Workers’ Compensation Death Case Settles for $175,000 After First Attorney Drops Case

Background: The injured worker died in a horrific motor vehicle accident while he was at work. While driving a truck filled with sand, he experienced a heart attack causing him to run off the road and crash into a tree.

The deceased worker’s widow originally hired a different attorney from a large Virginia law firm to pursue a workers’ compensation claim. That firm told the widow that the case was not winnable and dropped the case based on the medical examiner’s report that stated the worker died of a heart attack prior to the crash. If that evidence was true, the worker’s case would not have been covered under Virginia’s workers’ compensation laws. A friend of the widow’s family asked Stephen Harper to take a second look at the case.

Stephen Harper hired an expert pathologist to review the medical evidence. Our expert opined that the injuries from the collision with the tree contributed to his death. Stephen Harper was also able to track down the first two witnesses on the scene, who observed the worker’s condition before the paramedics arrived. One of the witnesses testified that he tried to render aid and that our client still had a pulse at the time.

Amazingly, the other witness had a video from his phone showing our client still moving and breathing after the collision. After reviewing our pathologist’s report and the video, the state’s medical examiner agreed to revise her prior autopsy report to state that the impact with the tree contributed to the worker’s death. Faced with that evidence, the insurance company agreed to mediation and ultimately paid $175,000 to our client and settled the case. Our client and her family were thrilled with the result after their first attorney gave up on the case.