After suffering a serious injury at work, the physical pain and emotional distress can be overwhelming. Medical bills pile up while you're unable to earn a paycheck. If your employer doesn't carry workers' compensation insurance, you may be entitled to additional compensation known as pain and suffering damages.
Pain and suffering is a type of non-economic damage that aims to compensate injured workers for the physical discomfort, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life they experience due to their injuries. Recovering a fair amount for pain and suffering is crucial, but it can be challenging without help from an experienced work injury lawyer.
Dallas-Fort Worth work injury attorney Warren Armstrong focuses his practice on representing Texas employees hurt on the job while w
orking for non-subscriber employers. Armstrong Personal Injury Law knows how to document pain and suffering damages to help clients secure the maximum available compensation.
What Are Pain and Suffering Damages?
In a non-subscriber work injury claim, pain and suffering damages fall under the broader category of non-economic damages. While economic damages like medical expenses and lost wages are relatively easy to calculate, pain and suffering is more subjective.
Some examples of pain and suffering include:
- Physical pain and discomfort from the injuries
- Emotional distress, anxiety, or depression
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium (negative impact on relationships)
The amount of pain and suffering damages awarded depends on factors like:
- The severity and permanence of the injuries
- The impact on the worker's quality of life
- The worker's age and overall health
- The physical pain associated with the injuries and medical treatment
- Emotional trauma stemming from the accident
Why Pain and Suffering Matters in Non-Subscriber Cases
Texas employers are not required to carry workers' compensation insurance. Companies that opt out of the workers' comp system are called non-subscribers.
If you're hurt on the job while working for a non-subscriber, you can't claim benefits through workers' comp. Instead, you'll need to file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer to recover damages, including pain and suffering.
This is actually an advantage over traditional workers' comp claims, which don't allow injured workers to recover non-economic damages at all. In a non-subscriber work injury case, you can demand compensation for the full extent of your losses – not just medical bills and a portion of your lost wages.
Factors That Influence Pain and Suffering Awards
Several key factors can impact the amount of pain and suffering damages awarded in a non-subscriber work injury case:
- Inconsistent statements about your injuries, limitations or pain levels
- Gaps in medical treatment
- Pre-existing conditions involving the same parts of the body
- Your credibility as a witness
- Whether the at-fault company has sympathetic representatives
Your attorney's skill at building a persuasive case is also crucial. Through interviews with you, your loved ones, and your doctors, your lawyer can help paint a picture of how the injury has impacted your health, relationships, and emotional well-being.
Keeping a journal documenting your recovery process is also valuable. Writing about your daily pain levels, physical limitations, and the activities you can no longer participate in creates a powerful record to support your claim for pain and suffering damages.
Calculating Pain and Suffering in Non-Subscriber Cases
There's no definitive formula for calculating pain and suffering damages in a non-subscriber work injury claim. These damages are typically determined by a jury based on the evidence presented.
However, there are two common approaches that insurance companies and attorneys may use to estimate pain and suffering:
- The multiplier method takes the total economic damages (medical bills + lost wages) and multiplies them by a number between 1.5 and 5, depending on injury severity. For example, if you had $50,000 in medical expenses and $25,000 in lost wages, the insurance company might multiply $75,000 by 3 and arrive at a pain and suffering figure of $225,000.
- The per diem (per day) method assigns a dollar value to each day from the date of the injury until maximum medical improvement is reached. This daily rate is then multiplied by the number of days in your recovery. For instance, if your daily rate is determined to be $200 and your recovery period was 365 days, the pain and suffering calculation would be $73,000.
These methods provide a ballpark range for pain and suffering damages, but many other factors can influence the final amount. Severe injuries such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, or amputation injuries often result in higher pain and suffering payouts due to their catastrophic, life-altering nature.
The Importance of Legal Representation
Recovering a fair amount of pain and suffering damages in a non-subscriber work injury claim is challenging without experienced legal representation. The insurance company will look for any reason to deny your claim or minimize your payout.
Work injury attorney Warren Armstrong understands the profound physical, emotional and financial toll a serious on-the-job injury can take. Armstrong Personal Injury Law thoroughly investigates each case, gathers critical evidence, and collaborates with medical experts and trusted economic loss professionals to help calculate the full value of your pain and suffering damages.
Most importantly, Warren Armstrong prepares every case as if it will go to trial while aggressively pursuing a beneficial settlement through negotiation. If the other side refuses to make a fair offer, he will be ready to make a compelling case for maximum pain and suffering damages before a judge and jury.
