Will I Have to go to Court for My Workers’ Compensation Case?

Not technically. However, you may have to go in front of the group who hears workers’ compensation claims in North Carolina called the Industrial Commission. Workers’ Compensation is a unique area of law. Unlike other areas of the law, if you have a workers’ compensation claim you do not go in front of a jury or even a traditional judge. The current workers’ compensation laws were developed to keep claims of injured workers out of the court.

One of the main reasons that the Workers’ Compensation Act keeps work injury claims out of the traditional court system is to increase efficiency in handling injured workers’ claims. Someone injured in a car accident or by a medical doctor may have to wait years until their case goes in front of a judge or jury. The government understood that someone working to provide for their family cannot go that long without a reliable income. Therefore, when someone is injured on the job in North Carolina they have their workers’ compensation case go in front of one of the Industrial Commission’s Deputy Commissioners if it does not settle beforehand at mediation. The Deputy Commissioner is similar to what most people think of as a judge in regular court.

This hearing in front of one of the Deputy Commissioners of the Industrial Commission will be very similar to a trial, though. We will present your case to the Deputy Commissioner using exhibits, witness testimony and they will eventually hear from your treating physician by way of depositions.

The Deputy Commissioner will review all of the exhibits and testimony, including the treating physician’s deposition, and make a determination on compensability.