Mississippi Workers Compensation Accidents or Injuries – What Does Disability Mean?
April 7th, 2011Mississippi Workers Compensation Accidents or Injuries – What Does Disability Mean?
by Jay Foster, Mississippi Workers Compensation Attorney
We are often asked exactly what does disability mean when a person in Mississippi is injured in a worker’s compensation accident. Section 71-3-3(I) of the Mississippi Code defines disability as the incapacity because of an injury to earn the wages which the employee was receiving at the time of injury in the same or other employment, which incapacity and the extent thereof must be supported by medical findings.
In other words, an injured Mississippi worker is disabled if he or she is unable to earn the same wage the worker was receiving at the time of the accident. The disability may be due to the injured workers inability to work due to the injury and restrictions.
The Mississippi Supreme Court has found that the concept of disability comprises a physical injury coupled with a loss of wage-earning capacity. I. Taitel & Son v. Twiner, 247 Miss. 785, 792, 157 So. 2d 44, 46 (1963). Furthermore , disability is determined by comparing the employee’s pre-injury wages with the employee’s post-injury capacity to earn wages in the open labor market. Karr v. Armstrong Tire & Rubber Co., 216 Miss. 132, 137-38, 61 So. 2d 789, 792 (1953).
If you have questions about this or any other Mississippi Worker’s Compensation Accident or Injury, please call or email Jay Foster today.
