Workers compensation is, is a system, first and foremost, that is created, uh, created by the Legislature. It’s sort of a trade-off, uh, meaning, uh, if you’re hurt at work—or hurt in any situation, I should say—traditionally you, to have any compensation or rights, you typically would have to show that someone else, uh, is at fault for what happened to you. Uh, and that can be difficult for someone who is injured at work and, and now no longer has a capacity to earn money. Um, so, the workers comp system provided a system where you don’t have to show anyone was at fault for you getting hurt at work; you just have to show that you were hurt at work and that your injury has some relationship or causal relationship to your job. Uh, and if you can do that, um, you don’t have to show fault, and you become entitled to benefits that are under, that are spelled out by the Workers Compensation Act that the Legislature created. And if you qualify to come into that system because you were hurt at work, then what you are entitled to potentially is limited, in some respects, to a weekly check, medical, uh, treatment that has to be paid for by the workers compensation insurance company or your employer, uh, and other specific benefits that are spelled out in the act but are limited and in less than, let’s say, what you might be entitled to if you were hurt in a traditional personal injury case or had an injury where you could show that it was the fault of someone else. Um, so that’s the system in Rhode Island and elsewhere.

No, you never have to settle your case. If you’re offered a settlement, the first thing your lawyer should be telling you is, No. 1, you don’t have to settle. You never have to, um, you should only settle your case if you think that’s your best option amongst all the options. That’s not to say that sometimes settling, um, isn’t a good idea or is a good idea. It all depends, but the most important thing to know is that a settlement has to be voluntary. You have to, um, agree to it, and no one can force you to agree. Likewise, some people really want to settle their case, but they can’t force the insurance company to settle with them. The insurance company, if they really want, can sit back and keep writing you that weekly benefit check every week until they can figure out a way to stop it. But, uh, no, you don’t have to accept a settlement offer. And if anyone is pressuring you to accept a settlement offer, it’s a good idea to think about why that might be and what the true value of your case is and whether it’s a good idea to settle or not.