A warehouse worker in New Castle is hurt loading freight. A nurse at one of Wilmington’s hospitals injures her back during a patient transfer. A construction worker falls from scaffolding on a Route 95 corridor project. Within hours of any of these incidents, the same set of forms starts moving — the employer files a First Report of Injury, the insurance carrier opens a claim, and the injured worker is handed paperwork that often determines the value of the entire case.
Delaware’s workers’ compensation system has its own rules, its own administrative body, and its own pace. At Akin & Herron, P.A., we represent injured workers in proceedings before the Industrial Accident Board and on appeal to the Superior Court.
Delaware Workers’ Comp Runs Through the Industrial Accident Board
The Delaware Workers’ Compensation Act, found in Title 19, Chapter 23 of the Delaware Code, governs every workplace injury claim in the state. The Industrial Accident Board (IAB) is the administrative body that hears disputes between workers and employers, sitting in hearing rooms in Wilmington and Dover. Decisions of the IAB can be appealed to Superior Court, and further to the Delaware Supreme Court.
The system is no-fault — meaning the worker does not have to prove the employer was negligent — but the trade-off is that benefits are defined by the statute rather than determined by a jury. Total disability benefits replace two-thirds of the worker’s average weekly wage, subject to statutory minimums and maximums. Permanent impairment is calculated based on a percentage of loss applied to specific schedules in the statute.
The Average Weekly Wage Calculation Often Determines Case Value
How the worker’s average weekly wage is calculated affects the value of nearly every workers’ comp benefit. Carriers routinely calculate it lower than the statute actually allows — sometimes by excluding overtime, sometimes by using only the most recent weeks, sometimes by misclassifying the worker’s status. Pushing back on a low wage calculation is one of the most common — and most consequential — disputes in Delaware workers’ comp practice.
Workers’ Compensation Matters We Handle
Our workers’ compensation practice covers:
- Total disability benefits under 19 Del. C. § 2324
- Partial disability benefits under § 2325
- Permanent impairment ratings under § 2326 and the relevant schedules
- Disfigurement benefits under § 2326(f)
- Medical treatment authorization and medical disputes
- Choice of treating physician issues
- Independent medical examinations and respondent’s medical exams
- Petitions to determine compensation due
- Petitions to terminate compensation benefits
- Settlement negotiations and commutation agreements
- Vocational rehabilitation disputes
- Death benefits in fatal workplace accident cases under § 2330
- Third-party liability claims that exist alongside the comp claim
- Appeals from the IAB to Superior Court
The 30-Day Deadline That Catches Workers Off Guard
Delaware imposes specific notice requirements on injured workers. Notice of the injury must generally be given to the employer within 90 days, and claims must be filed within two years of the injury or, in some occupational disease cases, within longer periods tied to when the worker became aware of the condition. Missing the notice deadline can bar an otherwise meritorious claim. The earlier a worker consults with an attorney, the better the chance these deadlines get handled correctly.
How We Approach the Work
Workers’ comp cases are not won at one big hearing. They are won through dozens of smaller decisions — which doctor is treating, what gets documented in the medical records, how light-duty restrictions are framed, when to push for a hearing, when to negotiate a commutation. We handle that ongoing work so the injured worker can focus on actually recovering.
Contact Akin & Herron, P.A.
If you have been hurt at work in New Castle, Kent, or Sussex County, contact Akin & Herron, P.A. to schedule a confidential consultation about your workers’ compensation claim.
