Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has lost a bid to deny workers compensation benefits to an employee who received a $900,000 award in a civil lawsuit.

Donald Greg Wells filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart after suffering injuries from exposure to carbon monoxide while working in a freezer for the Wal-Mart Distribution Center. Wells was awarded benefits and Wal-Mart subrogation credit in the ruling, but the company appealed the decision. The company’s stance was that the hired contractors who renovated the freezer, Atlas and Unarco, were at fault.

Wells filed civil actions against Atlas and Uarco which resulted in $900,000 settlements.

Wal-Mart claimed that Wells should only be allowed to collect from the civil suits or a workers’ compensation claim, not both. The Administrative Law Judge presiding over the case stated that Kentucky law requires that an employee’s legal expenses be deducted from the employer’s or insurer’s portion of any recovery. Wells received $126,811 Wal-Mart subrogation credit.

If you or someone you know has been injured on the job, please contact a Raleigh workers’ compensation lawyer of Scudder & Hedrick by calling 919-851-3311.