Ex parte Alabama Gas Corporation
258 So. 3d 1148 (Ala. Civ. App. 2018). Gregory T. Denny represented respondent Robert Alan Smitherman in an Alabama Court of Civil Appeals mandamus proceeding arising from a contested work-injury case.
See case bank
The Report
The Alabama Work Injury Report is a free information clearinghouse for serious Alabama workers’ compensation cases, especially neck, shoulder, back, head, and brain injuries, work-related crashes, unpaid temporary disability checks, denied treatment, permanent restrictions, and Social Security Disability overlap. It is written for injured workers who need plain-language answers before they make big decisions.
Published by Powell & Denny, P.C. General information only. Not legal advice.
Evaluator privacy: the Red Flag Evaluator and Work Comp + Social Security Evaluator do not ask for your name, phone number, employer, claim number, doctor, or other identifying information.
Evaluator scope: the tools provide general issue-spotting information and do not create an attorney-client relationship. Results should be checked against the linked guides, cited authorities, and the facts of a specific claim.
Reported matters and appellate record
The Report connects educational pages to checkable public authority where possible. These examples document reported appellate and public matters; they are included for source transparency and are not predictions about any case.
258 So. 3d 1148 (Ala. Civ. App. 2018). Gregory T. Denny represented respondent Robert Alan Smitherman in an Alabama Court of Civil Appeals mandamus proceeding arising from a contested work-injury case.
See case bank967 So. 2d 94 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007). William V. Powell, Jr. represented appellee William Burns in a reported Alabama Court of Civil Appeals workers' compensation matter involving medical/pharmacy-related amicus participation.
See case bankPowell & Denny represented an injured worker in a workers' compensation claim and a retaliatory-discharge claim in a case publicly reported by AL.com as a ten-year fight for justice after a workplace injury.
Read the Stewart articlePublished work
The Alabama Work Injury Report draws on cited legal authorities and practical information to explain complex issues in plain language. Powell & Denny's book, My Alabama Disability Claim and Workers' Compensation, offers additional background for readers learning about Alabama disability and workers' compensation claims.
Clearinghouse for serious comp cases
When pain, medical limits, job loss, or disability make the future uncertain, injured workers need clear explanations of what facts may matter before they settle, resign, or close medical care.
This site is built for serious Alabama workers' compensation cases involving neck, shoulder, back, head, and brain injuries, as well as truck and car accidents on the job. The Red Flag Evaluator is the main starting point when a worker is not sure whether the facts deserve closer review.
Core framework
This is not a legal conclusion and it does not mean every injured worker is totally disabled. It is a screening framework. When an Alabama workers' compensation claim also raises real Social Security Disability issues, the case deserves a careful look at whether the worker may be facing a long-term or permanent inability to return to realistic work.
The formula is especially important when the worker is older, has limited education, has a heavy work history, has permanent restrictions, has an FCE that blocks the old job, or has failed light duty.
Workers' Comp vs. Social Security Disability
These two systems can overlap in a serious work-injury case, but they do not ask the same questions. This table is a starting point, not a substitute for legal advice.
| Issue | Alabama workers' compensation | Social Security Disability |
|---|---|---|
| Basic focus | A job-related injury or occupational condition. | Whether medical problems prevent substantial work under federal rules. |
| Fault standard | Usually not based on proving the employer was at fault. | Not based on fault; it focuses on medical and vocational disability. |
| What may be covered | Authorized medical treatment, temporary disability checks, permanent disability benefits, and possible future medical care. | Monthly disability benefits, possible Medicare eligibility after the waiting period, and backpay if approved. |
| How benefits are calculated | Often tied to average weekly wage, compensation rate, impairment, restrictions, vocational disability, and the type of injury. | Based on the worker's earnings record and federal disability rules, not the value of a workers' compensation case. |
| How long benefits may last | Depends on the injury, medical status, disability category, settlement terms, and whether future medical care remains open. | Can continue while the person remains disabled under Social Security rules, subject to reviews and eligibility rules. |
| Attorney fees | In Alabama workers' compensation cases, attorney fees are generally capped at 15% of compensation awarded or paid, subject to court approval under Ala. Code § 25-5-90. | Social Security Disability fees are governed by federal law and are usually based on a percentage of backpay, subject to agency approval. |
Every Alabama work injury case deserves a careful review. This site does not decide whether you have a claim or what a case is worth. It explains common facts that may matter: whether you can return to work, whether treatment is being delayed, whether restrictions are permanent, and whether Social Security Disability may be part of the picture.
Check Your Red Flags to spot issues involving age, education, work history, restrictions, MMI, FCEs, medical denials, and Social Security Disability.
Red Flags: EvaluatorLearn how workers' compensation, settlement structure, future medical care, and Social Security Disability can overlap.
View resourcesLocation matters. We are building local guidance for injured workers in Birmingham, Huntsville, Jefferson County, Madison County, and across Alabama.
Birmingham guideThe Authority page collects lawyer background, reported matters, teaching, writing, mediation experience, and other verifiable materials connected to Powell & Denny.
Review authorityThe Report now includes a red flag library and a retaliatory discharge section because dismissal after a workers' compensation claim can change the pressure, proof, and value analysis.
Facts that may set off alarm bells: failed light duty, permanent restrictions, denied medical treatment, Social Security Disability concerns, and job loss after a claim.
Read red flagsDismissal for filing or pursuing a workers' compensation claim is a red flag and may create a separate issue that overlaps with the workers' compensation case.
Read sectionPlain-English definitions of MMI, FCE, permanent restrictions, panel of four, utilization review, future medical, and Social Security Disability.
Open glossaryAuthority library
The Report includes a materials bank with selected public appellate decisions, publication resources, checklists, and practical guides for injured workers and the workers' compensation community.
The Report is meant to read like a practical journal and resource library. It explains Alabama workers' compensation topics in plain language so injured workers can understand the questions to ask and the records to keep.
The publication is transparent about being published by Powell & Denny, P.C., and it provides general information only.
If a serious injury keeps you from returning to your old job, the case may involve more than short-term medical care. Permanent restrictions, an FCE, failed light duty, future medical care, vocational issues, and Social Security Disability may need to be reviewed together.
Yes. Workers' compensation addresses a job injury. Social Security Disability looks at whether medical problems keep a person from substantial work under federal rules. In serious cases, both systems can affect timing, settlement, Medicare, and future planning.
Temporary disability check problems can create immediate pressure on rent, bills, medical decisions, and return-to-work decisions. A worker should document missed checks, partial checks, changes in work status, and communications with the employer or adjuster.
In Alabama workers' compensation cases, a panel of four can become important when the authorized treating doctor relationship breaks down or the worker needs a different authorized physician. The details matter, so this issue should be reviewed carefully before assuming there is no choice.
Maximum medical improvement and a functional capacity evaluation can affect restrictions, return to work, impairment, vocational disability, settlement, and whether the old job is realistic. These are often turning points in serious cases.
Yes. Job loss after a workers' compensation claim may raise retaliatory-discharge questions. It can also affect wage loss, return-to-work proof, settlement pressure, and the need to preserve documents and witnesses.
Mediation can be a useful way to discuss disability, future medical care, settlement structure, Medicare issues, resignation language, and related claims. It should not be treated as only a number exchange when the worker may not return to work.
No. If you have enough red flags, we encourage you to contact a qualified lawyer of your choice. You do not have to contact us unless you like what you see here and want to ask us about your work injury.
No. A green or lower-warning result only means the limited answers entered did not trigger the same level of warning in that tool. Workers' compensation has many fact patterns, and an online evaluator cannot safely decide whether legal help is needed.
Yes. The firm handles Alabama workers' compensation, Social Security Disability, and work-injury crash cases, so the overlap between those systems can be reviewed together.
These pages are built around the questions injured workers, referral lawyers, and families are likely to ask when a case involves work disability, medical-treatment disputes, or inability to return to work.
What happens when the doctor says MMI, the FCE limits work, or permanent restrictions do not fit the old job?
Read the guideDenied MRIs, delayed surgery, utilization review, and panel-of-four disputes can become the pressure point in a serious case.
Read medical-dispute guideFor the workers' compensation community
The Report is primarily written for injured workers, but people who work around Alabama workers' compensation may also find the issue-spotting pages useful. The community resources page collects public links, reference points, and practical topic pages for those who need to follow Alabama workers' compensation, medical-treatment disputes, Social Security Disability overlap, and return-to-work issues.
Common pressure points
One of the first major problems in a serious Alabama workers’ compensation case is simple: the injured worker cannot work and the temporary disability check is late, wrong, stopped, or never started. That problem can create immediate pressure on rent, bills, medical decisions, and whether the worker feels forced back to a job that does not fit the restrictions.
Attorney fees depend on the kind of claim. In Alabama workers’ compensation cases, attorney fees are generally limited to 15% of compensation awarded or paid, subject to court approval under Ala. Code § 25-5-90. Social Security Disability fees are governed by federal law and are usually based on a percentage of backpay. Retaliatory-discharge and third-party work-crash cases are different, more complicated, and riskier, so fees are usually arranged by a separate contingency-fee contract.
A reported $750,000 result after a worker was fired following a workplace injury. Powell & Denny represented Mr. Stewart in both the workers' compensation claim and retaliatory-discharge claim.
Age, education, work history, restrictions, and medical treatment can matter when a worker may not return to the old job.
A simple guide to reporting the injury, asking for medical treatment, and documenting all injured body parts.
At a glance
The Alabama Work Injury Report is a Powell & Denny information project about Alabama workers' compensation, serious work injuries, return-to-work problems, denied medical treatment, permanent restrictions, FCEs, MMI, work-related truck and car accidents, retaliatory discharge, and Social Security Disability overlap.
When an injured worker has permanent restrictions, failed light duty, denied treatment, an FCE that blocks the old job, job loss after a claim, or Social Security Disability concerns, the case may need deeper review before settlement, resignation, or closure of future medical care.
The Report treats work-related truck and car crashes as Five Alarm Fires because workers' compensation, a third-party injury claim, insurance, medical treatment, wage loss, future work ability, and disability issues may overlap.
Applying the information
Workers' compensation questions can depend on records, dates, medical evidence, and facts outside the scope of a general resource. A qualified Alabama workers' compensation lawyer can review how the rules apply to a specific situation.
Publication notice. The Alabama Work Injury Report is an information publication of Powell & Denny, P.C. It provides general Alabama workers' compensation and disability-information only, is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and does not predict any result. This page is a paid advertisement. Powell & Denny, P.C., 1320 Alford Avenue, Suite 201, Birmingham, Alabama 35226, is responsible for its content. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. Reading this site or using an evaluator does not require you to contact Powell & Denny. Alabama workers' compensation can be difficult to understand, and no online checklist can cover every possible fact pattern. Even if an evaluator shows a lower-warning or green-style result, that does not mean you do not need a lawyer. If you are worried about your claim, we encourage you to call a qualified Alabama workers' compensation lawyer even if it is not us. If you contact Powell & Denny and we are not the right fit, you may ask us about referring you to another firm.