He Ruptured His Knee on the Job. The Insurance Carrier Stalled. We Didn’t. 

He Ruptured His Knee on the Job. The Insurance Carrier Stalled. We Didn’t. 

When a Wilson County production worker twisted his knee during a January ice storm, he did what a lot of working people do — he pushed through it. He kept showing up, kept working, and hoped his body would catch up. It didn’t.

Six weeks later, mid-shift, something ruptured. He couldn’t walk a full hour without feeling like his knee was tearing apart. Sitting for long stretches was no better.

His employer opened a workers’ compensation claim, and a doctor referred him to an orthopedic specialist for an MRI. 

But the insurance carrier let the referral sit. A month passed. No appointment. No imaging. No answers — just a worker getting worse every day while the carrier ran out the clock.

“I didn’t know they could just do that,” he said later. “I thought once you filed the claim, the system took care of you. It doesn’t work that way.”

What Needed to Happen — and Fast

By the time he contacted Morrison Law Firm, the structural damage from six weeks of continued work on an undiagnosed rupture had compounded the original injury significantly. 

Attorney Perry Morrison recognized the pattern immediately: a valid claim being quietly starved of medical authorization while the worker deteriorated.

Perry’s office filed a formal request for a hearing before the North Carolina Industrial Commission, putting the carrier on notice that the delay in authorized care would be part of the record. 

At the same time, the firm sent a written demand to the adjuster documenting the full timeline — the January injury, the weeks of continued work, the March rupture, and every day the orthopedic referral had gone unfulfilled. Under that pressure, the carrier moved. The MRI was scheduled within days.

What the Imaging Confirmed — and What Followed

The MRI revealed a torn meniscus and ligament damage consistent with the January injury and worsened by weeks of unaddressed stress on the joint. 

With that documentation locked in, Perry secured surgical authorization through the workers’ comp carrier, full temporary total disability wage benefits during recovery, and a ultimately a settlement that accounted for the permanent partial disability rating assigned by the orthopedic surgeon post-surgery.

The outcome the client received was materially better than what he would have gotten had he continued navigating the claim alone — or worse, had he waited so long that the injury’s connection to the workplace became harder to establish.

“Mr. Morrison didn’t just get me the appointment,” he said. “He made sure everything that happened because of the delay was part of my case.”

Don’t Let a Stalled Claim Cost You More Than the Injury Already Has

Insurance carriers are not on your side — they are managing costs. If your workers’ compensation claim has stalled, your treatment has been delayed, or you’re not sure whether you’re receiving everything you’re entitled to under North Carolina law.

Perry Morrison offers free consultations and has represented injured workers across the state since 1989. Call (252) 243-1003 or contact the firm online. The sooner you call, the more options you have.

About the Author

B. Perry Morrison Jr.

B. Perry Morrison Jr. is a North Carolina attorney (Bar No. 16376) and founder of Morrison Law Firm, PLLC in Wilson, North Carolina. Since 1989, he has represented injured workers, Social Security Disability claimants, and personal injury victims throughout Eastern North Carolina, handling more than 3,000 workers' compensation claims before the North Carolina Industrial Commission. He concentrates his practice on workers' compensation, Social Security Disability, personal injury, and wrongful death cases, representing claimants exclusively rather than employers or insurance companies.

Mr. Morrison is admitted to practice before the North Carolina Supreme Court, all North Carolina state courts, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of North Carolina. He has held leadership roles within the North Carolina Bar Association, including serving as Chair of the Litigation Section, and has earned the AV Preeminent® peer rating for legal ability and professional ethics. Through decades of advocacy, he has helped injured and disabled individuals navigate complex legal claims while protecting their rights and access to benefits.