Imagine getting hurt at work, loving your job, and then being told you may have to resign just to settle your workers’ comp case. It’s a shocking reality many injured employees face.
In this episode of The Verdict, Clarke and workers’ comp attorney Brian Groesser explain why insurance companies often demand resignations as part of a settlement, and what that means for injured workers. They break down the logic from the insurer’s perspective (avoiding future liability), why employers themselves may not even want you gone, and what trade-offs you face if you want to keep your job.
This conversation sheds light on one of the least understood—and most frustrating—aspects of workers’ comp, and why knowing your options before mediation is critical.
Here’s what we discuss in this episode:
🏥 It’s not your employer – Insurance companies, not employers, usually push for resignations.
🚫 Not required by law – You don’t have to resign, but refusing may mean a smaller settlement.
💵 The trade-off – Bigger payout vs. keeping your job
🧾 Insurer’s rationale – Resignation caps their liability for future re-injuries.
Featured Keyword & Other Tags
Workers comp, insurance, settlement, resignation, payout
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Transcript (Click To Read)
Bigger Payout or Keep Your Job? The Workers’ Comp Trade-Off
Clark: I’m, um, Clark Speaks, the catastrophic injury lawyer. Welcome to the Verdict. Welcome back to the Verdict. I’m Clark Speaks. I’m here with Brian Grosser. Brian, you mentioned in the last episode that at the conclusion of a workers compensation case, a lot of times the employer is going to ask you to resign. Or maybe not the employer, but the, uh, uh, insurance company for the employer. I think that would surprise a lot of people. A lot of people are like, I like my job. I don’t want to give up my job. It’s really not the employer necessarily that wants that to happen. A lot of times, uh, especially our clients have a great relationship with their employer. They want to stay on and keep their job. And sometimes I guess they can, but many times the insurance company wants them or insist upon their resignation. Describe that to me and tell, uh, me what that’s about.
Brian Grosser: Yeah, again, this is something that is a surprise. I think to a lot of folks. It might not be a big deal to them because they don’t like their job anyways. Or maybe they were looking at doing something else at some point anyways. But if they really love their job, they’ve been loyal employee. I’ve seen these cases. They’ve been a loyal employee for 20 years, 25 years. This was their first ever injury. And then all of a sudden, when you sit down for mediation and you say, hey, or at least for not mediation, but for prep for mediation, and you say, hey, you know, there’s a possibility here that they’re going to ask for your resignation, the shock that comes on their face, uh, it shows that this is not something they ever considered as a possibility. They literally got hurt at work. Why does this all of a sudden need.
Clark: They weren’t asking for it.
Brian Grosser: Right. And their employer still likes them. Like, what’s the deal again? This is a derivative of the insurance company, that same insurance company that I told you about at the beginning that, you know, kill them with kindness type thing. They have a job to do. And yes, that adjuster may seem friendly, but at the end of the day, and maybe they are friendly, but at the end of the day, what we talked about at the beginning was trying to keep the costs down, keep the exposure down. That is the job of the adjuster. Part of that is, is making sure that there isn’t any ongoing exposure. So if they settle your case that you’re not going to pop up a month from now with a new injury at this employer who they still cover, the easiest way for them to avoid that is to get your Resignation. Now, it is not necessarily something that you have to do. That’s the important thing. You do not have to resign as part of a worker’s compensation case. However, it could be a component to a certain amount of settlement that they’re not going to be willing to pay that rating that we talked about in a priority episode. They may just pay you out the value of the rating and that’s it. That’s all you get. And you remain on the job and.
Clark: You’Re going to reduce the, um, settlement that you get in order to be able to keep your job. And so you need to understand that and understand what you’re giving up or what you might be giving up in order to retain your job. Let me ask you this. Uh, so as I’m thinking about this, in my experience, the rationale is, from the employer’s insurance company’s point of view is, so let’s say Joe works for a moving company. He hurts his back moving. The insurance company then has to pay that claim, the medical and the indemnity portion of that claim. They clinch it in a settlement agreement at the end of the case. And then now it comes to the part where they say, okay, and we’ll give you a little bit extra money in order for your resignation. And the person says, wait a minute, I’ve been here for a long time. I love my job, I love the people. I love Cindy that runs the office, and, uh, what’s the deal? And so we want to prepare them for that. But the rationale from the insurance carrier’s perspective, and my understanding is, okay, what happens if this person keeps their job? We resolve this claim a month from now. They re injure their back. Now their back is more seriously injured. There’s no question they’re on the hook for that. Compare that to the scenario where that person is terminated, goes to work at a different company, re injures that same back. Now that insurance company is going to say, we’re not responsible for that. It was the other guy’s fault. Is that a big part of the reason why that these, uh, resignations are asked for under these circumstances?
Brian Grosser: Absolutely. Because the insurance carrier just wants to wash their hands. They don’t want any ongoing exposure if they don’t need to. Right. They prefer not to do the rating side of it because it leaves your claim open for two years and there’s ongoing exposure. If they can settle your claim, they would prefer to do that. Most carriers won’t do it without a resignation. There are certain circumstances that they will, but those are few and far between. Most of them, in my experience, especially over the past 15 years, has been that resignation is almost, uh, part and parcel with the whole settlement discussion.
Clark: Yeah. And the reason is, like you say, in order to, uh, cap their exposure and reduce and minimize their exposure, which is the name of the game, from their experience, regardless of what your employer thinks. Thinks. And what you think and how your relationship with your employer has developed or been strong over years. Okay. Uh, thank you, Brian. I have more questions for you next episode. Thanks for joining us. Don’t forget to subscribe and follow us to stay up to date with our weekly episodes. We’ll see you next time.
