A work injury closed with glue, returned to full duty, and reopened
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Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Founding Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed March 5, 2021
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I cut my finger at work and went to the emergency room, where the wound was closed with glue rather than stitches. My own doctor said the next day that it should have been sutured and signed me off for a few days. My employer sent me to their own doctor, who soaked and rewrapped the finger and released me to full duty with no restrictions. Two days later the wound reopened, and a week after that I was sent back for stitches. Do I have to use my personal leave for the time off?
Attorney Answer
Time off for a work injury is a workers' compensation question, not a personal-leave question — and disagreeing with the employer's doctor is a recognized situation with a process.
Workers' compensation is the exclusive route against an employer for a workplace injury. O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11(a) puts the rights under the chapter “in place of all other rights and remedies” against the employer, which is why this is handled as a claim rather than as an employment dispute.
Within that system, the treating physician and the income benefits are connected. Being released to full duty by the employer's doctor is what usually ends wage benefits, so a release that turns out to be premature has consequences beyond the medical question — and a wound that reopens two days later is evidence bearing on exactly that.
Georgia has a specific mechanism governing which physicians an employer may direct an injured worker to, and what choice the worker has within it. That is the provision to ask about by name, because it is what decides whether you are stuck with the opinion you disagree with.
What you can do
1. Report the reopening in writing to your employer and to the insurer, and keep a copy. 2. Keep your own doctor's note and every record from the emergency room and the employer's physician. 3. Photograph the wound at each stage, dated. 4. Ask your employer or the insurer for the posted list of authorized physicians and your rights within it. 5. Speak to a Georgia workers' compensation attorney about the leave question and the release to full duty.
⏱ Time limits apply. Georgia sets deadlines for every kind of claim and they are shorter than most people expect. Confirm the one that governs your situation with a Georgia attorney before assuming there is time.
A Georgia attorney can tell you quickly how the facts here line up, and most will look at a matter like this at no cost.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is a work injury handled through workers' compensation rather than a lawsuit against the employer?
Generally yes. O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11(a) makes the rights and remedies under the Workers' Compensation Act exclusive and in place of other rights and remedies against the employer.
What happens when an employer's doctor releases a worker to full duty too early?
A release to full duty typically ends wage benefits, so a premature release has financial consequences as well as medical ones. Evidence that the injury had not resolved is relevant to challenging it.
Can an injured worker choose their own doctor in Georgia?
An employer directs treatment through an authorized arrangement, and a worker has defined rights within it. The specific provision governing that choice is the one to ask the employer, the insurer, or an attorney about by name.