Mediation has become an important part of resolving workers’ compensation disputes in South Carolina. In certain categories of claims, the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission requires the parties to mediate before proceeding to a hearing. A commissioner may also order mediation in another pending case when it could provide a meaningful opportunity for resolution.
That makes the choice of mediator important. The parties do not merely need someone who understands negotiation. They need a certified mediator who understands how South Carolina workers’ compensation cases are investigated, valued, defended, tried, and settled.
Alton L. Martin, Jr. is a certified South Carolina mediator with more than 30 years of legal experience. He has tried hundreds of workplace injury cases and participated in hundreds of workers’ compensation mediations. That background allows him to understand the legal, medical, and practical issues that can prevent the parties from reaching an agreement—and to help them explore whether those obstacles can be overcome.
Which Workers’ Compensation Claims Must Be Mediated?
South Carolina Regulation 67-1802 identifies several types of workers’ compensation claims that must generally be mediated before a hearing. These include:
- Claims for permanent and total disability;
- Occupational disease and repetitive-trauma claims arising under Chapters 11 and 13 of the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act;
- Third-party lien reduction claims;
- Contested death claims;
- Claims involving work-related stress, mental injury, or mental illness without an accompanying physical injury; and
- Claims involving concurrent jurisdiction under both the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act and the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.
There are qualifications within the regulation. Except for contested death claims, mandatory mediation generally applies only when the employer or insurance carrier has admitted that the accident is compensable. The Commission also generally does not require an unrepresented claimant to mediate unless the claimant requests it.
In addition to these specifically identified claims, a commissioner has discretion to order mediation in any pending workers’ compensation matter. The parties may also request mediation voluntarily when they believe a negotiated resolution may be more productive than proceeding directly toward a hearing.
The Mediation Schedule Can Move Quickly
When the grounds for mediation are raised, the parties generally must select a qualified mediator within 10 days of the earliest pleading that raises those grounds. They must promptly notify the Commission of the mediator and the proposed date. Unless the parties agree otherwise or the Commission issues another order, mediation is generally expected to be completed within 60 days.
This schedule leaves little room for an extended search. Attorneys, employers, carriers, and injured workers benefit from identifying a mediator who is not only properly certified, but prepared to understand the claim and help the parties make productive use of the mediation.
Why Workers’ Compensation Experience Matters
Workers’ compensation mediation has its own language and its own pressure points. A productive discussion may require a working understanding of medical evidence, impairment ratings, future treatment, average weekly wage and compensation rates, permanent disability exposure, Medicare considerations, third-party claims, and the practical risks of proceeding to a hearing.
A mediator who regularly works with these issues can get to the substance of the dispute without requiring the parties to spend valuable time explaining the fundamentals. That experience does not determine the result or favor one side. It helps the mediator ask useful questions, understand how each side is evaluating the case, and recognize where there may be room for agreement.
Al Martin’s experience includes serious and catastrophic workplace injury claims involving traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, paralysis, electrocution, and death. Other attorneys have referred difficult workers’ compensation matters to him. As a mediator, he brings that depth of experience to a neutral process focused on helping all participants evaluate risk, communicate clearly, and pursue a workable resolution.
What Does the Mediator Do?
A mediator does not act as a judge and cannot impose a result. Instead, the mediator facilitates negotiation between the parties. This commonly includes meeting with the participants, identifying the issues that remain in dispute, communicating offers and counteroffers, and helping each side realistically assess the strengths, weaknesses, costs, and uncertainty associated with continuing the case.
Communications made during mediation are confidential under South Carolina’s workers’ compensation regulations and generally cannot be disclosed or used as evidence in another proceeding. This gives the parties room to discuss settlement possibilities candidly. If an agreement is reached, however, the executed agreement itself is not treated as a confidential mediation communication.
Even when the case does not fully settle, mediation may narrow the disputed issues, improve communication, and give everyone a clearer understanding of what stands between them and resolution.
Choose a Mediator Who Knows South Carolina Workers’ Compensation
Mandatory mediation should be more than a procedural box to check before a hearing. With the right preparation and an experienced mediator, it can give the parties a meaningful opportunity to resolve a difficult claim on terms they choose rather than leaving the outcome entirely in the hands of the Commission.
Alton L. Martin, Jr. is a certified mediator with decades of experience handling South Carolina workers’ compensation matters and hundreds of mediations behind him. To discuss availability or schedule a workers’ compensation mediation, contact Martin & Martin Attorneys in Greenville.