Tennessee Injury Law Center
I was hurt in an automobile wreck and missed 10 days from work. Fortunately, I had some sick days and some vacation pay left so I still got my normal pay check. Does the fact that I got paid mean that I cannot claim "lost wages" when my lawyer and I try to settle my case with the at-fault driver?
Under Tennessee law you can recover your lost wages under this senario. Wny? Because the law states that the at-fault driver does not get the benefit your "sick days" or your vacation time. You had to use them to recover from injuries caused by another’s negligence and therefore you have lost the opportunity to use those days in the future. Thus, you can get paid for those days by the at-fault driver even though you do not have an out-of-pocket loss of those days.