Mitchell v. D.C. Department of Employment Services

**What Happened** Ms. Mitchell was injured at work and needed medical treatment. She wanted to continue seeing her regular doctors for her workplace injury, but these doctors were not part of the District of Columbia's required managed care network called OCCUNET. Mitchell asked the city's workers' compensation system to pay for treatment from her preferred doctors who were outside this network. When they refused, she challenged this decision in court. **What the Court Decided** The court sided with the District of Columbia. The judges ruled that the workers' compensation program did not have to pay for medical care from doctors outside the approved OCCUNET network, even though Mitchell wanted to keep seeing her established doctors for continuity of care. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling shows that injured workers may not always get to choose their own doctors for work-related injuries. If your employer or state has a managed care network for workers' compensation claims, you'll likely need to use doctors within that network to have your treatment covered. While you might prefer your regular doctor, the workers' compensation system can require you to use their approved providers instead.