"They sent me something to sign."

Read the title first

The three that need real caution

Compromise and Release

It closes future medical treatment forever. In any case involving a prosthesis, an implanted device, a joint replacement that will need revision, ongoing medication, or a progressive condition, that decision should not be made without a lifetime cost projection. Why.

And a judge must approve it and find it adequate — but the judge decides on the record in front of them, which is usually the defense's record. A judge cannot value a body part nobody claimed.

A separation or severance agreement

This is not a workers' compensation document, and it may be the more valuable one.

If you were let go after an injury, you may have a § 132a claim and — usually larger — a FEHA disability discrimination claim, which has no $10,000 cap and provides emotional distress damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees. A severance agreement typically waives all of it. Both routes.

Do not sign a severance agreement after a work injury without having it read.

An open-ended medical release

A release should be limited to the injured body parts and a relevant time period. A blanket authorization for your entire lifetime medical history hands the defense every prior complaint in your file to use for apportionment.

Narrowing it is normal and it is usually accepted.

What you should sign

The DWC-1 claim form. Fill out the employee section, sign it, date it, deliver it, and keep a copy showing the date. That date starts the 90-day presumption under § 5402(b) and the $10,000 treatment obligation under § 5402(c).

Not signing does not protect you. It just means no clock is running.

Before you sign anything

Take a photograph of every page, including the ones you are told are boilerplate.

Ask for time. A legitimate offer survives a few days.

Ask what it closes — in writing.

And have it read. A review costs nothing, and it is the difference between a settlement and a settlement you did not understand.