Who Should I Contact After Slipping at Work?

Workers' compensation is a form of insurance that provides wage replacement and medical benefits for an employee who gets injured in the course of employment. As a result, the injured employee waives his right to sue their employer for negligence resulting in the injury. 

However, just because you're entitled to workers' compensation benefits doesn't mean the insurance company covering your employer will write you a check without a fight. Like any other personal injury case, insurance companies may reject your claim citing various reasons. 

For instance, the insurance company may refuse to settle when they discover that you don't have proof of medical treatment for the injury. Instead, they'll argue that you didn't get injured while on shift.

If you skip your medical appointments, the defendants can also claim that you weren't injured. This explains why it's always advisable to attend every appointment recommended by your doctor. If you have to skip an appointment, consult a workers' compensation attorney for further guidance.

Posting about your medical condition on social media could mean losing the entire case. 

Here's why: 

Insurance companies will do everything they can to dismiss or downplay your injury. For this reason, they'll use different tactics, such as hiring investigators to monitor your social media activities, hoping to find any information to use against you in court. 

For example, suppose you post on Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram about a party you're attending. In that case, the insurance company could claim that you weren't injured at that particular moment even though the claim states otherwise. 

Although this doesn't necessarily mean that you can't attend a party or live your life after an injury, you can be sure that insurance companies will try different tactics to dismiss your claim. Most workers' compensation attorneys recommend taking a break from social media throughout the course of your injury. The last thing you want is to lose a legitimate claim based on hearsay or one-sided narratives. 

Signing documents without understanding their contents is also another mistake many employees make when they get injured at the workplace. Because insurance companies use different tactics to avoid the financial responsibility of compensating victims of workplace injuries, they may approach you with an offer or a document to sign. If you don't understand the contents of such documents, you're not obliged to sign anything. In fact, you have the right to seek a workers compensation attorney from a reputable personal injury law firm like Morgan & Morgan to represent you.

Discussing the injury with anyone other than your attorney or doctor could mean losing what you're entitled to as compensation. This is because you may be misquoted. In addition, the defense could put your words out of context to discredit your claim and avoid taking financial responsibility for the injury.

What to Expect From Your Doctor

When you consult a medical provider regarding the workplace-related injury, they can:

• certify whether the injury is work-related;
• help you file a workers' compensation claim;
• decide when you should return to work, based on medical reasons and;
• provide or recommend any further treatment required.

Contact Your Employer

The next step is to inform your employer about the injury you sustained while working your shift. In most states, an employee is required to notify an employer of the workplace injury within 30 days of the injury. Additionally, the employee may have at least two years to file a workers' compensation  claim. Please note that these timelines vary from one state to another.

If employed by a self-insured employer, you'll need to file a claim with them. Contact your employer for the specific steps to filing a workers' compensation claim. 

Generally, you'll need the following information before filing the claim: 

• names of witnesses;
• contact information for the witnesses;
• location of the accident;
• time and date of the accident;
• cause of accident;
• name and birth dates of your dependents. 

Suppose you've already seen a doctor. In that case, you'll also need to provide:

• the doctor's first and last name and;
• the name of the hospital or clinic where you received treatment for the injury. 

Some states make it easy for injured employees to file their claims. For example, in Washington, your doctor can help you file this claim if you fill the Report of Accident form at the doctor's office.

The process of filing a workers' compensation claim may seem easy on paper, but in reality, that's far from the truth. As mentioned before, insurance companies often put up strong fights and will do everything within their powers to avoid compensating victims of such injuries. 

Insurance companies may deny such claims citing various reasons, such as:

• the injury didn't occur on the job;
• the employee committed fraud or misrepresented the injury;
• the employee had a pre-existing condition;
• paperwork delay;
• discrepancies between the accident report and medical records;
• the claim was filed when you were laid off or fired;
• unwitnessed injuries.

This is where the importance of working with a workers' compensation attorney comes in. Given that workers' compensation cases are complex and that insurance companies are difficult to deal with, a workers' compensation attorney can help you with:

Developing Evidence
Insufficient evidence is one of the most common reasons for workers' compensation claims denial. Insurers will want to establish that, indeed, the injury occurred at the workplace and that you were treated for the same. For this reason, an attorney can help you collect sufficient evidence to prove your case. 

However, not every attorney you meet out there or online suits your case. One important thing you need to know about the process of collecting evidence is that it requires a lot of time and resources, the two things many attorneys fail to provide.

The truth is, some attorneys don't have time for your case. They'll jump from one case to another prematurely, and that's not the kind of legal representation you deserve. There have been countless cases of clients complaining that their attorneys no longer pick up their phone calls or respond to their emails. Similarly, if you work with an attorney or law firm that lacks sufficient resources to fight for your rights, chances are they'll settle for less than what you deserve just to close the case.

But that's not something you need to worry about when you contact Morgan & Morgan, the largest personal injury law firm in the United States. We have a team of over 800 attorneys specializing in different fields of personal injury, including workers' compensation. For this reason, you won't have to worry about working with an attorney or law firm that doesn't understand how important this case is to you. And given that we're the largest injury firm in the country, we have unrivaled legal infrastructure to fight for your rights.

Our attorneys will do everything it takes to ensure you recover the compensation you need and deserve. You can count on us when you need an experienced workers' compensation  attorney who can:

• gather the necessary medical records to prove your injury;
• arrange or recommend treatment after the injury;
• obtain medical opinions through an independent medical exam;
• represent you during deposition;
• conduct depositions of medical experts;
• Collect expert testimonies, including statements from friends, family members, colleagues, etc.

Calculating the Settlement Amount
Based on their experience handling workers' compensation  claims, such attorneys can also help calculate what you're entitled to as compensation. For example, many employers only consider their medical expenses when calculating the settlement amount; an experienced attorney considers more than just that.

The exact amount you're entitled to as compensation will depend on multiple factors. Examples include:

• the extent of the injury;
• the limitations in what you can do due to the injury;
• your past, current, and future medical expenses caused by the injury;
• disabilities caused by the injury;
• loss of wages;
• penalties for late payments.

While workers' compensation settlements are usually approved by a judge, it's still important to work with an attorney. You shouldn't expect the judge to fight for your interests, from first to last; that's the job description of an attorney. 

Negotiating the Settlement
Having collected sufficient evidence, the workers' compensation attorney will present it to the defendant's insurer or attorney. But there's always the possibility that they won't approve the claim. If that happens, a workers' compensation attorney can take the case to an administrative hearing or before a workers' compensation judge. 

During this process, the attorney will be in charge of various complex legal processes involved, such as:

• taking depositions of witnesses;
• requesting medical records; 
• performing legal research;
• writing your petitions, motions, and responses, otherwise known as pleadings and;
• filing paperwork on time. 

The attorney will also make opening and closing arguments on your behalf, examine witnesses, raise objections, and even file an appeal if your claim is dismissed. 

Providing Expert Legal Advice
You may never truly understand how much you're entitled to as compensation unless you talk to an experienced attorney. Such an attorney will evaluate different aspects of your case, including third-party claims and other potential benefits.

For instance, when you get injured at work, it's common knowledge that you may file a workers' compensation claim with your employer's insurer. But did you know that you could file other claims against a third party who also caused the injury due to negligence? 

For example, if you got injured while operating faulty equipment, you can file a separate claim against the manufacturer of the equipment that caused the injury. This is the kind of information you'll have access to when you consult a workers' compensation attorney. 

To sum up, you need to contact a workers comp attorney if:

• you don't have sufficient evidence to support your claim;
• your employer disputes your claim;
• your claim has been denied, and you need to file an appeal;
• you have a high-value claim or;
• you've suffered serious, long-term injuries.

At Morgan & Morgan, our workers' comp attorneys are always ready to review your claim at no cost to you. If you or your loved one has been injured at work due to your employer's negligence, our lawyers can help you get the compensation you need and deserve. Call us anytime at 877 582 9041 or send us a message online to schedule a free, no-obligation case evaluation.