If you work in a noisy environment like a manufacturing plant or construction site, you might suffer hearing loss over time. Unless there is another reason for your condition, you are entitled to workers' compensation benefits.
Work-related accidents can lead to many injuries that you might qualify for workers' compensation. Other injuries could include:
- Amputation
- Burns
- Head injuries
- Knee injuries
- Non-acute injuries
- Neck injuries
- Shoulder injuries
- Loss of vision
Generally, workers' comp covers diseases and illnesses that workers develop due to on-the-job exposure. Work-related disorders could range from conventional occupational health conditions such as black lung diseases and asbestosis to COVID-19.
We can also help you to prove ordinary disease of life (health conditions which many develop in their lives from several causes) such as:
- Lung cancer
- Hypertension
- Cardiovascular diseases
We will investigate the case and develop robust medical proof that worksite exposure contributed to or caused your disease.
Additionally, jobs like firefighters and police officers are hazardous and deserve workers' compensation protection. Therefore, when these employees develop specific cancer forms, hernias, and heart attacks, the law presumes that the conditions are work-related.
Simply because you have a pre-existing health condition, that does not mean you cannot receive worker's compensation benefits for work-related injuries that aggravate the condition. For example, assuming you injured your back while lifting an object at work, but imaging scanning shows you had another injury in the same area of your back. Workers comp will cover your new injury since it aggravated your pre-existing health condition.
Stress injuries or repetitive strain are not only common but also debilitating and painful. For many years we have represented people in numerous jobs who do the same physical responsibilities repeatedly, including a graphic designer, coder, home health aide, and factory employee. Common injuries suffered include:
- Back pain
- Tendonitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
Pain, life alternations, isolation, sleep disorders, anxiety, and depression are deemed a compensable consequence of work-related injuries. In other words, you are entitled to receive treatment, among other benefits.
Your doctor understands the relationship between extended exposure to stress and many health conditions, both psychological and physical. However, it could be impossible or hard to receive benefits for diseases due to on-the-job stress hinging on the reason for your stress and the illness's nature.
To receive compensation for an emotional challenge, you should provide more robust proof to support your claim than you would for another kind of disease and injury. You must also establish that your workplace conditions caused your injury. Under California Labor Code § 3208.3, you should show that the working conditions were more than fifty-one percent accountable for your psychiatric injuries.
On top of a workers' compensation claim, you could have a personal injury claim against a third party (a person other than the boss) whose negligence contributed to and caused the injuries. More often than not, manufacturers and drivers of faulty equipment are targets of third-party lawsuits.
A personal injury claim could be more valuable than a workers' compensation claim because damages could include medical bills, pain and suffering, lost income, loss of earning capacity, and emotional distress.
We can analyze your case to determine the accountable person and advise whether to file a workers' compensation claim or personal injury claim.
When severely injured on the job, your recovery should be your priority, and returning to your work, the next step. While your employee should do what it takes to make sure you recover completely, some punish workers for bringing a workers' compensation claim. Well, that is illegal. Our legal team knows how to help you to receive just and ethical treatment.
There are several ways your employee could discriminate against you. Although companies aren't always required to keep your position open while you're away, there are instances where a union contract, federal or state law, employee benefit, and personal service contract might cover you. Other forms of discrimination include:
- Demotion
- Delay in your workers' compensation claim approval
- Threats about job security
- Pay decrease
- Critical remarks
- Physical harassment (threats of intent to inflict injuries)
- Demands that are not possible meeting
- Spreading rumors or discrediting you
- Humiliating you
- Inappropriate jokes or comments
Do not ignore any warning signs. If you suspect you are experiencing either, talk to a qualified attorney about what is taking place. The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm will review the available job protections to determine the full level of benefits, protection, and coverage. The benefits are available through employee benefits, personal service contracts, and union contracts. Moreover, state and federal laws might provide limited protection under:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Workers' compensation is a no-fault system regardless of whether you were negligent when you were hurt or not. However, there are exemptions like a self-inflicted injury, injury due to intoxication, or you were injured while breaking your company's policies.
Sometimes you might receive workers' compensation benefits if both your conduct and job conditions caused your health condition.
The rules of the workers' comp system of illness and injuries are complicated. Assuming you suffered stress-related emotional or physical challenges, cumulative trauma injury, or occupational disease, it can be overwhelming to get the workers' compensation benefits you need and deserve without legal representation. Our attorneys can review your case, help you file your claim in time, develop evidence required to support your claim, and explain whether the insurer will cover the disease or injuries.