Batavia Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

An on-the-job injury in Genesee County can leave you with medical bills and no paycheck while you heal. The clock starts right away: you have 30 days to notify your employer in writing and two years to file Form C-3. Miss either deadline, and the carrier can use the delay to fight your claim at the Workers’ Compensation Board’s Rochester District Office.

Our team of Upstate New York workers’ compensation lawyers helps you meet both deadlines. A Batavia workers’ compensation lawyer from our firm then pursues your medical care and wage benefits, fights a denial, and handles any third-party claim.

Our Batavia office at 596 East Main Street, Room 104, keeps that help near the farms, warehouses, and hospitals where Genesee County workers get hurt. The office is part of Stanley Law Offices, the firm attorney Joe Stanley founded in 1982.

Call 1-800-608-3333 any hour, day or night, and tell us what happened. Or send us the short version through our free consultation form, and our team will follow up with you.

Either way, the consultation is free and there is no obligation.

Why Injured Workers in Batavia Choose Stanley Law Offices

A trial tested record

A $3.7 million wrongful death verdict and a $1 million verdict for a client who was homeless at the time we took his case.

We come to you

Home, hospital, and video consultations are available for clients who cannot or prefer not to travel to one of our local offices.

Decades in courtrooms

Our personal injury attorneys have tried cases across Upstate New York since 1982.

No attorney fees unless we win

 We advance all case costs upfront. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.

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Results We’ve Won for Injured Workers

Some workplace injuries support a claim beyond workers’ comp. These results come from cases we handled for injured workers:

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is unique, and the value of any claim depends on its specific facts.

What Our Workers’ Comp Clients Say

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is unique, and the value of any claim depends on its specific facts.

Are You Eligible for Workers’ Compensation in Batavia, NY?

You are generally eligible for workers’ compensation in Batavia if you were hurt doing your job, from your first day on the payroll. New York’s system does not ask whose fault the accident was. The rule is the same on a Genesee County press line and on a farm off Route 63. Full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers are generally covered.

Workers told they are “independent contractors” often hear they are not covered. The label alone does not settle the question.

If your employer sets your schedule, hands you the tools, and directs your work, you can still be an employee under New York law. Your paycheck label does not decide whether you are excluded from workers’ compensation. A denial based on contractor status can be challenged with these same facts.

What to Do After a Workplace Injury in Genesee County

After a workplace injury in Genesee County, report it to your employer in writing, get medical care, and file Form C-3 with the Board. These first steps shape how much of a fight you face later. Our guide on what to do if you’re injured on the job starts with your employer, not your lawyer:

• Report the accident to your employer in writing within 30 days. Verbal notice gets disputed later, so put it on paper or in a text you can screenshot.
• Get medical care right away, even if the injury feels minor. In an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room, such as United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia. For follow-up care, use a Board-authorized provider.
• Follow your doctor’s treatment plan exactly.
• Watch what you post online.
• File Form C-3 with the Workers’ Compensation Board within two years of the accident. For an occupational illness, the two years generally run from when you became disabled and knew, or should have known, the illness was work-related.

Skipping these steps gives the carrier room to controvert, meaning formally deny, your claim.

What Benefits Can You Recover Through Workers’ Compensation?

Workers’ compensation in New York pays for your medical care and replaces part of your lost wages. It adds a permanent-injury award when an injury does not fully heal.

Medical treatment is covered at 100 percent when you see a Board-authorized provider, with no copays and no deductibles for care tied to the injury. Cash wage benefits work differently: if you are totally disabled, you generally receive two-thirds of your average weekly wage, capped at the statutory maximum. For a partial disability, the formula is two-thirds of your average weekly wage multiplied by your percentage of disability.

For injuries on or after July 1, 2026, the maximum weekly benefit is $1,281.50. The minimum is $384.45, or your actual weekly wage if that is lower. Both figures reset every July 1 based on the statewide average weekly wage.

If a doctor clears you for light duty and that work pays less than your pre-injury wage, you can qualify for a reduced earnings benefit. This benefit pays up to two-thirds of the difference between your old average weekly wage and your new, lower earnings. It applies to light-duty work with your original employer or a different job you take while recovering.

Permanent damage to an arm, leg, hand, foot, finger, toe, hearing, or vision can qualify you for a Schedule Loss of Use (SLU) award. New York’s schedule assigns a set number of compensable weeks to each body part. Any temporary disability benefits already paid are deducted from the total SLU award.

Injuries to the spine, lungs, heart, or brain fall outside the schedule. Those permanent injuries are classified instead, with benefits based on lost earning capacity for a capped number of weeks.

A case can close through a Section 32 settlement once ongoing weekly payments no longer make sense for either side. This negotiated lump sum closes the claim in exchange for giving up future weekly benefits. Before you sign one, make sure the settlement covers your future medical needs, because you generally cannot reopen the case afterward. Our guide on whether to settle your workers’ comp case walks through the trade-offs.

Talk to a Batavia Workers’ Comp Lawyer Before You Sign Anything

An early settlement offer can sound generous before you know the full cost of your injury. Before you accept a settlement, sign a medical release, or give a recorded statement, call 1-800-608-3333 for a free case review. There is no cost and no obligation to have an attorney review the offer with you.

What If Your Workers’ Comp Claim Is Denied or Disputed?

A denial is not the end of your claim, but it does mean the fight is no longer routine. Carriers commonly controvert a claim with three arguments. They say the injury happened off the clock, a pre-existing condition explains your symptoms, or you reported the injury late.

An Independent Medical Examination, or IME, is a frequent tool in these disputes. Despite the name, the IME is requested by the insurance carrier or employer, not by you or your doctor. An IME report can downplay your injury or blame a condition that predates the accident. We challenge those findings with your treating doctor’s records and, when needed, by cross-examining the IME doctor.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is unique, and the value of any claim depends on its specific facts.

Your employer can create a different problem: retaliation. Firing or otherwise punishing a worker for filing a claim violates Workers’ Compensation Law Section 120. A Section 120 complaint must be filed within two years.

If the Board finds a violation, it can order you restored to your job with lost wages. Our guide covers whether you can collect workers’ comp after being fired.

Can You File a Separate Claim If a Third Party Caused Your Injury?

Yes. If someone other than your employer caused your injury, you can file a separate third-party claim alongside your workers’ comp case. These situations can lead to a third-party claim:

• A negligent driver hits you during a delivery or between job sites.
• Defective equipment or machinery injures you.
• An unsafe condition hurts you on property your employer does not own, such as a client’s warehouse.

A third-party claim is a different legal track from your workers’ comp claim. It opens the door to damages comp never covers, including pain and suffering.

Your workers’ comp benefits are paid without regard to fault, except in rare cases such as an injury caused solely by on-duty intoxication. A third-party lawsuit follows its own fault rules, covered in our guide to personal injury vs. workers’ comp. The comp carrier holds a lien on any third-party recovery, so we coordinate both claims from the start.

Common Workplace Injuries We Handle Near Batavia

Farming, food processing, manufacturing, and healthcare jobs around Batavia each carry their own injury risks.

Agricultural and Farming Accidents

Farm work near Batavia means heavy equipment, large animals, and long hours during harvest season, often alone in a field far from help. We handle crush injuries from equipment rollovers, amputations from unguarded machinery, and toxic exposure from pesticides and fertilizers. We push back when a carrier argues a seasonal or migrant farmworker falls outside coverage.

Manufacturing and Warehouse Injuries

Assembly line and warehouse work around Batavia means daily contact with conveyor systems, forklifts, and loading docks. Forklift collisions, machine entanglements, and repetitive lifting cause many of these injuries. Carriers often dispute whether a slow-developing back or shoulder injury is connected to the job.

Healthcare and Hospital Worker Injuries

Nurses, aides, and clinical staff at hospitals and nursing homes around Batavia lift and reposition patients as part of the job. The lifting strains backs and shoulders. We see exposure claims and, less often, workplace violence incidents that carriers try to reclassify as something other than a compensable work injury.

Construction Site Accidents

Construction work around Genesee County carries risks of falls from scaffolding, struck-by accidents, and electrical injuries. These construction injuries can lead to a separate third-party claim against a general contractor or property owner. The third-party claim runs alongside the workers’ comp benefits owed to you.

Repetitive Strain and Occupational Illness

Not every injury happens in one dramatic moment. Carpal tunnel syndrome from years on an assembly line, herniated discs from repetitive lifting, and hearing loss from loud machinery can all qualify for benefits. Proving the medical link between your job and a slow-developing condition takes medical evidence, not just your word.

Why Choose Stanley Law Offices for Your Batavia Workers’ Comp Claim

Our workers’ compensation team represents injured workers, not insurance carriers, and that focus shapes how we build your case.

• Attorneys Sheila Fallon and Megan Fallon lead our workers’ comp team. Together they bring more than 45 years of experience representing injured workers before the Workers’ Compensation Board.
• Robert Geyer represented employers and carriers for years before switching sides. He now handles workers’ comp appeals up to the New York Court of Appeals.
• Sheila Fallon and Megan Fallon belong to the NY State Injured Workers Bar Association. To join, at least 80 percent of an attorney’s workers’ comp practice must represent injured workers.
• One team handles your workers’ comp claim and any third-party injury claim together. Coordinating liens between the two claims protects your net recovery.
• You work with a dedicated attorney and paralegal team, like Megan Fallon and paralegal Sheri Scofield, so you know who to call.
• Clients rate Stanley Law Offices 4.8 stars on Google across more than 900 reviews.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is unique, and the value of any claim depends on its specific facts.

Batavia Workers’ Comp Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Does a Batavia Workers’ Comp Lawyer Cost?

A Batavia workers’ comp lawyer from Stanley Law Offices costs nothing upfront. Our contingency fee comes only from benefits you recover, and the Workers’ Compensation Board approves the amount. You owe no attorney fee if you recover nothing, and the first consultation is free.

How Long Do I Have to File a Workers’ Comp Claim in New York?

You have two years to file a workers’ comp claim in New York by filing Form C-3 with the Workers’ Compensation Board. You must give your employer written notice within 30 days. For an occupational illness, the two years generally run from disablement and knowledge that the illness is work-related.

Do I Get to Choose My Own Doctor for a Workers’ Comp Injury in New York?

Yes. You get to choose your own doctor for a workers’ comp injury in New York if the Workers’ Compensation Board has authorized that doctor. You can later move to another Board-authorized doctor. If your employer uses a certified PPO, your first non-emergency treatment comes from that network.

What Should I Not Say to the Workers’ Comp Insurance Carrier?

Do not guess, downplay your symptoms, or leave out an injured body part when you talk to the workers’ comp insurance carrier. Do not give a recorded statement or sign a medical release before a lawyer reviews it. Stick to facts you know, and report every symptom to your doctor. 

What Happens If I Need Surgery and the Insurer Won’t Approve It?

If you need surgery the insurer won’t approve, you can challenge the denial at an expedited hearing before a Workers’ Compensation Law Judge. Some denials must be timely and include a conflicting IME report, or the request is deemed authorized. A Batavia workers’ comp lawyer presents your doctor’s evidence.

How Long Does a Batavia Workers’ Comp Claim Take?

A Batavia workers’ comp claim can take months to years, depending on whether the carrier disputes it. An accepted claim can start paying benefits soon after acceptance. A contested claim takes longer because each disputed issue goes to a hearing. See how long a workers’ comp settlement takes.

How Long Can You Receive Workers’ Comp in New York?

It depends on the benefit. Medical care for your work injury is covered for your lifetime unless a Section 32 settlement closes it. Non-schedule permanent partial disability benefits run 225 to 525 weeks, based on your lost earning capacity. SLU awards follow the schedule’s set weeks.

Where Are Workers’ Comp Hearings for Batavia Claims Held?

Workers’ comp hearings for Batavia claims are handled through the Workers’ Compensation Board’s Rochester District Office. You can attend a hearing virtually or request an in-person hearing at a Board location. A Batavia workers’ comp lawyer attends with you, presents your medical evidence, and answers the carrier’s arguments.

Can Undocumented Workers File a Workers’ Comp Claim in New York?

Yes. Undocumented workers can file a workers’ comp claim in New York. State law does not require proof of immigration status to receive medical or wage benefits. The Workers’ Compensation Board has committed to guarding against the use of immigration status to retaliate against workers asserting their rights.

Hire a Batavia Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Today

You do not need to have every fact organized before you call.

Tell us what happened, in your own words, at 1-800-608-3333, any hour, or send us the short version through our free consultation form.

It’s always personal because your story matters. There is no fee unless we recover benefits for you. We serve injured workers in Batavia, Le Roy, Oakfield, Alexander, Bergen, Corfu, Attica, and Albion.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Past case results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each case.