Are you hurt and worried about your job if you file a worker’s compensation claim?
I just met with someone yesterday actually, a gentleman who got injured by a customer who was doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. This gentleman got a pretty significant injury as a result. The employer wanted the gentleman to deal with the customer’s insurance rather than with worker’s compensation. It’s clearly a worker’s comp case but the employer doesn’t want that.
If you get injured at work and you’re worried about jeopardizing your job if you file a claim, here’s what you need to know:
Employers mistakenly believe cases like this are going to raise their insurance rates. Not true. Worker’s compensation doesn’t work that way. It’s a sophisticated system.
I tell everyone if your employer doesn’t care enough about you to make sure you have a worker’s compensation claim, and that you are going to get taken care of properly, then maybe it’s not the right place to work. The #1 consideration must be your health and well-being. That’s what worker’s comp is all about. I talk to people about that all the time.
You might be inclined to go along with your employer because you fear losing your job.
You might worry about jeopardizing their business in some way. You may even agree to say the accident DIDN’T happen at work. You may agree to say the accident happened somewhere else just to be cooperative.
You’re going to get into worse trouble here by following this path. Because IF you decide to say the accident occurred somewhere else, all of a sudden you begin realizing as the medical bills, etc. begin stacking up, there’s no one else there to help you pay the bills. There’s no other recourse you have. Sometimes an employer might even offer to put some money initially towards your bills. You’ll soon find out though if something significant happens, there’s a permanent injury, you can’t work, etc. you’re the one left holding the bag.
It’s technically illegal for an employer to fire you for filing a worker’s compensation claim. That’s what the law says. But that doesn’t prevent them from firing you for other reasons.
You have to prove they’re doing it solely because of your injury. Most employers are more sophisticated than that.
https://www.facebook.com/CuzJoeKnows/videos/756237884717853/
IF you’re going to go it alone, usually the circumstances end up worse than just losing your job. If you end up with a significant injury and can’t work, if you’ve not properly filed a worker’s compensation case, you’ll be in real trouble. We never want to see someone get hurt on the job. But if and when it happens, you need to file that worker’s compensation claim. And you need a lawyer to really do it effectively. As one of our dedicated comp attorneys explains in the video above, worker’s compensation has a lot of complicated details and requirements.
It’s difficult to navigate unless you have someone on your side who REALLY knows what they’re doing. Try to select a firm that DOES worker’s comp and can even assist you with your personal injury claim if you have one, right along with your comp case.
Joe Stanley of the Team at Stanley Law is a personal injury attorney with a 
dedicated worker’s compensation team to assist you when you’re injured. With offices in Syracuse, Watertown, Binghamton, Rochester, and Montrose, PA, the Team is there for you. Call 1-800-608-3333. Consultations are free. And we only get paid, when YOU get paid.
