If you get hurt at work, Workers’ Comp is likely your best route to compensation. Many injury cases have no route to a lawsuit, but Workers’ Comp can still pay for your injuries, all without needing to show someone else’s fault.
If you file a Workers’ Comp claim, you are likely to be denied – but that starts your case, not ends it. From there, we can file a claim in court and put it in front of a judge to decide benefits. We can also step in and work to negotiate a fair settlement that covers your benefits in full.
For a free case review, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
Suing vs. Filing for Workers’ Comp in Towamencin Township
If you were to file a lawsuit for an injury, you would need to prove the following things:
- Someone else was at fault for your injuries
- They caused them by breaching a legal duty
- You suffered damages.
In a work injury case, this often does not apply. Many accidents are caused by employers’ violations of OSHA rules or other safety laws, but employers are immune from lawsuits. The trade-off is that you do not need to actually prove fault for a Workers’ Comp claim, and your employer has to pay regardless of whether they caused the injury or not.
With a Work Comp claim, you must prove two things:
- The injury was work-related
- You were disabled by it.
You do not need to prove your employer was at fault. You do not need to prove anyone else was at fault. You can even get compensation if you caused the accident (so long as it was truly accidental).
What Are the Damages Available in a Workers’ Comp Claim?
Workers’ Comp pays benefits in three main areas:
Medical Expenses
Expenses for all medical care related to your injury should be covered. This means covering…
- Hospitalizations
- Specialist appointments
- Follow-up care
- Therapy (physical, mental health, and occupational)
- Medication
- And more.
Most of these are paid by the insurance carrier directly to the employer unless you settle your case. Then you would get the funds sent to you so you can pay over time, usually from a separate account.
Wage-Loss Benefits
Your employer typically pays 2/3 of your average wage. This is subject to a cap at the statewide average and a floor at the lower of half that statewide average or 90% of your income.
If you are only partially disabled, you get the 2/3 of the difference in wages from before and after the injury instead.
These are somewhat simple to calculate so long as you have a good estimate of how much work you will miss because of the injury. For example, if you know you are totally and permanently disabled, you will receive that wage until retirement age.
Specific Loss Benefits
Special benefits are paid at a rate of 2/3 of your average wage for a number of weeks listed in the Workers’ Comp Act. These account for amputations, permanent losses, permanent lost function, lost vision, lost hearing, and serious scars to the face. Each injury has a number of weeks listed for it and rules about how to add multiple losses together.
There are no pain and suffering damages paid for Workers’ Comp, but these still help make up for a permanent loss.
Do Workers’ Comp Claims Have to Go to Court?
Initial claims are filed with employers, but they are often quickly rejected. From there, your next move is to file before a Workers’ Comp Judge (WCJ).
These judges are specific to the Workers’ Comp process and are not judges in the Court of Common Pleas like you would see for a personal injury case or a criminal case. Instead, they only handle Workers’ Comp cases.
The rules before Workers’ Comp Judges are much like the rules in a normal courtroom, but the laws applied are specific to Workers’ Comp. It can generally help to have a Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialist like ours instead of a “regular” personal injury lawyer.
What to Expect at Workers’ Comp Hearings
In a hearing, the WCJ will be presented with evidence from both sides about what happened, what doctors have said about your condition, and what benefits you should receive.
You will usually have to testify even if you already took a deposition earlier, but you will not be expected to be an expert in your medical conditions or future work prospects. Those issues are handled through expert reports, and your testimony instead focuses on what you witnessed and what you can and cannot do post-injury.
What Evidence Should I Save for My Workers’ Comp Lawyer?
Any communications or records from your employer should be saved and given to your attorney. You usually do not need to go to the effort of getting medical records or financial statements, as we can usually request these on your behalf.
We will be part of the collection process for most of the evidence you need, such as depositions and statements from witnesses, as well as reports from doctors and other experts. However, you will also need to save any other medical bills or records of lost wages that you have.
When Should I Call a Workers’ Comp Lawyer?
Contact a lawyer about your work injury case as soon as possible. Focus on your immediate recovery, especially if you need emergency medical care. However, in the days and weeks after, you should begin your case.
Claims typically need to be filed with your employer within 21 days, so it is important to talk to a lawyer and file your initial claim quickly. From there, we can analyze the rest of your case and help you through the process.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Towamencin Today
If you need help after a work injury, call Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Compensation lawyers at (267) 651-7945 today.
