If you injured your fingers or hands at work, you may be unable to return to work for quite some time. Your hands are vulnerable to injury, and even small injuries can throw off fine motor skills, which can – depending on your job – be devastating for your career.
In any case, Workers’ Compensation is typically available to pay for medical bills, lost earnings, and amputation damages. As that would imply, it can cover even the most serious injuries, such as amputation and degloving injuries.
Call Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 for a free case evaluation with our hand and degloving work injury attorneys.
Can You Sue for a Hand Injury at Work?
Lawsuits against an employer for a work-related accident are usually barred. We use a Workers’ Compensation system in Pennsylvania that is expected to be the “exclusive remedy.” This, however, only applies to lawsuits against an employer, and only for work-related injuries.
Independent contractors are technically self-employed, which means that they have no restriction on suing their “boss,” i.e., a client. However, it is still important to make sure that you are properly classified as an independent contractor, or else there may be Workers’ Compensation benefits you are entitled to if your classification was wrong.
Lawsuits are not barred under these rules when you file them against third parties. This allows lawsuits for defective safety gear, vehicle accidents, injuries caused by outside contractors, and plenty of other injuries.
When you get Workers’ Comp benefits, you get coverage for certain damages, all without proving who caused the injury or who was at fault. However, you do not get pain and suffering. A third-party lawsuit can often recover those missing damages and make you whole, in a legal and financial sense.
Who Pays for On-the-Job Hand Injuries?
Employers are required to carry Workers’ Compensation insurance to cover work-related injuries and accidents. This is typically the first place to go for coverage for hand injuries. This pays benefits regardless of who caused your accident, potentially covering an injury you or a coworker caused by accident.
You should not be required to pay into Workers’ Comp like you would with Social Security or unemployment benefits. Instead, your employer covers the premiums, and their insurance carrier covers the cost.
If, for some reason, they do not have insurance, they may be required to pay for your benefits out of pocket.
This covers only some damages, though; you may be able to file a lawsuit against an outside third party to cover the rest of your damages. If your employer was responsible for even a portion of the damages, you cannot sue for that portion because you simply cannot sue your employer for a work-related injury.
Your employer still needs to pay for covered damages through Workers’ Compensation, even if they were not at fault.
What is a Degloving or Avulsion Injury?
One very severe hand injury you might experience is called “degloving.” This is a form of avulsion injury, where a part of the body is traumatically torn off.
Often, injuries are classified as “ring avulsions,” where a ring on your finger tears against the skin, pulling it off – and potentially pulling part of the finger off with it.
These injuries often look like the skin is rolling back like a glove might when you pull or peel it off. That is why we call it “degloving,” but this is often not enough to highlight the severity of this injury.
These injuries need serious medical treatment and often leave workers unable to work for quite some time. They may also involve amputation, which might lead to a difficult reattachment because the tissue destruction is far from a clean cut that one might experience from amputation by a blade or machine.
Is Degloving Covered Under Workers’ Compensation?
Workers’ Compensation covers most hand injuries, so degloving should be covered. These injuries are often quite expensive to treat, so it is vital to seek medical damages through Workers’ Compensation.
Depending on how bad the degloving injury was, you may be unable to return to your normal work tasks for some time going forward. It may be possible to recover 2/3 of the difference between pre- and post-injury wages if you do return to work. Otherwise, 2/3 of your pre-injury wage may be available, up to certain limits, if you are totally unable to work while you heal.
How Can a Lawyer Help with My Case?
Our attorneys can help in three major areas:
Collecting Evidence
Especially if your condition was hard to diagnose or your Workers’ Comp physicians refuse to acknowledge certain limitations or the full severity of your injury, we may need to seek out additional medical evidence to get your claim accepted and paid in full. Additionally, depositions are expensive to take, and your case may be impossible without them.
Our lawyers can pay the costs of collecting this evidence, then claim it from the defense at the end of your case.
Negotiating with Insurance
Many cases ultimately settle, but it is impossible to trust the insurance carrier to know what your case is worth and pay it at a fair value. We will negotiate with them for a fair settlement that accounts for all medical bills now and into the future, as well as the full claimable value (usually 2/3) of lost earnings you face now and in the future and any amputation damages you are owed.
Supporting You
You will have many questions about your case, and it is our job as your lawyers to answer them and guide you through the process before you. We can advise you about settlement offers, but it is your decision whether to accept or not. There are also many appointments – such as independent medical exams – you need to go to, or else jeopardizing your benefits, so we can teach you about what you need to do.
What is My Case Worth?
The average hand injury is worth around $27,072 through Workers’ Compensation. This covers around $14,791 for medical care and $12,281 for lost earnings.
This is just a ballpark figure and accounts for the average of small injuries that might keep you out of work for only a few days and severe injuries that might require intensive medical care. It also accounts for hand, finger, and wrist injuries more broadly.
Remember that a Workers’ Compensation claim only covers 2/3 of your total lost earnings, meaning that there may be an additional $6,140.50 available in a lawsuit. If you add pain and suffering to this average, it could include as much as approximately as much as $100,000 more in pain and suffering alone.
However, you typically have to sue an at-fault party to recover those added damages.
Contact Our Degloving and Hand Injury Lawyers for Work Injuries in Pennsylvania Today
Reach out to Cardamone Law’s degloving and hand injury attorneys right away at (267) 651-7945 to discuss your case.
