Injuries to airport staff and workers can vary heavily depending on what your job is at the airport. Our attorneys represent workers of all stripes in their claims against employers for workplace injuries and on-the-job accidents, helping them get Workers’ Compensation benefits for what happened to them.
Whether you work as a baggage handler, a janitor, a food service worker, or an airline representative, our attorneys can help you with work injury cases. However, it is important to understand that your actual employer might be one of many, including the airline, the airport itself, or some other company. Those who work for the FAA, TSA, or other federal agencies might have a different process for seeking benefits.
If you were hurt working at the airport, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists today at (267) 651-7945.
Determining Your Employer for Workers’ Comp Claims from Wilkes-Barre Scranton Airport Injuries
It may seem like a trivial issue, but in order to file a Workers’ Comp claim for your injuries, you need to know who your specific employer is. Many people who work “at the airport” might not work for the airport specifically, and their employer might instead be an airline or even a restaurant within the airport. It is also vital to recognize if you are a federal employee, as your case would be filed through a different system.
Many airline attendants work for the airline rather than the airport. In contrast, many of the baggage handlers, facilities management/janitorial staff, and other staff are employed by the airport. Pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics on site typically work for the airline. Lastly, air traffic controllers, TSA agents, and air marshals are usually federal employees working for the FAA, TSA, or other federal departments.
Some of the most common injuries for airport workers include repetitive stress injuries for baggage handlers as well as slip and falls and falls from heights for baggage handlers, facilities management staff, and other workers. These employees are typically not federal workers and can use Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Comp system for coverage.
Filing a Work Injury Claim through Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Comp for Airport Employees
If you do work for a non-federal employer, then you can likely file with Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation system through your employer’s insurance carrier for many injuries acquired at work at the Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport.
Initial Claims
Initial claims are filed directly with your employer, and notice of the injury must be given to them within 21 days of your injury. At the latest, you can notify them within 120 days of the injury, but acting within the first 21 days is always best.
Acceptance/Denial
From there, the employer and their insurance company can decide whether to accept the claim or not. Typically, employers will reject the claim based on any grounds they have. This usually involves saying that they think the injury actually was not work-related or that they think it is not disabling enough to keep you from returning to work. In other cases, they might refuse coverage in bad faith or even ignore your claim entirely.
Claim Petition
After a rejection, our lawyers can file a Claim Petition in court. This goes before a Workers’ Comp Judge (WCJ) rather than a Court of Common Pleas. The petition, once filed, will be docketed for a hearing by the judge, where the WCJ will seek to determine whether the injury was work-related and whether your injury is serious enough to keep you from working. This will require medical evidence and doctors’ reports that we can help you gather, as well as depositions from witnesses and other related parties to show what happened, how the injury is work-related, and how it affects your ability to return to work.
Evidence and Hearings
In many cases, the insurance carrier and employer can tell you to get medical exams by doctors they choose, and they can present this evidence. Because they are choosing the doctors, it often stacks the case against you, but we can counter their evidence and doctor’s reports with reports from doctors we choose. Ultimately, this means you will likely need to work with our attorneys for injuries at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport, given that it is often expensive to afford these doctor’s reports, exams, and depositions on your own. Our lawyers can then seek reimbursement for all of these evidentiary expenses when we win your case.
Once all the evidence is collected, the WCJ will hold a hearing where they accept the evidence and begin their decision-making. At this hearing, you likely will need to attend and answer any questions asked of you. Questions are typically limited to the facts of what happened and how the injury affected your ability to work. No one is expecting you to be a medical expert, and our lawyers are there throughout the process to guide you through the hearing.
Other Stages
Hearings can also happen at other stages, with filings before the WCJ being the go-to way of getting benefits for injured workers modified to partial disability or shut down entirely. If you have any trouble getting coverage for certain procedures or care, there may even be additional hearings and decisions from WCJs, along with other medical exams.
If the case is to be settled, we likely need a hearing before a WCJ to make sure the settlement is agreeable and that you understand your rights. If you accept a settlement for your airport work injury, you usually forego any further claims or modifications to your claims, so judges have to hold hearings to check in with you and make sure your lawyers have explained these rights to you before you are allowed to sign any settlements.
Benefits Available for Wilkes-Barre Scranton Airport Employees Injured at Work
When you file your Workers’ Comp claim, you can often receive coverage or reimbursement for all medical expenses as well as compensation for lost wages. Lost wage benefits are calculated as 2/3 of your average wage before the accident or, if you work part-time with partial disabilities, 2/3 of the difference between pre- and post-injury wages. Other “specific loss” damages are also available for facial scarring, lost eyesight, lost hearing, and permanent injuries/amputation.
Call Our Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport Injury Lawyers Today
If you were injured on the job at the airport, call Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 for a free review of your injury case.
