Workers at Lowe’s face an injury risk from falling products, while lifting and carrying things, or even from assault by customers. On-the-job injuries should be covered under Workers’ Comp, but getting the benefits you deserve is not always easy.
Our lawyers can help you file your claim, take it to court, collect the evidence you need, and fight to get the case settled earlier or won at your hearing. When you work with a lawyer, it takes a lot of the guesswork out of what can be a hard system to understand, even for lawyers who practice in other areas of injury law.
Take your case to our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers for a free case review at Cardamone Law by calling (267) 651-7945.
The Process of Filing a Workers’ Comp Claim for Lowe’s Workers
If you were injured while performing work-related tasks or your injury was caused by dangerous conditions at Lowe’s, then you should have a Workers’ Comp claim. You can bring that claim by taking the following steps:
Get Medical Care
You need to get emergency medical care to treat any injuries, document them, and prevent them from getting worse.
Notify Lowe’s and Its Claim Administrator
Lowe’s is a big company that can pay its own Workers’ Comp claims without an insurance carrier. That means they use a third-party administrator (TPA) called Sedgwick to handle their Workers’ Comp claims.
When you are injured, you provide notice to your employer and their claims administrator. The TPA will then decide whether to accept or reject your claim.
Deadlines
You have to provide that notice within 120 days to remain eligible for a claim, but you are expected to notify them within 21 days.
Your employer gets 21 days to respond.
Call a Lawyer
If you haven’t already, you should call a lawyer at this stage before moving on to any additional claims.
File a Claim Petition
After the denial, you can file a Claim Petition with the state within 3 years of the injury. This Claim Petition goes to the Workers’ Comp Office of Adjudication in the Department of Labor and Industry, and they assign the case to a Workers’ Comp Judge (WCJ).
This is not a lawsuit, and it goes before a special judge who only hears Workers’ Comp claims.
Evidence Collection
At this stage, your lawyer will advise you on what evidence you need to collect, and we can get most of it (e.g., medical records) with your permission. You may also have to attend medical appointments for both sides to gather evidence.
Hearings
The case may go before a WCJ for a hearing if it does not settle earlier. At this hearing, the judge takes all the evidence and decides whether you get benefits or not.
We need to prove that the injury is
- Work-related (i.e., caused by workplace conditions or work-related tasks)
- Disabling (i.e., it causes you to miss work for at least 7 days).
What Doctors’ Appointments Do You Need for a Workers’ Comp Claim?
When you get injured at work and file a Workers’ Comp claim, there are three types of doctors’ appointments you need to go to:
Treatment Appointments
Your treating doctors are the ones who help you get better. They will prescribe things like medication, physical therapy, etc. to actually care for your injuries. In the first 90 days, your treating physician usually must come from a list of approved doctors your employer chose.
Exams for Evidence Collection
We may also seek out exams by other doctors to collect evidence about your injury, its cause, and your disability. This is how we get doctors’ reports and other evidence to bring to the hearing.
IMEs
Your employer can also request that you go to an exam with a doctor they choose. This is called an independent medical exam (IME), though the doctor is really on the employer’s side.
You must attend IMEs, or else you could lose your case immediately.
FAQs for Injured Lowe’s Workers in Pennsylvania
What Workers Qualify for Workers’ Comp?
Any “employee” working for Lowe’s is entitled to file a Workers’ Comp claim for work-related injuries. This can include stock workers, check-out clerks, managers, and anyone else who is hired as an “employee.”
Delivery drivers for third-party apps, contractors who perform installs, and representatives of third-party brands might not be Lowe’s employees, but some of these workers might be “employees” at another company. You always file with your own employer, even if your work might have taken you to Lowe’s.
Can You Sue for Work Injuries at Lowe’s?
If you are a Lowe’s employee, then you likely cannot sue Lowe’s for an injury sustained in the course of your work. However, you might have a case against other parties. For example, if you were hit out on the loading dock, you could sue the driver; if you were injured by a defective tool (e.g., an exploding lithium-ion battery), you might have a product injury case against the manufacturer.
If you work for another company and were injured while running work-related errands at Lowe’s, you might have a Work Comp claim with your employer and a lawsuit against Lowe’s.
If you work at Lowe’s, but you were injured shopping there in your off hours, you can sue them like you would any other store.
What Damages Does Workers’ Comp Cover?
Workers’ Comp covers three areas of benefits:
- Medical bills
- Lost earnings
- Specific loss injuries for certain permanent injuries.
The medical bills are paid directly to the care provider unless you settle your case. Lost wages account for a portion of your wages, subject to caps and floors. The same is true with specific loss benefits.
These benefits do not include pain and suffering.
Can Lowe’s Fire Me for Filing for Workers’ Comp?
Your employer cannot fire you because you filed a Workers’ Comp claim, but they can fire you for any other valid reason.
Many workers are fired during their claim because there is no work for them, because their injuries cannot be accommodated, or because they caused the dangerous accident that injured them. However, the reason has to be legitimate and not just a pretext to fire you in retaliation for your claim.
As part of a settlement, you might also be asked not to return to work at the same employer.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers in Pennsylvania Today
Call our Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp lawyers at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 to get started on your potential case.
