Asbestos exposure can lead to bad health outcomes that can disable you and affect your life for years to come. If you were diagnosed with asbestosis, cancer, or another condition because of asbestos exposure, you may be able to get Workers’ Comp.
First, you need to show you have a medical condition and that it was caused by your asbestos exposure at work. If we can accomplish that, then we can help you file with your lawyer and take the case to court – if needed – to get you benefits for your condition.
Call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 to get started.
Qualifying for Workers’ Comp After Asbestos Exposure
Just because you were exposed to asbestos doesn’t automatically mean you get benefits. You can only get them once a health condition appears.
Diagnosis
You need to seek medical treatment and get your condition diagnosed. This will help provide medical evidence that
- You have a health condition that needs treatment and
- It was caused by your asbestos exposure at work.
Basic Requirements for Workers’ Comp
Workers’ Comp only pays benefits when certain conditions are met:
- You were an employee, as opposed to an independent contractor
- You were injured or exposed to dangerous materials within the course of your job duties
- The injury is disabling for at least 7 days.
Special Rules for Asbestos
Those are the basic requirements, but special factors apply to health conditions caused by asbestos exposure. These are there to show that the condition came from a career in a field where asbestos exposure happens, and that your career was recent enough to be the cause.
- Illness from asbestos can only be part of a Workers’ Comp claim if the condition disables or kills the worker within 300 weeks of their last date of work in that industry where exposure happened.
- You must have worked for at least 2 of the past 10 years in an industry with asbestos hazards.
- It is assumed, but not conclusive, that if you work in an industry with asbestos hazards, your asbestos exposure did actually come from that job, not another source.
Which Employer Pays for Workers’ Comp?
Whether you are still working in a job with asbestos hazards or you have since changed jobs/careers, your Workers’ Comp claim for asbestos-related illnesses is filed with the employer that exposed you to asbestos. But that could potentially be multiple employers if you changed jobs over the years, leading to these rules:
- You file your claim with the most recent employer that you worked for for over a year.
- If none of the asbestos-related jobs you had were longer than a year, then you file with whichever employer you worked for the longest.
How to File a Claim
Workers’ Comp claims start with notice to your employer. Provide this as soon as you know your condition came from asbestos exposure to avoid running afoul of notice requirements.
From there, your employer will potentially deny your claim. At that point, we can file a Claim Petition in court to have your case heard by a Workers’ Comp Judge.
The Process of a Workers’ Comp Claim
This is the usual process of a Workers’ Comp claim:
Medical Treatment and Notice
Claims begin with medical treatment and notice to your employer.
Call a Lawyer
Never try to handle your case without a Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp lawyer on your side.
Evidence Collection
We will also need to collect additional evidence, such as doctors’ reports showing that your condition was caused by asbestos exposure. Again, we can use presumptions that your asbestos came from your work, but it is also good to have evidence of actual asbestos exposure incidents, especially if there are records of these incidents.
Other witness testimony might also need to be collected in depositions.
Required Exams
Your employer may also request exams – at their expense – to confirm your condition and that it is disabling. You must attend these exams, but transportation costs can often be covered.
Hearings
Your case will go to hearings with the Workers’ Comp Judge. You may need to attend and testify if the judge requires it, but depositions might be sufficient to show your testimony.
The judge may require multiple hearings to collect evidence, ask questions, and examine the facts of the case before making their decision.
Settlement
In some cases, the employer and their insurance carrier may be willing to settle. Cases can settle for both the ongoing lost earnings and the medical costs, but cancer and asbestosis can be difficult to predict.
You might not want to lock yourself into limited funds for ongoing medical care needs. In these cases, we can sometimes achieve settlements where ongoing lost wages are paid in a lump sum, but medical care costs continue to be billed to the insurance carrier as they arise.
Settlement can happen at any time, even before a Workers’ Comp hearing.
FAQs for Workers’ Comp Claims for Asbestos-Related Illness
What Asbestos-Related Illnesses Are Covered?
The Workers’ Comp Act explicitly says asbestosis and cancer from asbestos exposure should be covered, but you may be able to get other injuries and illnesses from asbestos covered as well.
How Much Does Workers’ Comp Pay?
Benefits usually cover all medical care plus wage-loss benefits (if the injury keeps you disabled for at least 7 days).
If you are totally out of work, wage-loss benefits are 2/3 of your average weekly wage from before the injury, capped at the statewide average. There is also a floor at the lower of half that statewide average or 90% of your wages.
If you can work to some extent, you get 2/3 of the difference in pre- and post-injury wages.
Does Workers’ Comp Cover Asbestos-Related Deaths?
If you are filing for a loved one’s death, as long as the death from asbestos occurred within 300 weeks of their last work in an industry with asbestos exposure, it can be covered. Death benefits can pay a burial stipend, cover end-of-life medical care, and pay the surviving family ongoing wages.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers for Asbestos-Related Illness in Pennsylvania
For help, call Cardamone Law’s Delaware County, PA Workers’ Comp attorneys today at (267) 651-7945.
