If you were hit by a dangerous coworker on a forklift, you may be left with serious injuries. Even if you were the one driving the forklift, and you “injured yourself,” no-fault benefits may be available.
Workers’ Comp typically pays for medical expenses, plus 2/3 of your lost wages and additional payments for serious, permanent injuries. However, your employer and their insurance carrier might not be willing to pay up so easily, and our lawyers may need to take the case before a Workers’ Comp Judge.
To get your case started, call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945.
How to File a Forklift Injury Claim Through Workers’ Comp
After an injury at work, it is important to take these steps to secure your Workers’ Comp claim:
Get Medical Care
Get immediate medical care, even if your employer tries to tell you you cannot leave or that you can only see an on-site nurse. If you need to go to the hospital, do so.
Report Injury
You must report injuries at work within 21 days (120 at the very latest). Even if you think your employer already knows about the accident, they might not have enough details to file their insurance claim, so go through the full reporting process.
Continue Medical Care
You have to keep up with your medical care and attend all appointments to keep your benefits. This usually requires using doctors your employer chose for the first 90 days of treatment, with some exceptions.
Employer’s Denial
Once your employer or their insurance carrier denies your claim, you can file a formal claim. Their denial typically must come within 21 days of your report.
If they did not respond in time, we may be able to treat it as a denial and file for penalties against them.
Claim Petition
A formal Claim Petition is filed after a denial. This escalates the claim to a formal claim with the state. You must file this within 3 years of the forklift accident.
Evidence Collection
We can investigate the claim, depose witnesses, and seek medical reports. A lot of this evidence collection cost can be covered at the end of the case when we win, but it may be too expensive for you to afford now without a lawyer leveraged to pay the costs.
Hearing
The Workers’ Comp Judge assigned to your case holds a formal hearing to decide the claim. This does not go to “trial” or use a jury.
Decision
The WCJ gets the final decision, which can override the employer/insurance carrier’s initial determination. If they still deny your claim, we can appeal.
Settlement
Many cases settle. This can mean agreeing to end the claim for a payout during this stage of the case.
Cases can also settle once you are on benefits for a while and it becomes clear how much the rest of the case will cost. This can result in a lump sum instead of waiting for ongoing benefits. But you should never accept without having a lawyer review the value of your claim.
How to Sue for a Forklift Accident
In a forklift accident, you may be entitled to a lawsuit. Workers’ Comp rules make your employer pay for your injuries regardless of who was truly at fault, and a lawsuit can get the party who was actually at fault to pay.
Third-Party Lawsuit
You cannot sue your employer for work-related injuries without special exceptions. This means most forklift injuries are going to be filed against a third party, such as a delivery driver or forklift manufacturer.
Lawsuits Unrelated to Work
If you were not working when you were hurt by a forklift, you do not have these same lawsuit restrictions. This may allow you to sue a store where you were run over, for example.
Fault Required
While Workers’ Comp makes your employer pay regardless of fault, a lawsuit can only recover damages for you if you can prove the defendant was at fault.
This usually means showing they breached a legal duty that they owed you, thus causing the accident and your injuries.
Damages You Can Get
Between a Workers’ Comp claim and a lawsuit, you may be entitled to these damages for your injuries.
- Medical expenses
- Physical therapy costs
- Lost earnings
- “Specific loss” benefits for permanent injuries
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Economic damages.
Talk to our forklift injury lawyers to determine which claims you need to file to get which damages and how much they should be worth. Never accept a settlement before talking to a lawyer about your specific case.
FAQs for Forklift Accidents in Scranton
Can You Sue for a Forklift Accident Outside of Work?
Forklift accidents are most common at work because people rarely encounter forklifts outside of work. That being said, you can sue if someone hit you with a forklift outside of work, such as while you were shopping at a big box store.
If you were operating a forklift for a home project, you may have difficulty suing anyone, as the accident is unlikely to be anyone else’s fault unless there was a problem with the machine.
Can You Sue a Forklift Manufacturer?
If the accident was caused by a manufacturing defect or another problem with the forklift itself, it may be the manufacturer’s fault. They may try to pin the accident on someone who performed maintenance, especially if the forklift was quite old.
If you can sue, it can recover additional damages that Workers’ Comp cannot pay. If the manufacturer was not at fault, then Workers’ Comp can still pay benefits as a no-fault system.
Are Forklift Injuries Covered Under Workers’ Comp if You Were Not Driving the Forklift?
Workers’ Compensation covers all employees for all “work-related” accidents – i.e., accidents while they are working within the scope of their duties. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting hit by a forklift may still be clearly “work-related.”
Even if the forklift operator was from another company – e.g., the company you were delivering a shipment to – you may still get Workers’ Comp. However, if they were from an outside company, you may also be able to sue them (and their employer).
Call Our Forklift Injury Lawyers in Scranton for Help
For a free case assessment, call Cardamone Law’s forklift injury attorneys sat (267) 651-7945 today.
