Work Injuries
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San Diego Work Injury Attorney
When you’re injured on the job or made ill due to your working conditions, you may face a long recovery period. Depending on the unique consequences associated with the harm you’ve suffered, you may be saddled with significant medical costs, the burden of missing work-related income as you’re resting, and you may even be placed in a position wherein you can no longer complete the job duties assigned to your current occupation. Understand that injured workers are often entitled to seek compensation related to their harm, even if they may have been partially or totally at fault for the injurious circumstances that caused their troubles in the first place.
Scheduling a free consultation with our firm can help you to clarify your rights and options so that you don’t have to be unnecessarily saddled with stress and financial challenges related to your condition. Simply make sure to act as quickly as you can to explore your opportunities for legal and financial recourse. Some work-related compensation options are extremely time-sensitive. A failure to act quickly now may bar you from receiving some or all of the compensation to which you’d be otherwise entitled.
Fighting for the Rights of Injured and Ill Workers
Our experienced and dedicated legal team has fought for the rights of ill and injured workers for years. As a result, we have a strong sense of just how stressful and consequential job-related harm can be. Know that you don’t have to suffer through this situation alone. Our team is committed to ensuring that ill and injured workers receive all the compensation and accommodations to which they’re entitled in the wake of sustaining work-related harm.
You can connect with us online or over the phone – right now – to schedule a free, risk-free, confidential consultation with our team. Whether you’re an executive or an entry-level employee, a documented or undocumented worker, sixteen-years-old or eighty-six-years-old, you have rights under the law. During your free case evaluation appointment, we’ll explain those rights and what opportunities for legal and financial recourse are relevant to your situation at this time. We’ll also be glad to answer any questions you may have about our firm’s approach to representation. Connect with our team today to learn about our client-focused, time-tested methods for protecting the rights of ill and injured workers.
Employees – Workers’ Compensation Benefits
The California workers’ compensation system helps to ensure that when employees are hurt on the job – whether due to acute accident-related injuries or harm that has developed over time – they have access to financial recourse. Workers’ compensation benefits can cover medical bills, lost wages, and even the financial burdens associated with job training in the event that an injured worker can no longer perform the functions required of their previous position. These benefits are available to all workers eligible for coverage, whether they are documented or undocumented.
This isn’t to say that every worker who suffers harm as a result of work-related activities is eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. Three primary worker classifications are exempt from this valuable coverage. First, workers correctly classified as independent contractors are ineligible for these benefits. Only independent contractors who have been intentionally or unintentionally misclassified as independent contractors (because they assume the kinds of responsibilities and conditions ordinarily reserved for employees) are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. Second, workers who are employed by very small companies may be exempt from coverage. Finally, employees of certain specialty industries – like the railroad and commercial fishing industries – are ineligible for workers’ compensation benefits. If you have questions about your eligibility, please allow us to clarify this opportunity for you during your free consultation.
If you are classified as a full-time employee or a part-time employee, you’re likely eligible for these benefits, provided that you were engaged in work-related activity at the time you suffered harm. This is true regardless of whether you were at your regular job site when the harm occurred. As the workers’ compensation system embraces a no-fault approach, you are also likely eligible for benefits even if you unintentionally hurt yourself. As long as you weren’t injured while starting a fight, while trying to get hurt, or while you were drunk or high, you should be able to work with our dedicated legal team to file a workers’ compensation claim related to your situation successfully.
Independent Contractors and Others – Personal Injury Actions
If you are ineligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits, know that you can file a personal injury claim in order to seek damages related to the harm you’ve suffered, provided that your situation meets certain criteria. Unlike the workers’ compensation claims process, the personal injury lawsuit process is fault-based. Meaning, that you cannot file a personal injury claim successfully unless another’s actions or inactions have served as a substantial factor in the cause of the harm you’ve suffered. If your conduct was the sole reason why you suffered work-related harm, you will not be able to file a personal injury suit successfully.
Successful personal injury claims arise when an individual, company, municipality, or other legal entity owes an injury victim a duty of care and breaches that duty as a result of intentionally dangerous, reckless, or negligent conduct, and as a result of that breach, substantially contributes to the cause of their injuries. If you are unsure of whether you have grounds to file a personal injury claim, that’s okay. Once you attend a free, no-risk, confidential consultation at our firm, we’ll evaluate your circumstances and provide you with an objective assessment of the potential strengths and weaknesses of your case. Then, you can make an informed decision about whether filing legal action is in your interests at this time.
Employees – Filing More than One Claim Type
There are scenarios wherein employees who are eligible for workers’ compensation claims may file both workers’ compensation claims and personal injury action simultaneously. If you were hurt or made ill on the job and an individual or other legal entity – other than your employer – substantially contributed to the cause of your injuries, you may be able to file both claims successfully at the same time. Only employers enjoy limited legal liability protection from being sued by employees eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. If a co-worker, a motorist, an equipment manufacturer or any other third party (other than your employer) caused or partially caused your injuries as a result of their negligent, reckless, or intentionally dangerous conduct, you may be able to hold them accountable in civil court, even if you’re also eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits as a result of the injuries in question.
Why Timing Is Key
It can be tempting to wait to wade into the “legal side” of your situation until you’re feeling more recovered and more capable than you might be feeling now. However, it is important to schedule a free consultation with our firm as soon as you can for a few reasons. First, work-related cases are uniquely time-sensitive.
California law ordinarily allows injury victims up to two years to file a personal injury lawsuit in the wake of sustaining harm. However, if you are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, you may be barred from filing for these benefits if you don’t formally begin the process by reporting your harm to your employer within 30 days of sustaining injury, becoming ill, or realizing that your symptoms are work-related.
Regardless of whether you’re eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits, exploring your legal options sooner rather than later is important for the very practical reason that the longer you wait to file a claim(s), the longer it will take you to receive any compensation to which you may be entitled. If your injuries required medical treatment, you’ll be billed for – at minimum – a portion of that treatment cost. If you are taking any time off work to recover, your family’s finances may start feeling the impact of your lost wages soon. Investing an hour or two of your time to attend a confidential, free consultation may save you significant time, money, and stress down the road.
Complex Occupational Illness, Repetitive Trauma, and Remote Injury Legal Challenges
When work-related harm occurs as a result of acute trauma, such as an accident, the personal injury claims process and/or workers’ compensation process related to that harm is likely to be relatively straightforward. However, when workers suffer harm as a result of repetitive trauma, aggravation of preexisting conditions, and development of occupational illness, the process of securing rightful compensation can become much more challenging. Similarly, when employees eligible for workers’ compensation benefits are harmed while working remotely, it can become more difficult to prove that the injuries in question were work-related. As a result, it is particularly important that you connect with our legal team if you’ve suffered work-related harm as a result of one of these potentially complex scenarios. We’ll need to begin collecting evidence immediately to prove that your harm was work-related and did not result from other influencing lifestyle factors. A failure to employ a sound legal strategy in these cases can result in a loss of compensation, which is a scenario best avoided whenever possible.
Retaliation and Reporting Concerns
Some injured workers are understandably hesitant to report their harm and explore their legal options because they are concerned that their employers will retaliate against them for speaking up. It is important to understand that both federal and California laws protect workers from suffering workplace retaliation in the wake of engaging in a protected activity. Exercising one’s legal rights – to seek rightful compensation, to report harm, to engage in a safety investigation, etc. – is a protected activity. Therefore, you likely don’t have to worry about retaliation when you speak with our firm, both because our consultations are confidential and because employers are legally prohibited against retaliating against you for exercising your legal rights. With that said, if you remain concerned that your employer won’t honor the letter of the law, know that we’ll do everything we can to protect you from retaliation and to hold your employer accountable in the event that they retaliate against you unlawfully anyway.
Contact Our Firm Today for a Free Case Evaluation
If you have not yet reached out online or over the phone to schedule a no-cost, risk-free, confidential case evaluation, please do so now. Unlike other personal injury case types, scenarios involving work-related harm are uniquely time-sensitive. Exploring your legal options now will help to ensure that we can adequately protect your rights as a worker under the law and obtain the maximum amount of compensation to which you’re entitled under the circumstances. Our firm is passionate about advocating for the rights of injured workers. Please allow us to assist you with your legal needs during this challenging time – you work hard for a living and you deserve the opportunity to have experienced legal advocates work hard on your behalf. We look forward to speaking with you.
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