Posted in General
Work Injury Lawyer
If you’ve been injured at work or made ill by your working conditions, you may be spending a lot of time thinking about the circumstances that led to the harm you’re suffering. You may understandably be preoccupied with concerns related to who or what caused those circumstances. If you’re worried that partial (or even total) fault on your part may bar you from seeking financial compensation for your accident, please don’t panic. It’s important to speak with an attorney before making any assumptions about your legal options. Whether opportunities for legal recourse remain available to you will depend on your eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits and the circumstances surrounding the harm you’ve suffered.
Workers’ Compensation and Issues of Fault – An Introduction
If you’re eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Unless you were drunk or high at the time you were harmed, you caused your injuries on purpose, or you were hurt as a result of a fight you started, you’ll remain eligible for benefits regardless of whose fault the accident was. Because workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, eligible workers can generally collect benefits even if their harm was their fault, provided that they were engaged in work-related activities at the time the harm was sustained. There are some exceptions to this broad rule though, so don’t file paperwork for benefits without first running your situation by an attorney.
Those who aren’t eligible for workers’ compensation benefits may be able to hold those responsible for the harm they have suffered via a personal injury claim. Fault matters in personal injury actions, so to collect a personal injury settlement, you must have been less at-fault for the harm you’ve suffered than someone else was.
Legal Assistance Is Available
If you’ve been injured on the job or developed symptoms consistent with an occupational illness, try to avoid making any assumptions about your legal options until you’ve spoken with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney. Even if you know that you’re eligible for benefits, acting without first seeking counsel could cause your claim to be rejected or undervalued. Even if the circumstances leading to the harm you’ve suffered were partially (or even totally) your fault, you likely still have legal options available to you. An experienced work injury lawyer, like from Hickey & Turim, P.C., will be able to objectively evaluate and “value” your case so that you can make informed decisions about how best to proceed. Consultations are confidential and risk-free, so you have nothing to lose by asking questions at this time. As someone who has been injured or made ill on the job, you have plenty to deal with right now – consider allowing an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer to handle the legal “heavy lifting” related to your situation on your behalf so that you can focus on healing and getting back to work.
