When Work Comp Says No

Do not give up.

Workers’ Compensation insurance companies want to discourage you and keep you from getting your medical treatment and getting paid for your injury.

Many people who are denied will quit and go home

This saves a large amount of money for the insurance company.

If you are turned down for your medical treatment…

If you are denied your off work pay…

If you are not paid your settlement…

Make sure to call an experienced Illinois Work Comp lawyer.

Questions about what the insurance company is doing to you? Feel free to contact Illinois Work Injury Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

Work Injury Examples

This is a Virginia case, however probably same result in Illinois.

McDonald’s Manager Saves Bag of Fries, But Sustains Neck Injury

A Virginia appellate court affirmed an award of workers’ compensation benefits to a fast food manager, working at a McDonalds restaurant, who testified that she felt a pop in her neck followed by a burning pain when a small bag of French fries slipped from her hands and she impulsively bent over quickly to catch the bag before it hit the floor. The employer had denied the claim, citing Plumb Rite Plumbing Service v. Barbour, 8 Va. App. 482, 382 S.E.2d 305 (1989), in which the court held that the simple act of bending over, absent any unusual or awkward movement does not provide a sufficient nexus to the employment to meet the “arising out of” standard. The court stressed that in the instant case, however, the record revealed more than mere bending. When the bag of fries slipped, the manager was required to bend, jerk, and twist, and to do so quickly. The combination of these motions was done to advance employer’s business—timely serving the drive-thru customers without throwing away the fallen food and preparing new food. The court acknowledged that people routinely bend in their everyday activities, but here the combination of quickly bending, twisting, and jerking as necessitated by the job-related circumstances was sufficient to remove the actions from a “risk of the neighborhood” to a natural incident of the work.

Illinois Work Comp Allows For Some Mental Trauma Cases

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/us/orlando-shooting-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FWorkers%27%20Compensation%20Insurance&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection

Click above to read.

Illinois law permits payment for some mental trauma situations. For instance, if you are a first responder and you suffer trauma as a result of directly aiding victims then you have a strong claim. Cases have been denied for general on the job stress such as school teachers.

 

Highest Value Workers’ Compensation Cases- Hands

Previously we discussed knee injuries.

Another area of large settlements in Illinois Workers’ Compensation cases involve hand injuries.

One reason is that the law values the hand as worth  a total of 205 weeks.

The hand is vital to being able to work, of course, because it impacts activities such as handling, gripping, feeling, fingering and lifting.

Many hand injuries result in surgery.

Surgeries increase the value of your case.

Hands are often difficult to repair and result in arthritis and potentially require additional surgery and treatment in later years.

Permanent limitations in handling, fingering, and lifting will also increase the value of your settlement.

Questions about your work injury and the value of your case? Feel free to contact Illinois Work Comp Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.