Proving Fault in a Workers’ Compensation Claim

Workers’ compensation cases are not quite the same as a typical injury case. When you are pursuing compensation for an injury through a personal injury claim, one of the first things you are going to try to do is show that you were not the one responsible for your injuries. You would want to show that someone else’s negligence caused you to become injured. When you become injured at work, the circumstances change for your claim. You are not required to show that anybody else was negligent for your injuries. In fact, you may be injured because of something you did. Even if no one else is responsible, you can typically still get workers’ compensation benefits for your injury. 

So, I can still get these benefits even if I’m responsible? 

For the most part, even if you were acting negligently, you can still receive workers’ compensation benefits. If an employer hopes to deny you these benefits, they will typically need to show that you were being particularly reckless with your actions when the incident occurred. If, for example, an employee became injured on the job because they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, this could be a reason for the employer to deny them their workers’ compensation claims. However, under most circumstances, an employee can file a workers’ compensation regardless of who was responsible for the accident occurring. 

What if the employer was responsible and acted recklessly? 

A lawyer, like a workers’ compensation attorney from a law firm like Polsky Shouldice & Rosen, P.C.  knows that in certain circumstances, you may wish to file a personal injury claim instead of a workers’ compensation claim. This may be because someone’s actions were particularly egregious or because there are other damages that you may deserve instead of those you could get from a workers’ compensation claim. 

What if my employer denies my claim? 

If you have received a denial letter, hope is not lost. Working with an attorney can help you to understand why your workers’ compensation claim was denied in the first place and what kinds of steps you can take to appeal this denial. Often, insurance agents bank on those who were injured not moving forward with an appeal. If you need to file an appeal to a denied workers’ compensation claim or would like help filing an initial workers’ compensation claim, reach out to a local attorney you can trust now.