Despite it being established as a no fault insurance, many employers and their insurance companies attempt to avoid having to pay when an employee is injured at work.
Most often, they will use a clerical error on your part as a basis for the denial or try and imply that the injury that was treated was a pre-existing one. If your legitimate claim for workman’s compensation was denied, that does not mean there are no more options for you. The law gives you the right to appeal the employer’s decision. If this is a path you need to pursue in order to recover damages from a work place injury, contact a Missouri workman’s compensation attorney.
When the Employer Avoids Paying
Employers will use any number of excuses to try and avoid having to pay for your medical bills and time off of work. They can try and claim that the accident never occurred and you are seeking treatment for an injury that you already had. This was the case for a Missouri office employee who injured her neck while retrieving a box of files. Two other employees witnessed her on the ladder and one even admitted to having been handed the box, and yet both denied that the employee lost her balance as the box slid forward.
Always Report an Injury Immediately
The injury she suffered was similar to whiplash, and like whiplash did not present any immediate symptoms, yet the employee did complain of pain and file an accident report with her employee only a few days later. This was her first mistake. Any type of accident, no matter how insignificant it may seem, should be reported immediately. In addition, you should ask any co-workers who witnessed it to also make a statement.
The Accuracy of Witness Testimony
In this case, the office was given the name of a participating physician who diagnosed her injury and treated it. As is normal with spinal injuries, it took several months of therapy to correct itself. The employer ceased benefits and insisted that the accident she claimed caused the injury never even occurred. At that point, there is nothing else an employee can do but hire a Missouri workman’s compensation attorney to help them present their case to an administrative law judge.
For this Missouri worker, the judge supported her claim, despite supposed witness testimony that the accident never happened. Not having filed a report with witness testimony allowed for her co-workers to change and or omit important details of the event. Luckily the judge saw through this feeble attempt by the employer and granted the woman temporary disability, allowing her to receive a portion of her salary each week as well as medical treatment for the neck injury.
Missouri Workman’s Compensation Attorney
We all know that insurance premiums are high, even for workman’s compensation insurance. Any injury raises that rate for the employer, whose interest is in keeping his overhead down. For this reason it is important that you arm yourself with a full knowledge of how to correctly handle a work related accident to give them no ammunition to deny. If you do need to take your claim to the workman’s compensation board, make sure you have an experienced Missouri workman’s compensation attorney at your side.
Call The Law Office of James M. Hoffmann at (314) 361-4300.