Workers’ Compensation

Almost every employer in the United States is required to have workers’ compensation insurance. For example, every employer with four or more employees and every construction company with at least one employee must carry workers’ compensation insurance. Nearly every inadvertent injury, disease, illness, or accident occurring in the workplace is covered by the workers’ compensation law. That means that, when a worker in Alabama is injured at work, they are entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits to help pay for the wages they will lose during their injury and for any medical expenses they incur. There are many reasons that an injury may occur on the job. Some of the most common ones are slips and falls, chemical burns, malfunctioning or faulty equipment, the carelessness of co-workers, insufficient safety regulations, or the failure of co-workers to follow safety regulations.

The workers’ compensation insurance company has an incentive to pay you as little money as possible. After all, any claims that they pay costs them money. You need someone who is looking out for you!

Some of the most serious workplace accidents are those that occur on construction work sites because the rehabilitation and recovery process from those accidents can take a long time and be extremely expensive. Among the most serious work injuries are back injuries, head injuries, broken bones, dismemberment, severed nerves, spinal cord injuries, burn injuries, dislocations, cuts and lacerations, and hearing loss.

If you have been injured at work or if you have contracted an occupational disease while doing your job or if your workers compensation claim has been denied, you should contact an attorney. The lawyers at King & Nix stand ready to help you determine if you have received all of the benefits to which you are entitled and, if not, to help you get them. The benefits you may be entitled to include:

• Permanent Disability Compensation
• Vocational Rehabilitation
• Scheduled Benefits
• Medical Bills

There are two extraordinary issues that your lawyer should be aware of in workers’ compensation cases. First, the law prohibits an employer from retaliating against you for filing a workers’ compensation claim. You may have a cause of action for retaliatory discharge against an employer who takes action against you for filing the claim and you have rights during the pendency of the claim that must be protected.

Second, your lawyer should be aware and investigate the possibility of a “third party” claim. For example, if a worker contracts a respiratory disease at a plant or industrial facility where the plant has a special type of air cleansing system to protect worker, the cleansing system manufacturer might be civilly liable if the system is defective or a worker who has fingers cut off by a saw or other device may have a valid civil action against the saw manufacture for producing a saw with a defective guard. Workers’ compensation provides limited help to injured workers. Your lawyer should look beyond the obvious to see if there are more complete remedies available.

Although there have been many changes to the workers’ compensation laws over the last 20 years, the lawyers at King & Nix remain committed to helping injured workers. Some of the changes in the law have resulted in radical reductions in both the amount of workers’ compensation payments that must be made and the length of time during which those payments must be made. If you have been hurt on the job or contracted an occupational disease at work, you have rights.

Contact an attorney with King & Nix today to learn more about what they are. You may speak to an attorney by calling our toll-free number, (855) 335-8769, or by clicking here to complete a free case evaluation form.