Maison Law stands with all Merced workers who may be at home, unable to work, and dealing with an injury after suffering a fall at work. Victims will understandably worry about how they’ll be able to pay medical bills and support their families while no paychecks are coming in.
A skilled lawyer can help you prove what caused your fall injury and secure what’s fair from your employer in support. Maison Law can represent your case before California’s Workers’ Comp Administrators and often earn you more than you could on your own. You can schedule a free legal consultation with a real Workers’ Comp lawyer. There’s no obligation. It’s a no-risk way to determine the value of your injury and how to secure every cent of the support you’ll need to make a full physical and financial recovery.
Do I Need a Lawyer to File My Workers’ Comp Claim?
No. You can file a California Workers’ Compensation claim on your own. However, in many cases, a lawyer has a good chance to win you more support than you could by filing a claim yourself. This is especially true if your recovery will take months or years and/or your case is complex.
When you don’t feel your injuries are being treated seriously or you aren’t receiving the support you feel you should get, a lawyer can provide a powerful advantage.
A lawyer may be a big help if an employer is trying to deny fault in your fall accident.
These are just a few of the benefits of having legal representation that can improve the outcome of your case:
- A Workers’ Comp Lawyer investigates your accident, your workplace, and your employer’s actions
- A lawyer compiles and files your Workers’ Compensation Claim for you
- A lawyer defends you against false accusations
- A lawyer makes sure employers and Workers’ Comp administrators can’t downplay how seriously you are hurt
- A lawyer defends you against false accusations if Workers’ Comp or your company tries to claim you were at fault for your own injury
- A lawyer negotiates for a higher settlement on your behalf
- A lawyer represents you before Workers’ Compensation administrators and judges and ensures they understand the hardships you’ve endured
- A lawyer handles the entire Workers’ Comp process while giving you time to focus on healing
- A lawyer files lawsuits if an employer makes illegal threats toward you or fires you for reporting an accident
- A lawyer can help you appeal a rejected claim if your claim was denied
California doesn’t allow business owners to threaten or fire employees simply because they got hurt or reported an accident. Employers also can’t threaten to turn workers over to immigration agents because they spoke up about an accident.
Resource for Injured Workers: The guidebook provided by the California Division of Industrial Relations (DIR) explains a few other reasons you may want to trust your case to a lawyer.
Fall Injuries in Merced Workplaces
Local workers face plenty of dangers as they arrive at work each day and put in long hours. Sadly, one of the most common workplace accidents, a fall, is easily prevented. Unfortunately, employers can get careless with worker safety and leave Merced workers at risk.
Most falls will involve either a tumble from a great height or a slip or trip on an obstacle that causes a fall to the hard floor. Construction workers, utility workers, and those working in warehouses are often at most risk for a fall from a ladder, scaffolding, or an upper level. But anyone, including office workers, can suffer injury due to a fall caused by an obstacle found on the floor, like a spill or puddle left out.
Employers like agricultural companies and factory owners are required to monitor for these dangers and correct them in a reasonable amount of time.
The State of California, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) explains the duty of employers to prevent falls in their “Health & Safety Rights: Facts for California Workers” document:
“Hazard Assessment: Procedures for identifying and evaluating workplace hazards, including periodic inspections.
Hazard Correction: Methods and procedures to correct unsafe or unhealthy working conditions in a timely manner.”
An employer’s duties also extend to safety training for those working at great heights and to providing safety equipment, such as safety tethers and railings. Stairwells in any workplace must be maintained, and railings must be secure.
When you are hurt on the job, it’s generally California’s Department of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) that will be helping you recover. However, administrators and Workers’ Comp judges can fail to grasp the full extent of your injuries and how long you’ll be unable to support yourself and your family. It’s often up to a skilled attorney to represent your claim and make sure every hardship you’ve been through and will face in the future receives consideration.
Fall Hazards When You Are at Work
These are just a few of the dangers that could send you down for a painful and life-threatening fall at work:
- Slip-And-Fall Hazards – Spills, leaks from machinery, or freshly mopped floors without “wet floor” signs can cause employees to slip and fall and suffer broken bones and head injuries. Employers are also responsible for catching the spills that your coworkers leave behind and cleaning them up.
- Trip-And-Fall Hazards – Debris, tools, and boxes on the floor. Cracked floors, curled up rugs, or uneven walkways can lead to trips and falls. Victims might reach out to slow their fall, only to suffer a wrist fracture. They might hit their head on a shelf nearby and suffer a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
- Falls from Heights – Those who work on ladders, such as painters and roofers, could be at risk. People who work on elevated levels, like warehouse and storage facility workers, might suffer a fall of a dozen feet or more. Workers on scaffolding can easily suffer traumatic injuries after falling from an unstable platform.
- Stairwell Hazards – Stairs might have crumbling cement steps or rotting wooden steps that can send someone down several flights. Rusty handrails or supports may give way, causing a collapse and fall.
- Lighting Issues – A fall may occur in an area where the lighting is inadequate to see obstacles.
- Weather Slipping Hazards – Those who work outdoors in Merced may have to deal with icy or wet surfaces from rainstorms or humidity.
These and other hazards can cause fall injuries and leave victims off their feet for months. In some cases, a scary fall can cause permanent physical disabilities. Patients may be left unable to walk due to a serious brain or spine injury. These factors must be considered when Workers’ Comp administrators decide how much injured workers should receive and for how long.
Winning Support for Injured Workers After a Fall On The Job
Your Maison Law attorney works to secure support that pays 100% of your medical bills and supports your family for as long as you must be out of work and forfeiting paychecks. In some cases, you’ll receive benefits that you may not have known were available.
The DIR Injured Worker’s Handbook goes over all the different types of support available through a claim. This is a look at some of the support victims and their families could receive:
- Medical Care. Paid for by your employer, to help you recover from an injury or illness caused by work. This includes doctor visits and other treatment services, tests, medicines, equipment, and travel costs reasonably necessary to treat your injury.
- Temporary Disability Benefits. Payments if you lose wages because your injury prevents you from doing your usual job while recovering.
- Permanent Disability Benefits. Payments if you don’t recover completely and your injury causes a permanent loss of physical or mental function that a doctor can measure.
- Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit. A voucher to help pay for retraining or skill enhancement if you are eligible to receive permanent disability benefits, your employer doesn’t offer you work, and you don’t return to work for your employer.
- Death Benefits. The families of victims are eligible for Workers’ Compensation support if a loved one is killed in a workplace accident or passes away due to an illness contracted on the job.
In some cases, Workers’ Comp may not be the only source of support for workers hurt in a fall. A Maison Law attorney can help victims determine if an employer was grossly negligent in allowing a worker to fall and get hurt.
“Gross negligence” means that a business owner or company was extremely negligent in the duty to keep workers protected. The disregard for employees’ safety is so reckless that it almost rises to the level of intentionally harming victims.
If this is the case, victims can file lawsuits and take their employers to court to seek punishment for the company and to get additional support for injury recovery. A skilled attorney can help victims determine every at-fault party that may have to provide support.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a deadline for reporting my fall to my company?
Yes. You must inform your manager or the company owner within a month of your injury. Alert them as soon as you can. If you wait, your case may be rejected, and you won’t receive help with your medical costs.
How long can I wait to inform California Workers’ Compensation of my injury?
Victims can file a Workers’ Comp claim up to a year from the date of the accident. If a victim doesn’t know about the injury until later, the one-year countdown would begin on the date the injury was discovered.
Can undocumented workers receive Workers’ Compensation benefits in California?
Yes, their citizenship status doesn’t matter. California also prohibits employers from threatening or intimidating undocumented workers because they have reported an injury. Cal/OSHA states that “You have the right to a safe and healthful workplace regardless of whether you have papers to work legally in the United States. Note: We are not US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and we do not ask for or report your immigration status.” Maison Law works on behalf of all Merced County workers, no matter what their citizenship status happens to be.
What if my employer threatens my job or threatens to retaliate after I report an accident?
California law forbids employers from going after workers who report unsafe conditions, injuries, or who ask for Workers’ Compensation support. Our lawyers will take quick legal action if employers try to intimidate or threaten a worker for reporting an injury. We file lawsuits if an employer fires an injured employee simply because they got hurt. This behavior is illegal.
Contact a Merced County Workers’ Compensation Attorney
The most important outcome is that you can count on the most support possible through Workers’ Compensation as you recover. A Merced Workers’ Compensation Lawyer usually provides the best chance to do that and hold other potential parties financially liable.
There’s an easy way to find out which path offers you the fastest route to the support you and your family desperately need. Speak to Maison Law in a free, no-obligation consultation. We want to hear about what happened to you and then help you determine the best course of action for your family.
If you need our help, you don’t have to worry about finding the money to hire an attorney. We work on a contingency basis. It means if we lose your case, you don’t pay us anything. And if we win your case, we are paid out of the settlement Workers’ Comp awards you.
