Maison Law stands with Merced workers who may be at home, unable to work, and dealing with an injury or sickness after being exposed to a harmful substance on the job. 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 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 what your injury is worth and how to secure support.
Should I Call a Lawyer After Suffering an Injury On The Job in Merced?
If you receive a serious injury at work and miss more than a few days on the job, you may require the help of a lawyer to earn adequate support to last you through your entire recovery.
A workplace injury due to exposure to a harmful chemical can take you down now and lead to health issues in the years ahead. The escalating costs might cause employers to look for ways to avoid taking responsibility. They may even try to blame you for what happened.
A skilled Merced Workers’ Compensation Lawyer secures the evidence needed to hold employers accountable and to ensure you receive the maximum support available. Talk to a lawyer if you feel you aren’t being treated fairly by your employer after an injury.
Go over your options if you believe Workers’ Compensation won’t provide enough in compensation to pay all of your hospital expenses and your living expenses while you can’t work. You can also contact a Maison Law if you’ve been unfairly denied benefits.
An experienced lawyer can often help speed up the Workers’ Comp process to your benefit while negotiating to get you more.
The guidebook provided by the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) explains a few other reasons you may want to trust your case to a lawyer.
Hazardous Substances Dangers On Merced Work Sites
California requires employers across the state to provide a safe and healthy workplace for all workers. If workers are employed in an occupation that puts them in contact with potentially harmful substances, then companies are responsible for keeping them safe.
That means providing safety equipment, including safety suits and filter masks. That should involve training for work with toxic chemicals. What’s more, if workers are hurt while working with a hazardous substance, employers should be responsible for supporting them while they receive medical treatment and while they must be away from work.
Workers in many industries may experience contact with harmful substances. Employees may encounter corrosive cleaning solutions or breathe in gases from a toxic substance left in an office or on a utility project. Farmworkers could be exposed to fertilizers and pesticides that cause harm in the short term and long term.
Construction workers might be working with hazardous construction materials containing asbestos or lead. Workers in many fields could face serious consequences for working with solvents like benzene. Any worker could be unknowingly working with cancer-causing agents.
Important Resource: The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) provides a full list of the harmful substances that workers may encounter and that may cause health issues.
Victims may use these dangerous goods without knowing it for months or years. A skilled Merced Harmful Substances Workers’ Compensation Lawyer can help victims who started to experience symptoms years ago. We can show the progression of health problems and help show how they are associated with an employer’s negligence.
Health Dangers for Workers Using Dangerous Goods
Victims may be splashed with a toxic substance and need a trip to the emergency room. Other workers suffering harm might not know of the damage to their bodies for months or years after exposure.
Workers need to be supported for as long as necessary. That could mean a lifetime of support is necessary.
These are just a few of the dangerous side effects of exposure to harmful substances in the workplace:
- Lung cancer, brain cancer, and other cancers
- Mesotheliomas, a type of cancer contracted after working around Asbestos
- Silicosis from inhaling silica while working
- Developing Asthma
- Damage to reproductive organs
- Birth defects due to a mother’s exposure
- Brain damage
- Organ damage
- Skin damage and rashes
- Chemical burn injuries, including to the eyes
- Many types of chronic illnesses that worsen over time
Employers and even Workers’ Comp administrators can downplay the severity of the injuries workers file claims over. They may even cast doubt on the connection between an unsafe workplace and an illness. They may only award you enough in support to cover a few months of recovery costs when your true recovery may take years.
It’s a good idea to have a skilled attorney on your case who can secure evidence to protect you from these tactics. A lawyer can secure medical evidence and demand documents from your employer to help prove your case and win you more for your recovery.
How Much Can I Get from Workers’ Comp After Exposure to a Hazardous Substance?
An estimate of what you can demand for our injuries or illness will depend on the severity of your injury and how long it will affect your life. The length of recovery will, of course, determine the size of your medical bills and the total on the paychecks you’ll forfeit while missing work.
Your attorney calculates all of the hardships you have endured and will endure. Your lawyer will have a more accurate estimate of what you’ll earn after hearing the details of what happened to you and investigating the accident.
There are several factors that Workers’ Comp generally compensates. Victims can seek help with all medical bills. They can receive temporary and permanent disability benefits depending on the severity of an injury. Victims should also receive money to help pay for training and education for a new career if they are unable to return to their previous jobs.
In certain instances, families can receive Workers’ Compensation support after a loved one is killed in a workplace accident. These are known as “death benefits.”
Important Resource: The DIR Injured Worker’s Handbook goes over all the different types of support available through a Workers’ Comp claim.
Can I Sue My Employer After Suffering an Injury While Working with Toxic Substances?
There may also be cases where victims can earn support beyond Workers’ Comp. If it can be proved that an employer intentionally allowed workers to be exposed or was extremely negligent in regards to safety, the employer can be sued.
In most cases, you could only seek support from California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation. However, there are a few circumstances that would allow you to file a lawsuit against your employer or another at-fault party.
You could file a lawsuit if…
- Your employer knew about a hazardous substance but didn’t inform you
- Your employer showed an extreme disregard for your safety
- Your employer broke laws or codes regarding the handling and storage of dangerous goods
- The manufacturer of any substance is found to have lied about the health risks of the product
Your attorney would be prepared to file claims against any individual or company that contributed to your injury. Workers’ Compensation sometimes runs out before victims are fully healed. Victims also don’t receive support for the physical pain and emotional toll an accident causes through Workers’ Comp. Taking an employer to court may be the only way to see that all of the consequences of a workplace accident are covered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a deadline for reporting my injury to my company?
Yes. In many cases, you must inform your manager or the company owner within a month of your injury. And victims would usually have to file a Workers’ Comp claim up to a year from the date of the accident. However, there may be different deadlines when the harmful effects aren’t noticed until weeks, months, or years later. Speak with an attorney to determine how long you’ve got.
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.
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 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.
If you don’t have the money to hire a lawyer, you don’t have to worry when working with Maison Law. We don’t get paid for our services unless we win your case for you. Then, we would be paid out of the money that Workers’ Compensation had to provide to you and your family.
