Maison Law stands ready to help anyone in the Merced workforce injured on the job and left without proper support to heal and get back to work. While workers’ compensation helps those hurt at work, including in accidents involving unsafe scaffolding, not every victim is treated fairly, and not everyone receives the same amount of support. We want to make sure every victim has the money to pay every medical bill and support their families.
Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation to learn more about your options that may go beyond standard workers’ comp benefits.
Do I Need a Lawyer After a Work Accident Involving Scaffolding?
Taking a fall due to unsafe scaffolding can lead to major injuries. To get the right medical care to heal and to keep paying your monthly bills while you can’t work, you’re going to need support that doesn’t run out before you are fully healed.
California workers’ compensation can provide that support, but it’s not guaranteed. You’ll need to provide strong proof that your injury was suffered at work and caused by your duties on the job. You may even have to prove that your employer provided unsafe scaffolding and failed to provide proper safety equipment.
An employer may try to blame you for what happened. Workers’ Comp may award you a settlement that will not cover your medical bills and the support of your family for the entire time you must miss work. Your Merced Workers’ Compensation Lawyer can act as a powerful shield for you and stand up for your rights in the face of small and giant businesses and even the State of California.
Your lawyer can also provide these benefits and more:
- Demand much more in compensation for your injury than you might have been able to secure yourself.
- Fully investigate your workplace accident and collect medical evidence while working with doctors.
- Force employers to take your injury seriously.
- Protect you from false allegations made up by your employer or insurance adjusters.
- Safeguard you if an employer makes threats or fires you because you are injured and spoke up
- Make sure you receive adequate lifetime support after suffering a permanent disability.
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) explains further why you could need a lawyer for your case.
Common Causes of Scaffolding Accidents in Merced
Merced is a place where plenty of people head out to work every day. Some of those workers head up to do their jobs from high platforms and scaffolding. Area construction workers and painters may be asked to stand on shaky scaffolding throughout their shifts.
Workers in warehouses and maintenance staff may find themselves on high platforms without nets and safety harnesses. Workers on farms are also often are risk for falls when they are asked to go up to higher levels on barns, around water towers, and silos.
In every sector, accidents occur and people get hurt. These are just some of the factors that can lead to frightening scaffolding accidents:
- Scaffolding segments improperly manufactured
- Scaffolding improperly installed
- Scaffolding wind and weather hazards
- Scaffolding support collapse
- Objects falling from scaffolding and hitting victims below
- Electrocution
- Lack of safety training for managers and scaffolding workers
- Lack of safety equipment like guardrails, safety harnesses, and lanyards
Victims can suffer major falls, leading to broken bones, head injuries, and loss of life. A Maison Law attorney helps victims and their families seek justice after such a frightening accident. We demand support for the immediate costs that victims face, and for the care that could be needed months or years from now due to a serious injury.
California Workers’ Compensation judges may not award everything families need if they don’t hear about the effects injuries have on victims and the victims’ ability to support their families. Maison Law makes sure judges understand the true extent of an injury and seek as much support as possible on the victim’s behalf.
Can I Sue My Employer After Suffering an Injury While Using Scaffolding?
Yes, in some cases. Usually, injured workers would depend on Workers’ Comp for support after getting hurt. However, if an employer is found to be especially negligent in providing proper safety equipment and procedures for those working at great heights, a lawsuit is one potential option.
Your attorney would help you prove that an employer or a scaffolding manufacturer was grossly negligent in the accident.
There are a few circumstances that would allow you to file a lawsuit against your employer or some other at-fault party.
It may be necessary to file a lawsuit if…
- your employers knew they were putting you in danger without warning you
- your employers forced you to work on scaffolding that was visibly unstable
- your employer failed to provide safety equipment and neglected to properly secure scaffolding
- your employer violated safety and building codes to put you at risk
- the manufacturer of the scaffolding was guilty of providing equipment with a design flaw or manufacturing defect and covered up the danger
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. Emotional trauma caused by a fall and difficult injury recovery also isn’t usually covered by Workers’ Comp. Perhaps a frightening fall has left you unable to mentally withstand returning to the worksite where it happened.
Taking an employer to court may be the only way to see that all of the consequences of a workplace accident are covered. These damages should never be left in the victim’s lap.
What Kinds of Things Can Earn Support in a Workers’ Comp Claim?
Your attorney makes sure your claim includes a complete list of everything you’ve been through with your injury and everything you’ve missed out on while being out of work. Your attorney then negotiates from a strong position, backed by evidence, to secure you the most in support possible.
The DIR Injured Worker’s Handbook goes over all the different types of compensation and benefits available through a claim.
This is just some of the factors that your Maison Law attorney will be demanding support for:
- 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, including the cost of vocational therapy for you. These benefits are available to those who are eligible to receive permanent disability benefits, your employer doesn’t offer you work, and you don’t return to work for your employer. This benefit is available for workers injured in 2004 or later. If your injury also occurred in 2013 or later and you received a Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit, you may also be eligible for an additional, one-time payment under the Return-to-Work Supplement Program.
- Death Benefits. Workers’ compensation provides death benefits to families left behind, but an employer could also be sued for contributing to a fatal accident in some cases. A Merced Wrongful Death Attorney would explore the family’s options to hold an employer financially responsible for the tragic loss of life.
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. 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. 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 or immigration 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 Scaffolding Injury Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Those hurt while working on or around scaffolding should never be afraid to speak up. They’ve hurt themselves while sacrificing their safety and physical wellbeing for their companies, and those companies must be there for them now that they are injured.
Speak to Maison Law in a free consultation. We want to hear about what happened to you and then help you determine the best course of action for your family. We also want to make sure you earn the maximum in benefits for your family while you are down with an injury.
If you do need us to earn more for your claim, Maison Law’s Merced Workers’ Compensation Lawyer works on a contingency basis. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. There’s zero upfront cost. Then our attorney’s fee comes out of the Workers’ Compensation support you are awarded.
