Maison Law can help workers hurt in accidents involving crush injuries. We work to earn victims a quick response from Workers’ Comp and support that lasts longer. If you have suffered a crush injury while working in Visalia or Tulare County, contact a Visalia Workers’ Compensation Lawyer for a free consultation.
Figuring Out If You’ll Need a Lawyer After a Work Injury
If your accident at work only leaves you with a minor injury, and you return to work within a few days, you might not need a lawyer’s help. But if your injury is more serious, very likely if you’ve endured a crush injury, then a lawyer may be more of a necessity.
A serious injury will mean elevated medical costs, and often, employers and Workers’ Comp insurers fighting harder to accept full liability. Victims may need help providing evidence and medical documentation to prove just how much they’ll need in support and for how long.
A skilled attorney also represents the victim to the Workers’ Comp administrator. It’s an opportunity to tell the whole story of your accident and recovery, so that a benefit check at least attempts to match what you’ve been put through.
A lawyer can often secure you much more for your recovery, more than you could usually win for yourself.
A lawyer can help when these injuries and others are suffered after a crush injury:
- Broken bones
- Damaged limbs (perhaps resulting in amputation)
- The loss of the use of a limb
- Extensive tearing of muscle and tendons
- Nerve damage
- Deep cuts and infections
- Deep puncture wounds
Any of these types of wounds or others may mean you could do better with a skilled Maison Law attorney on your case. We can also help you if you’ve already started the Workers’ Comp process and realize that your injury isn’t being taken seriously enough.
Talk to a Real Visalia Workers’ Compensation Accident Attorney for Free
You may still wonder if you have a strong enough case to make filing worth it. You may worry about irritating your employer. First, it’s illegal for any employer to retaliate against you or threaten you for filing a claim.
What’s more, you have worked hard for your employer, and it’s okay to seek help when your duties lead to an injury and keep you out of work.
If you’re still unsure, please contact Maison Law and set up a free case consultation. It’s a way to get your questions answered. It’s completely confidential, and your employer will know nothing about your meeting. There’s also no obligation for this case review.
The Support You Can Demand After an Injury at Work
The DIR Injured Worker’s Handbook explains each type of support available to most California workers. They include the costs and hardships victims endure right after an accident and the difficulties crush injury victims may have to live with while in recovery.
Your attorney would be demanding this support and more:
- 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.
The pain victims must endure, and the emotional trauma of a frightening accident can take its toll on injured workers.
The cost of pain therapy and mental health care can also earn support for victims to pay for therapy and treatment. A skilled attorney would make sure clients had everything they required to help them to emerge pain-free and with emotional wellness.
Crush Injury Dangers Across Visalia Workplaces
Crush injuries can easily occur in jobs where local workers are around heavy vehicles, fast-moving machinery, and in places with a lot of stuff stored overhead.
This can describe a lot of different professions in Tulare County. The risks are even greater when employers don’t provide safe equipment and strong safety measures to keep workers protected. Victims can become trapped between two solid objects or one stationary object and one moving surface. For instance, it might be a forklift and a shelving unit that traps a victim.
Victims might be rushed to Kaweah Health or flown to the closest Trauma Center to Visalia with major and life-threatening injuries.
These are a few of the most common professions where crush injuries are a danger:
- Farm, orchard, and ranch workers
- Packing plant and cannery workers
- Manufacturing plant and warehouse employees
- Construction workers
- Loading dock workers
- Oil workers
- Truck drivers and delivery drivers
Injured victims without cases backed with evidence and properly filed documents can end up with far less than they need to cover every medical bill. They might also walk away without enough to help with living expenses for their families while out of work. A skilled Visalia Crush Injury Workers’ Compensation Lawyer takes on the unfair system and seeks the maximum possible for a client’s injuries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I seek support from California Workers’ Compensation if I’m not a U.S. citizen?
Workers are eligible for support from Workers’ Comp regardless of their immigration status or undocumented worker status. Maison Law can help many victims secure more in support for their families. Our lawyers would also get aggressive for clients when employers threaten to report them to immigration officials if they file an injury claim. This threat or action is illegal and can result in fines for the company and support for victims.
When should I report my crush injury at work?
Immediately. Alert your supervisor as soon as you are injured. If you wait longer than 30 days to inform your employer of an injury, you may lose your chance to file a claim. Then you have up to a year to file a claim with Workers’ Comp. Your employer should be helping with this process. You can find more information on how to proceed on the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) website.
Can I receive Workers’ Compensation benefits if my accident was my fault?
Yes, you can receive assistance, even if you accidentally caused your injury. Workers’ Comp is generally a no-fault benefit as long as you were hurt on the job. However, you may be denied coverage if you caused your accident on purpose or were intoxicated while on the job.
Contact a Visalia Workers’ Compensation Attorney
Reach out to Maison Law to set up a free, no-obligation consultation after you’ve suffered a crush injury while at work. It’s a no-obligation, confidential way to find out what your case may be worth and how to hold your employer responsible.
Martin Gasparian, the founder of Maison Law, continues to protect workers in the Central Valley when they are hurt in unsafe working conditions. He has years of experience taking on giant insurance companies and government agencies to make sure injured people receive what they need to rebuild their lives.
The important thing for you to remember is that having a skilled attorney won’t cost you anything right now. Maison Law works on a contingency basis. It means we don’t get paid unless we win your Workers’ Comp case for you. Then our fee comes out of the money your employer’s Worker Comp insurer must award you.
