Maison Law can help workers hurt on the job by electrical shock injuries. We make sure Visalia area victims can pay all their medical bills and support their families while out of work. If you have suffered a workplace injury in Visalia or Tulare County, contact a Visalia Workers’ Compensation Lawyer for a free consultation. We can also file claims on behalf of families who have lost a loved one to a workplace electrocution.
When You Might Want to Call a Lawyer After a Workplace Injury
If your electrocution is serious and you’ll miss more than just a few days at work, a lawyer may be able to greatly improve your Workers’ Compensation award. This might be a critical difference when victims are dealing with a stack of medical bills, working through physical therapy, and missing out on more and more paychecks.
The higher the costs of recovery, the more important it will be to hold your employer and California’s Workers’ Comp fully accountable. Workers’ Comp benefits can vary greatly, even for two workers with similar injuries. When you have a Maison Law investigating your case and presenting medical evidence of the severity of your injury and its long-term effects, you have a much better chance of earning more in a benefits check and for longer.
You always have the right to file a claim yourself, but a lawyer can often win you much more when you are left with these types of symptoms and others:
- Cardiovascular problems
- Electrical burns
- Skin and deep tissue damage
- Broken bones during muscle contractions or falls caused by a shock
- Neurological damage (The National Library of Medicine reports that shocks have been linked to nervous system problems such as epilepsy, seizures, vertigo, and muscle weakness)
- Brain damage caused when victims stop breathing
- Internal organ damage
- Victims left with skin contractures (scar tightening), limiting their range of motion on the job
The guidebook provided by the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) explains a few other reasons you may want to trust your Workers’ Comp case to a lawyer.
If you feel you aren’t being offered enough to fully recover, you should contact a lawyer. If you feel a Workers’ Comp offer will run out before you fully heal, it’s a good idea to call a lawyer. If your employer has illegally threatened you after an injury, you should go over your options with a lawyer.
Taking Advantage of a Free Workers’ Compensation Case Consultation
When you still aren’t sure if you have a strong case and filing a claim will be worth it, there’s never any harm in scheduling a free case review with a real Visalia attorney. This consultation is 100% confidential, and it comes with no obligation.
Allow a Visalia Electrocution Injury Workers’ Compensation Lawyer to help you navigate through this difficult time. We’ll go over all of your legal options and help you find the best path to getting your bills paid and getting back on your feet.
Earning Support for Workplace Electrocution Victims in Tulare County
Electrical shock victims may see the immediate costs of their injuries in hospital bills and that first lost paycheck, but they may not have had time to consider the long-term consequences of a workplace injury.
An injury that requires care for months or years will likely affect the victim’s ability to work over that time. It will likely continue to build enormous medical costs. These future concerns must be addressed in any Workers’ Compensation award.
The DIR Injured Worker’s Handbook goes over all the different types of support available through a claim. Just keep in mind that this compensation is never guaranteed and support levels vary greatly from case to case. Some get more, some get much less.
This is a look at some of the support victims could receive:
- Hospital Bills and Physical Therapy Costs. Paid for directly by your employer’s Workers’ Comp insurance provider. This can include therapy costs for the emotional damage a frightening workplace injury can cause.
- 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.
Earning Workers’ Compensation Support If You Were to Blame for Your Electrical Shock Accident
Workers’ Compensation benefits are generally “no-fault.” It means you can usually receive help no matter who caused the accident.
Some exceptions do exist. If an employer could prove that you caused an accident on purpose, you wouldn’t be able to earn support. If you were under the influence of a drug or alcohol at work when an electrical accident occurred, you might lose benefits.
The Electrocution Dangers Visalia Workers Face Each Day
The dangers of electrical shock and electrocution are there for Visalia workers who use tools on a construction site. They are always present for farmworkers who work in wet conditions around faulty electrical lines.
Factory workers and those in canneries can receive life-threatening shocks from the machinery they operate and maintain. Even office and retail workers can be exposed to a live current from damaged cords.
There are several types of electrical accidents that might harm workers:
- An arc injury involves electricity jumping from one point to another and traveling across a victim’s body.
- The heat build-up caused by electricity can also cause injuries to employees. Damage might occur to the surface of the skin or internally along the path the current takes through the body.
- Electrical buildup can cause fires that harm victims.
- Fall injuries can occur when a shock causes someone to lose balance and to take a tumble. This is a scary possibility for workers in warehouses, in barns, and those who work on ladders.
There are several hazards in an unsafe or unmaintained workplace that can cause electrocution. Contact with defective equipment is one risk. Working around power lines and cords is another. Standing in water that comes in contact with an electrical current is a definite danger. Lightning strikes are a worry for those who work outside, such as orchard workers and landscapers.
Your attorney would fully investigate and document your accident. The evidence would definitely be used to show the level of risk you faced and the consequences of your encounter with an electrical current. Your attorney would work with your doctors to demonstrate what you’d been through in recoveries that can include skin grafts, surgeries, and a permanent loss of sensation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to report my accident?
Workers have 30 days to inform their employers of an injury. Injured employees should alert their supervisors immediately after an accident if possible. California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation must also be alerted to an accident within a year. The employer should help in filing the right forms.
Can my family ask for support after a loved one is electrocuted and killed in a workplace accident?
Yes. Families can file for death benefits with California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation. They would receive weekly checks with totals based on how many dependents a worker had at the time of death. The employer is also required to pay funeral expenses up to a certain limit. Death benefit claims are more complicated than normal Workers’ Comp claims. A skilled Visalia Workers’ Comp Attorney can help families earn justice. A lawyer can see that those left behind receive the maximum in support and that all eligible dependents receive support.
Can I receive Workers’ Comp Benefits if I’m not a U.S. Citizen?
Undocumented workers are eligible for support under the California Workers’ Compensation system. With a serious injury, a Maison Law able may be able to get them much more in support to last over their entire recovery. A lawyer is also a strong protection when employers threaten to report victims to immigration officials. These actions are illegal in California, and Maison Law would be ready to file lawsuits against employers. Employers can receive penalties and be forced to fully compensate injury victims.
What can I do if an employer threatens to fire me for reporting an injury and missing work?
It is illegal for employers to retaliate against you if you file an injury claim. They cannot threaten to fire you or demote you. The employer can be fined, face criminal charges, and be forced to pay restitution to you. Maison Law would take legal action if a business owner or company resorted to threats or took retaliatory actions.
Contact a Visalia Electrocution Injury Workers’ Compensation Attorney
Contact Maison Law to set up a free, no-obligation consultation after you’ve suffered an 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.
Hiring a Lawyer Without Any Money: Maison Law understands that Tulare County families dealing with hospital bills and lost paychecks won’t often have any money left over to pay a lawyer. That’s okay. We don’t ask for any upfront payment when you hire us. We only get paid if we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the Workers’ Comp benefits you receive.
