Maison Law can help local workers hurt after falls and injuries suffered on scaffolding. 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.
How to Determine If You Can Earn More With a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer’s Help
The time it takes you to heal and the number of days you’ll miss at work can be used as a way to decide if you need a lawyer’s help. If your injury is serious and you’ll miss more than a few days at work, a Visalia Scaffolding Accident Workers’ Compensation Lawyer could likely help you earn more in benefits each week.
The higher the costs of recovery, the more important it will be to hold your employer and California’s Workers’ Comp fully accountable. The higher stakes mean you’ll want to demand the right level of compensation to last until you are fully healed.
California workers always have the right to handle their claims themselves, but a lawyer can be a necessary protection in cases involving serious injuries. Maison Law investigates your case and presents medical evidence of the severity of your injury and its long-term effects. You’ll have a much better chance of earning more in a benefits check and for longer.
Maison Law can help victims improve their outcomes when they are dealing with these types of injuries and others:
- Back and spinal column injuries
- Neck injuries
- Broken bones (e.g., skull fractures, leg fractures)
- Injuries to your joints (e.g., hip, knees, and shoulders)
- Traumatic Brain Injuries after a blow to the head
- Muscle, ligament, and tendon strains and tears
- Facial injuries and lost teeth
- Permanent physical disabilities
The guidebook provided by the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) explains some of the other circumstances in which you may want legal representation.
You should consider hiring a lawyer if your employer threatens you to discourage you from filing a claim (this is illegal behavior and carries penalties). You may want a lawyer if your employer isn’t willing to file a claim over your injury. If you’ve already been through the claims process and been rejected unfairly, it’s a great idea to talk over an appeal with a skilled attorney.
Schedule a Free Consultation with a Real Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
It can be scary to go to your employer and ask for help with an injury. You might fear you don’t have a case that’s worth submitting. You might worry you could lose your job. But you’ve put in hours and effort to help your employer earn a profit, and you should never have to beg for support when you are hurt in those duties.
It’s why Maison Law wants to be there for all injured workers in Tulare County. We offer a free case consultation, and our consultations are always confidential. There’s no obligation when you come to us. If we can help you earn more, we’ll tell you that. If we can’t improve your outcome, we’ll put you on the right track to file a successful claim yourself.
The Support Maison Law Demands for Injured Workers
The DIR Injured Worker’s Handbook goes over all the different types of support available through a claim. It all sounds good, but you could be denied coverage. You could also still be hurting when your support runs out.
A skilled attorney builds a strong case and communicates every hardship you’ve been through and could still face in the future. It’s the best way to help Workers’ Comp administrators make a fair decision on how big your benefits checks should be and how long they should be extended.
This is a look at some of the support victims 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, 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.
A Maison Law attorney would also fight to get any therapy expenses you paid out to get help managing your pain reimbursed. The cost of mental health therapy required to help you through your emotional trauma from a scary fall and a difficult recovery should also be covered.
The Biggest Reasons Scaffolding Accidents Occur
Scaffolding supports many workers around Visalia each day. Construction workers and painters may be up several levels on platforms. Window washers could be up several stories, relying on suspended platforms.
Warehouse workers may use mobile scaffolding to reach stored items. Workers on farms and orchards may rely on raised platforms while working in barns or while harvesting fruit trees.
The height alone makes this work more dangerous than jobs performed on the ground.
These are a few of the ways falls can occur, and other accidents can happen:
- Scaffolding planks failure
- Scaffolding improperly installed
- Scaffolding support collapse, including bracer and beam failures
- Failures in harnesses and anchors
- Workers caught up and injured in safety wires and ropes
- Wind and weather hazards
- 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
A skilled lawyer helps with the complicated task of identifying what went wrong in a scaffolding accident. California Workers’ Comp is usually a “no-fault” process, meaning that workers can receive help no matter why an accident occurred.
But showing the dangers victims were exposed to and the frightening experience they had to experience can help them earn what’s fair in benefits checks every two weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can families receive Workers’ Comp benefits if a loved one is killed in a fatal scaffolding accident?
Yes. Grieving 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 and secure what they’ll need for the future.
How long can I wait to file a California Workers’ Compensation injury claim?
Injured workers must alert their employers of an injury within 30 days. Then, victims usually have one year from the accident date to file a claim with Workers’ Compensation. In some cases, the one-year deadline counts down from the day the worker learns of an injury. The deadline could be extended if the victim is under the age of 18.
Can a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer help me if I’m not a U.S. citizen?
Yes, in some cases. All workers are eligible for support under the California Workers’ Compensation system regardless of their immigration status. They do not even need a Social Security number to draw benefits. With a serious injury, a Maison Law able may be able to get victims much more in support to last over their entire recovery. A lawyer is also a strong protection if an employer threatens to report an undocumented worker to immigration authorities. These actions are illegal in California, and an attorney can file lawsuits against employers. Victims can get their jobs reinstated and receive additional benefits.
Contact a Visalia Workers’ Compensation Attorney
For those who feel they need a lawyer’s help to get fair treatment, but worry they don’t have the money to hire one, there’s no need to stress. Maison Law’s Visalia Workers’ Compensation Lawyers work 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.
Reach out to Maison Law to set up a free, confidential consultation if you or a loved one is seriously hurt in a scaffolding accident. There’s no obligation for this meeting with a real lawyer. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your case may be worth and how to hold your employer fully responsible.
