winter injuries - file a personal injury lawsuit?

Handling Employers And Insurers Who Discredit Workers' Claims

22 July 2021 by Franklin Vasquez

State and federal regulations demand that employers pay for workers' compensation policies on their employees' behalf. Workers' compensation law offers comprehensive protection of an employee's rights and interests after getting injured or ill at work. However, if an employer refuses to compensate their employee for a work-related injury or illness, they breach federal and state regulations. Aggrieved employees can hire the services of an experienced workers' compensation lawyer to pursue an insurance and compensation claim on their behalf. Below are a few reasons why employers may refuse to compensate their employees and how a workers' compensation lawyer helps clients in those situations.

Terming Treatment as Unnecessary

The first thing workers' compensation insurance covers is an employee's medical expenses. In some cases, employees may refuse to pay for a particular treatment such as a surgery or a therapy session because it is "unnecessary." Insurance companies and employees usually try to pay as little as possible and look for ways to discredit legit claims because they are expensive. A workers' compensation lawyer can use an independent medical evaluation from a qualified professional to demonstrate the patient's medical history and the necessity of the treatments prescribed by the employee's doctors. 

Not a Work-Related Injury

Another reason employers may deny an employee's compensatory claim is that there were no witnesses present. If an employee cannot justify that they sustained their injury in the course of duty, they lose their claim and receive no compensation. However, lacking witnesses who observed the accident is not the only way an employee can prove that they sustained their injury in the workplace. They may hire a workers' compensation lawyer, who will use expert testimony from highly qualified doctors and surgeons to explain how the employee could have sustained the injuries. The workers' compensation lawyer can prove the employee's medical history, giving timelines when they may have sustained their injuries. The workers' compensation lawyer uses the available evidence and their experience to construct a watertight compensation claim on their client's behalf.

Prior Health Conditions

Another common way for employers and insurance companies to minimize their financial obligations is by claiming the employee had a prior existing medical condition. They may attribute an employee's injuries to their medical history to avoid paying the compensation amount. If an employee does not have a pre-existing condition, the workers' compensation lawyer produces the employees' medical history to disprove that claim. Suppose the employee does have a pre-existing medical condition. In that case, an experienced workers' compensation lawyer demonstrates that the working conditions present in the workplace aggregated and exacerbated an employee's injury, entitling them to receive compensation for their injuries.

Share

Search