Accident Attorney
The legal options for work injury are different from that of personal injury and in the state of California there are three options for the worker. They are the following: a personal injury lawsuit against a third-party, a workers’ compensation claim and a two-pronged approach using the previous two options. Therefore, it is important to communicate with an injury attorney to identify the best possible strategy for the workers’ specific situation. Now let us try to understand each of the options in detail.
The Work Injury
The standard procedure in California is the employee i.e. the victim can give the employer a written notice regarding the injury sustained and where it happened within 30 days. This is followed by filing a workers’ compensation claim and this will allow the employee to recover most of the damages without any additional claims. Moreover, hiring an accident attorney will increase the chances of the employee receiving a successful claim and avoid receiving a denial letter. Besides, both the employee and the employer will have portions of these documents filled out.
Third-Party Injury Claim
The employee might be eligible for a third-party personal injury lawsuit if a third person is involved in the incident. This is usually applicable when the injury occurs through a third person such as a driver on the road. Besides, the employee must perform the work duties or sustain injuries at the company building or premises for these options to be applicable. Therefore, first the victim must file the worker’s compensation claim and this is followed by pursuing the personal injury claim.
Suing the Company
In the rare case when the company of the employee does not have workers compensation package, then the employee can sue the company for the injury. Because of this, it is important to review the incident by the lawyer to check the legal validity of the claim. Moreover, in the state of California the company can be charged with fines for not providing its employees with an insurance policy to cover work-related injuries.
Contacting Lawyer
During the instance of a work-related injury, it is ideal for the victim to talk to a lawyer for determining the options based on his/her circumstances. Hence, in some cases it is better to proceed through the worker’s compensation along with a third-party lawsuit. This is because the claim from the worker’s compensation alone will not cover the cost of damages. However, in other cases investigation is necessary to identify the options available.
Workers Compensation benefits
The benefits of a worker’s compensation claim are medical expenses related to work injury along with partial wage compensation lost during the recovery time. Besides, if the injury caused a permanent disability, the claim can give limited funding through this process. But, if the employee died from the incident, the insurance company should give death benefits to the family of the employee.