In earlier blogs, we’ve talked about the requirements for qualifying for workers’ compensation benefits—you must have been hurt and the injury must have been “job-related.” In many instances, particularly if your injury stems from a work accident, it’s pretty easy to show that the injury was caused by your job. There are situations, too, where you can’t point to a single incident, but you can provide evidence that suggests that your work caused the injury—repetitive stress injuries or occupational illness fall into this category. There can also be instances where it doesn’t appear, at first blush, that your injury was work-related, but a careful investigation and analysis can lead to a causal connection.
Let’s look at an example. Suppose you suffer a stroke or a nervous breakdown while at home. You weren’t at your place of employment and you weren’t working on anything tied to your job, so it seems unlikely that you’d have any chance of securing workers’ compensation benefits.
But what if you could show that you’d been under an inordinate amount of stress at work? Maybe you’ve had unending production deadlines, or maybe it’s just the nature of your job…suppose you work as a paramedic, a firefighter or a police officer, and you are exposed to trauma on a daily basis. Could you make the argument that the stress caused by your job had a negative impact on your blood pressure, causing the stroke?
Successful workers’ compensation claims have been made by attorneys for clients who suffered heart attacks and other health problems because of work-related stress.
Contact the Law Offices of Szaferman Lakind
To arrange a private meeting, contact us by e-mail or call our office at 609-771-8611. Evening and weekend meetings are available upon request. We take all major credit cards.
We handle all workers’ compensation cases on a contingency basis. There will be no attorney fees unless we get compensation for your losses.
