Clients often come to me with questions about injuries they received on the job, and they are often looking for basic compensation under Mississippi’s worker’s comp laws. It seems straightforward—you were injured on the job, so worker’s compensations should compensate you for your lost time, work absences, and other costs. Right? Not always, and not when your employer denies that your injury is related to your employment. Unfortunately, people often misunderstand the worker’s compensation process because they rely on word of mouth and friends rather than the experience of skilled worker’s compensation attorney. There are a wide variety of factors that influence what sort of payment you can expect to receive. One thing is critical to know—you will need to have experienced counsel help you attain your fair share of compensation from a neck injury. Barrett Law has the experience to help you through this process. Contact us now at (800) 707-9577.
Because I so often receive questions about why an employer would deny a worker’s compensation claim, I have described the most common reasons below:
Premium Costs
Your employer pays for worker’s compensation the same way that you pay for your insurance, by paying a premium that covers the expected costs of claims over the years. That cost is driven by a number of factors, but the most common factor is the cost and number of prior years’ worker’s compensation claims. Because of this system, it is in your employer’s financial interest to deny your claim in an interest of keeping his or her premiums low. So if your employer has seen a large number of claims—either from you individually or from the company’s employees as a whole—or if your claim is for a particularly expensive injury, there is a significant financial interest in denying it.
Employer Disbelief in Various Types of Injuries
Many employers simply do not believe that their employees’ injuries are real. There are a number of reasons for this phenomenon, but the most common one that I see is that most injuries are cumulative and not acute. What that means is that the injury builds up slowly over time and is not caused by a sudden incident such as a fall or accident. Obviously, if a stack of pallets falls over and crushes an employee’s leg, there is little question that the injury is real and work related. However, an employee that acquires carpal tunnel syndrome due to years of typing at a desk with poor ergonomics also has a real, work related injury. The only difference is that the latter injury accrues over time and is less obvious; as a result, it is more likely to be denied. This sort of refusal to accept employees’ injuries is common, especially with back, neck, and soft tissue injuries. Many of these injuries do not seem serious at first and, as a result, are not documented. That lack of documentation can result in a denial of the claim later.
Employer Suspicion of Employees
For a worker’s comp claim to be legitimate, it must either occur at the workplace or in the scope of the employee’s duties outside the workplace. I often see employers deny claims because they believe, or want to believe, that the employee’s injury occurred outside of work, but is simply being claimed at work to attain worker’s comp coverage. Again, if the employee suffers a crushing accident in the workplace due to a well-documented accident, this is unlikely to be challenged. But employers routinely deny the sort of repetitive motion injuries to backs and joints that are routinely caused by the work environment over time. This is especially true if the employee did not seek medical attention for an injury or did not miss work because of it. This is a Catch-22 for employees, who do not want to miss work out of fear of losing income due to an injury, but who then do not get compensated for a worker’s comp incident because they did not take time off.
What Should You Do If You Suffered an Injury at Work?
If you suffer an injury at work, document it. Many employers have policies requiring the documentation of a workplace injury. You should also seek medical attention, as a doctor can provide clear documentation that an injury occurred and its potential causes. Let experienced counsel take care of preserving medical records, attaining expert diagnoses, and dealing with your employer’s insurance company. These are important tasks that a worker’s comp attorney can handle for you.
Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have suffered a neck injury.
The seasoned Mississippi Worker’s Compensation Attorney at Barrett Law has the experience to take on your employer, defense attorneys and insurance companies that are focused on denying your compensation for the injury you experienced. Contact us now at (800) 707-9577.
