Brunswick Workplace Injury Attorney
In some ways, the Georgia workers’ compensation system is the same today as it was a hundred years ago. Injured workers are still entitled to no-fault insurance benefits. However, in most ways, the system has changed a lot. For example, to attract more business to the state, lawmakers have reduced insurance premiums over the years. So, there is less money in the system for injured victims. At the same time, medical expenses have increased dramatically. Too many times, victims must pick up the slack themselves.
The energetic Brunswick workplace injury attorneys at Gillette Law cut through the red tape and work to obtain the compensation victims need and deserve. Insurance company lawyers only care about corporate profits. On the other hand, we only care about victims. So, we never take the easy way out. Instead, we don’t give up until we obtain the best possible result under the circumstances.
Types of Job Injuries
Most job injuries are sudden trauma injuries which happen suddenly and without warning. Falls and motor vehicle crashes are two good examples. In civil court, these claims are normally complex, largely because of defenses like assumption of the risk and comparative fault which shift blame for these accidents to the victims.
But since workers’ compensation is no-fault insurance, such defenses are irrelevant. Full compensation is usually available even if the injury was mostly the victim’s fault or even entirely the victim’s fault. A work-related connection is usually the only requirement.
This work-related connection is sometimes difficult to establish in occupational disease claims. Hearing loss, the most common such claim, is a good example. Most people hear loud noises constantly and not just at work. So, a Brunswick workplace injury attorney must show that a work-related condition substantially caused the hearing loss and that other causes were secondary.
Incidentally, bosses do not just have a duty to provide hearing protection if noise levels exceed certain thresholds. They also have a duty to tell workers how to use the equipment and explain how important these safety devices are.
Benefits Available
Medical bill payment is perhaps the most important workers’ compensation benefit. The hospital bills in a catastrophic injury matter, such as a spine injury, could exceed $4 million. Group health insurers usually refuse to pay injury-related costs, and most families couldn’t possibly pay these expenses from their own pockets.
Generally, workers’ compensation pays all reasonably necessary medical expenses from start to finish. These costs include:
- Emergency care,
- Follow-up care,
- Transportation costs,
- Medical devices,
- Prescription drugs,
- Occupational therapy, and
- Physical therapy.
There’s more. In most cases, workers’ compensation also replaces two-thirds of the victim’s lost wages for the duration of a temporary disability. If the injury is permanently disabling, a lump sum payment is usually available.
There’s a difference between lost wages and back wages. Because of their injuries, many victims miss overtime opportunities, bonus targets, and other such items. The Average Weekly Wage must reflect these future losses.
Contact an Experienced Glynn County Workplace Injury Lawyer
All serious injury victims are entitled to fair compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced Brunswick workplace injury attorney, contact Gillette Law, P.A. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.
