You’ve heard the calls frequently that workers’ compensation recipients are “gaming the system” and sitting around at home collecting checks for not working. If your own opinions run along these lines, you probably also believe the attorneys who represent petitioners (the workers’ compensation word for “plaintiff”) are also somehow doing something unethical or unseemly.
Allow me to dissuade you of both notions with a few stories of some legitimately injured hard-working clients of mine whose workers’ compensation cases recently were resolved.
Chase a Suspect; Blow Out a Knee
You may have read my recent blog post about D, the police officer who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while chasing a suspect.
D had previously blown out that same ACL years before. Unfortunately, as he chased several carjackers, his knee buckled. It turned out he’d ruptured the graft from the last repair and would need to go through the entire surgery/rehab procedure again.
Whatever your viewpoint on policing these days, no one can deny this is a job that entails the risk of injury or death. And despite stereotypes of middle-aged, overweight police officers stuffing themselves with donuts, it’s a job that requires physical skills and bravery, at a minimum.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but D didn’t milk his minor injury for months so he could collect money from workers’ comp. He did his job, got hurt doing it, went through a difficult surgery (again), and a lengthy rehabilitation. He returned to work and is physically recovered. But his knee will never be perfect again. And for that, he was compensated fairly.
DUI Crash
H’s case is another one to dispel those misguided thoughts about workers’ compensation. H is an officer with a sheriff in the Chicago area. A drunk driver turned left in front of her squad vehicle and caused injuries to her head (concussion), neck, and back. Already young and physically fit, she was able to recover from the neck and back issues with months of physical therapy, but brain injuries take time. She was able to return to work but continued medical treatment for well over six months, at which time her doctor cleared her fully to resume her duties.
She worked and got therapy while working with limitations. She was very motivated to get better, and worked at it both in PT and on her own. Yeah, not another couch potato milking the system.
You may be wondering, what about a case against the drunk driver? Well, first of all, there is a complicated system of reimbursement involving workers’ compensation and personal injury, so it only makes sense to pursue both if the injuries are serious and the recovery in the third party negligence case will be significant.
In this case, the drunk driver had….drum roll…awful insurance with an awful company. So, knowing the injuries would not be life-changing, and the insurance would be both difficult to deal with and have bare minimum limits, workers’ compensation was the sole realistic option.
Because H’s employer is a municipality, we had to jump through multiple hoops to get this matter resolved. I had to negotiate with the other attorney. Who then had to present her findings to a litigation committee. Who then had to give her their recommendation. After months of back and forth, the case was resolved.
Hopefully, this blog post was enough to convince you that the vast majority of people on workers’ compensation deserve the benefits they’re getting, if not more. And if you are not convinced, here’s hoping you never have to find out the truth firsthand.
Takeaways
- Fallacies about workers’ compensation recipients being lazy, “gamers” of the system persist despite being untrue
- Workers with legitimate injuries are entitled to fair compensation for their injuries
- Police officers are among the more frequently injured workers
Contact Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Stephen Hoffman
If you have been injured while working, get medical attention right away and report the injury to your employer as soon as possible. As in any case involving injury on the job, especially where the negligence of another party is involved, contact an attorney with experience in workers’ compensation and personal injury.
If you’ve been injured on the job and have questions, contact Chicago personal injury and workers’ compensation attorney Stephen L. Hoffman for a free consultation at (773) 944-9737. Stephen has over 30 years of legal experience and has collected millions of dollars for his clients. He is listed as a SuperLawyer, has a 10.0 rating on Avvo, and is BBB A+ accredited. He is also an Executive Level Member of the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce.
Stephen handles personal injury and workers’ compensation claims on a contingency fee basis, which means you don’t pay anything up front, and he only gets paid if you do. Don’t wait another day; contact Stephen now.