When Can You File a Workers’ Compensation Lawsuit

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

When Can You File a Workers’ Compensation Lawsuit

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

If you have been injured on the job as a result of perceived employee or employer negligence, you should immediately file a claim for compensation, with the guided assistance of a workers’ comp lawyer. In fact, if you wait to file a claim if you are injured or fall ill, then workers’ compensation insurance carriers are more likely to deny you compensation benefits. Unfortunately, the longer you wait, the more you will raise suspicion about the validity of your injuries and cause insurance carriers to question the legitimacy of your claims.

Dealing with Progressive Illness or Injury

While it may be in your best interest to file a claim as soon as possible after being injured or becoming sick as a result of an unsafe workplace, sometimes diseases such as mesothelioma or lung cancer may take years to develop. Injuries like carpel tunnel syndrome also take awhile to progress. If you experience illness or injury over a lengthy period of time, consider your claim’s deadline as approaching as soon as you take time off to treat the injury, and believe that your job was responsible for the injury.

Workers’ compensation lawyers can help victims of injury and illnesses determine the time and location in which they took place, as well as their compensatory value. You should also be as detailed as possible when notifying your employer of on-the-job illnesses and injury, and witnesses can also help support claimants in court.

Victims of workplace injury and illness should immediately contact a workers’ comp attorney in order to prove that employer negligence was the cause. Even if it takes time for a medical condition to develop, workers can still receive full compensation for the damages done.