Protecting Injured
Workers Is All We Do
Workers Is All We Do
Work Injuries
A work injury can occur at any time in the workplace. To qualify for benefits under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, a work injury can be anything ranging from a back injury to a repetitive stress injury to a burn injury resulting from electric shock. There is no minimum period of employment required to be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits in PA; an employee is entitled to coverage for these benefits from the moment he or she begins working. It is mandatory for employers in Pennsylvania to carry workers’ compensation insurance.
Many people do not understand that a pre-existing condition, like arthritis, degenerative disc disease, or degenerative joint disease, can be an “injury,” and can lead to an award of workers’ compensation benefits. The analysis in a case like this is whether the work incident or work duties “aggravated” the pre-existing condition. Many times, these pre-existing conditions were not even known to the injured worker, since they did not cause any pain or problems. Often the presence of these pre-existing conditions simply gives the workers’ compensation insurance company a reason to deny the claim. This, of course, is why you need an attorney who is experienced in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation matters.
A work injury is also not always physical. There are three types of situations involving mental injuries – mental stimulus causing a mental injury (mental/mental), physical stimulus causing a mental injury (physical/mental) and mental stimulus causing a physical injury (mental/physical). The first of these situations, mental/mental, requires that the injury result from an “abnormal working condition.” The second two situations do not require the presence of an “abnormal working condition.” Pain or difficulty with a physical injury may lead to a psychological condition (physical/mental). Meanwhile, whereas stress is not generally compensable if it leads to a psychological condition, like depression or anxiety, it may be compensable if it causes a physical condition, such as a heart attack or gastrointestinal problem (mental/physical).
When a work injury does happen, whether physical or mental, whether a specific incident or a cumulative trauma, it pays to consult with qualified and experienced job accident attorneys. The workers’ compensation attorneys of Brilliant & Neiman LLC have represented clients all over the greater Philadelphia metro area, from Harrisburg to Scranton. Work injury lawyers Glenn C. Neiman and Dina Brilliant have nearly a combined 40 years of experience dealing exclusively with workers’ compensation cases.
“Protecting injured workers is all we do,” is more than a slogan for our firm. It reflects our commitment to helping injured workers and their families receive their entitled benefits under the law. We understand the toll a work injury can have on an entire family. There is not only the injured worker, dealing with his or her pain and disability, there is also the financial aspect, as well as the emotional one, primarily of having to deal with the workers’ compensation insurance carrier. We also understand the stress placed on the rest of the family, in coping with the injury, and the resulting chaos, to their lives. Whether your disability resulted from burn injuries, a car accident, a lifting incident, or from a construction scaffold accident, please contact Brilliant & Neiman LLC to schedule a free initial consultation. Remember, there is never a fee unless we get results for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most common work injuries?
Perhaps the most common injuries are those to the neck and back. These can be in the nature of a sprain or strain, or they can involve a herniated disc. We also often see issues with joints, like the knee (with ligament or meniscus tears), shoulder (with rotator cuff tears or adhesive capsulitis), hip, elbow, wrist or ankle. Repetitive motion injuries, primarily carpal tunnel syndrome, ulnar neuropathy and lateral epicondylitis, are also commonly seen. All too often we see traumatic brain injury, whether through a fall or some type of accident. Since we limit our practice to only handling PA workers’ compensation cases, you can bet that our attorneys, each of whom have been practicing for over 33 years, have seen it all.
Can PA work injuries be mental?
Yes! While mental injuries can be held to a different standard (some requiring “abnormal working conditions”), we have handled many of those cases over our long history of dedicating our practice to PA workers’ compensation cases. When a mental injury comes after a physical injury, such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, no “abnormal working condition” may need to be shown.
Can arthritis be a work injury?
Yes! A work injury in Pennsylvania can be caused or aggravated by the work duties. Often, we see a worker who had no problems until the wear and tear of their job duties aggravated an underlying condition, such as arthritis.
What if I get injured while getting therapy for my PA work injury?
That “new” injury is covered under the PA workers’ compensation case. If not for the work injury taking place, that second injury, suffered while getting treatment for the initial work injury, would not have happened. This can even be a motor vehicle accident while going to a therapy or doctor appointment.
Do I have to be disabled from my job to have a work injury in PA?
No! A work injury can take place even when it does not cause the injured worker to miss time from his or her job. That injured worker is still entitled to medical treatment for his or her work injury.