Stroudsburg Workers Compensation Lawyer

Personal Injury Lawyers / Stroudsburg Personal Injury Lawyer / Stroudsburg Workers Compensation Lawyer

Anyone injured while on the job in Stroudsburg has the right to receive compensation for a workplace accident. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. Workers often face obstacles to getting the benefits they deserve. Knowing your next steps following a workplace injury can be challenging with the complex workers' compensation system. Fortunately, a Stroudsburg workers compensation lawyer can help.

Serving the Stroudsburg community for 65 years, Munley Law has earned our clients' trust and our peers' respect. Our board-certified Stroudsburg workers comp attorneys can help you get your benefits following a workplace accident. Contact our Stroudsburg office to schedule a free consultation. We do not collect a fee for our services unless we recover your benefits.

Types of Workers Compensation Benefits

Stroudsburg Workers' Compensation Attorneys According to the Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Act, workman's compensation benefits are meant to pay any expenses related to your work injury. You may also be eligible for the following benefits:

Medical Expenses: Your workers compensation benefits will pay for any medical treatment you may receive for your injuries following a work injury. This includes ER visits, lab testing, surgery, physical therapy, or medical equipment.

Lost Income: If you were unable to work for at least seven days, you will receive approximately two-thirds of your average weekly salary for the time you lost.

Total Disability Benefits: If you are entirely disabled following an accident and cannot return to work, you will receive total disability payments. Your total disability payments equal two-thirds of your average weekly wage. After 104 weeks of total disability payments, the workers' compensation insurance provider will review the claim at an Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE). If the impairment rating is above 50 percent, you will continue to receive permanent disability benefits and be considered totally disabled. If it's less than 50 percent, your claim will be converted to a partial disability designation, and your payments will be limited to a maximum of 500 weeks.

Partial Disability Benefits: Partial disability is given to injured workers who cannot return to their jobs but can still work. For example, if you lost an arm in a workplace accident, you may not be able to return to work as a warehouse worker but can do a different job, such as an office worker. These benefits will pay for the disability, equaling two-thirds of the difference between your average weekly wage at the time of the injury and your present earnings. You can receive these benefits for up to 500 weeks if you continue to work at a lower wage.

Specific Loss Benefits: An injured worker is entitled to compensation if they suffered from a permanent loss or use of a body part due to a work injury, such as an amputation, loss of hearing, or vision loss. Depending on the healing period, each body part gets a different maximum number of weeks you can go on workers' compensation. For example, if you lost a leg in a workplace accident, the maximum number of weeks you can receive specific loss benefits is 410 weeks.

Death Benefits: When a worker dies due to an accident or disease caused during the regular scope of their job duties, the surviving family members may be eligible to receive benefits for funeral expenses and burial costs. Those eligible include a spouse, minor children, a dependent adult child, or a parent.

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Common Workplace Injuries in Stroudsburg, PA

Any job injury or illness entitles you to workers' compensation. The injury could be a sudden accident, like a slip and fall, or long-term damage, such as lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The most common types of work-related injuries include:

Exposure to toxic chemicals or the environment
Overexertion
Strains, sprains, and fractures
Repetitive motion injuries

In addition, any work that irritates a preexisting injury can entitle an employee to benefits. For example, if their current job worsens an employee's previous back injury, they are eligible for workers' compensation benefits. Unfortunately, many insurance companies deny a claim because of prior injury. Call our Stroudsburg personal injury lawyer immediately if this happens to your case.

The Claims Process For Workers Compensation Benefits in Stroudsburg

As soon as the injury happens, please report it to your supervisor and fill out an incident report, no matter the severity of your injury. Even seemingly minor injuries may develop into something more severe over time. Remember, you only have a limited amount of time to report workplace injuries, and failure to do so may result in denial of your benefits, so don't hesitate.

After reporting your injury, you must seek medical attention. Stroudsburg is home to prestigious medical facilities, such as Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono and St. Luke's Monroe Campus. To receive workers' compensation, a doctor must verify that your injury was caused by an accident and that you cannot work or require “light duty” placement. According to the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act, your employer may provide a list of at least six doctors for whom you must receive medical care for the first 90 days of your treatment. After 90 days, you may continue to be treated by any doctor.

The doctor is the only one with the authority to tell you when you can return to work. Your employer or the insurance company may pressure you to return to work sooner than you can. But it's your doctor who makes that decision, not the employer. So make sure you let your doctor know what type of work you do and what hazards you are exposed to so they can help you heal properly from your injury.

Throughout the process, keep a record of all medical bills and treatment you received, as well as any correspondence from your employer and insurance company.

What is “Light Duty”?

Light duty is a job that is less challenging than your regular job. For example, you work at a warehouse and experience a back injury after lifting heavy boxes. You may get a light-duty position requiring something less strenuous, such as office work. Light duty allows employees to return to work after an injury while receiving workers' compensation benefits. It's up to your doctor to decide whether you can handle light-duty work.

According to the PA workers' compensation laws, injured employees must be willing to accept a light-duty offer as long as a doctor has approved the job duties and your employer offers a job that meets the restrictions. You may sometimes lose workers' comp benefits if you reject an employer's offer of light-duty work. If you feel like the light duty assignment is too much for your injuries, it is in your best interest to speak with a Stroudsburg workers compensation attorney to see your options.

What is a Third Party Claim for Injured Workers?

A third party claim is a separate personal injury claim you can file against another person or organization. For example, while working on a new machine, the machine malfunctions and cuts off a piece of your finger. Since the accident happened while at work, you can file a workers' compensation claim, but let's say you learn that the machine's flaw caused the malfunction, and the manufacturer knew about it. In such a case, you may have a third party claim against the manufacturer.

Third party claims can provide extra compensation for your injuries. Whereas workers' compensation pays your medical expenses and loss wages, a third party claim can also pay for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of consortium.

It's important to note that if you get into an accident while on the job, you cannot bring a personal injury claim against your employer for the accident. Workers' compensation is a no-fault system, meaning that you will receive benefits for the accident no matter if you or anyone else is responsible.

A Stroudsburg personal injury lawyer at Munley Law will investigate every possible source of recovery to get you the maximum benefits with your patient review.

There is no fee unless we win your case.

What Happens If Your Workers' Comp Claim is Denied?

There are various reasons why your workers' comp claim is denied, such as failing to report the injury, filling the claim after being let go, or not cooperating with the process. That's why it's essential to have legal representation available to help you with your claim.

Some reasons why your work injury claim was denied include:

You didn't report your injury to your employer in time. In Pennsylvania, you have 120 days from the date of the injury to let your employer know. You will not collect benefits if you report the accident after that time.
There's a difference between the accident report and the initial medical records. For example, you fell off a job ladder and said you injured your leg. However, when you receive medical attention, it's discovered you also received a concussion, though there's no mention in the incident report that you hit your head.
You filed the claim after being laid off or fired from the job. Filing a claim after you leave your job may seem suspicious to the workers' compensation insurance company and could result in an instant denial.
No one witnessed the accident. Your employer could try to say that your injury wasn't caused by an accident while you were working since no one witnessed the accident.
You are not cooperating with the claims process. Even if you feel the claim process is against you, refusing to sign any paperwork or provide statements for the insurance company could hurt your workers' compensation claim.

Whatever the reason for the denial, our Stroudsburg worker's compensation lawyers can help. Contact Munley Law for a free consultation if you have been denied benefits. We will help you with the claims and appeal process and ensure you deserve the benefits.

Our Stroudsburg Workers Compensation Lawyer Can Help

If your benefits have been denied or stopped, or you have questions about a workers' compensation claim, call our Stroudsburg workers' compensation lawyers today for legal advice. We work on a contingent fee basis, so we do not collect a fee unless we obtain your benefits for you.

With 65 years of experience, our board-certified Stroudsburg workers' comp lawyers have been helping employees in Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono, and throughout Monroe County with their workers' compensation cases. We understand how difficult it can be to navigate the workers' compensation laws and have successfully fought for injury victims for decades.

If you or a loved one gets into an accident at work and face problems with a workers comp claim, call our Stroudsburg law firm today for a free consultation. We don't get paid until we win your case. You pay nothing until you win your case.

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