Knoxville, Tennessee, Worker's Compensation Attorneys
The workplace can be a very dangerous place, which is why the government developed a worker's compensation system. Worker's compensation laws provide money and medical benefits to a worker who has an injury as a result of an accident, injury, or occupational disease on the job. Worker's compensation is designed to protect employees and their dependents against the hardships from injury or death arising out of their employment. Many accidents involve falls, defective machinery, explosions, and scaffolding. Work-related injuries are often severe and result in serious disability that prevents the injured from returning to work.
To be eligible for worker's compensation, you must be an employee. This means someone who works for another under a contract of hire and receives a salary or hourly wage. You do not have to be employed full-time. You do not have to be employed by only one employer. A written employment contract is not necessary.
In order to protect the legal rights of someone who is injured on the job, many complicated legal issues must be considered and properly addressed. These include compliance with a potentially large number of time deadlines and carefully maneuvering through the insurance company minefield.
For example, assuming Tennessee law applies to your case, unless you are certain that your employer or supervisor witnessed your accident, you must notify one of them about your accident within thirty (30) days. If you wait more than thirty (30) days, the notice must be in writing and there must be good reason for the delay. This notice provision is a legal time deadline or "statute of limitations." Failure to take required actions with a legal or contractual time deadline may result in losing various rights or benefits. You must comply with the above notice provisions unless your employer knew about your injury.
There are also very specific rules with regard to various issues, including disability payments, returning to work after an injury, medical treatment, physician changes, vocational rehabilitation, and permanent partial disability benefits.
Some on-the-job injuries may not be subject to worker's compensation law or worker's compensation law alone may be an inadequate remedy, particularly in the case of very serious and catastrophic personal injuries. In these situations, it is desirable, when possible, to identify a negligent third party such as a manufacturer of a dangerous or defective product or the maker of an improper safety device.
These complex issues make it difficult to handle a worker's compensation case on your own. The insurance companies hire trained adjusters and have lawyers at their everyday disposal. It is important that victims of job-related injuries and disease hire an attorney who can tackle these issues and protect their interests.
If you have questions about a worker's compensation case, we can help as our lawyer team has handled hundreds of worker's compensation cases, contact us or call us at 1-888-778-8095 to set up a free telephone consultation.
