Employment, Labor and Workers’ Compensation Attorney

Workers’ Compensation Attorney

When a worker is injured on the job, it can get complicated very quickly. While you need to ensure your employee is OK, employers also need to protect their business. To avoid potential lawsuits, it’s crucial to hire a workers’ compensation lawyer to make sure you have the right policies in place, are properly insured, and help navigate any claims (especially suspected fraudulent claims) and lawsuits.

What Is Workers Compensation?

Workers’ compensation, or workers’ comp, is a program that provides benefits to employees who become injured or sick on the job – as a result of the job or workplace. In most cases, employers are required under government laws to provide workers’ compensation to their employees.

Workers’ comp benefits can include money, healthcare, or both for affected employees.

Common Causes of Workers’ Compensation Injuries

There are countless injuries and illnesses employees can suffer that can make them eligible for workers’ compensation claims. Some of the most common injuries can include:

• Industrial accidents
• Truck accidents
• Slip and fall accidents
• Machinery accidents
• Hazardous work environments
• Construction accidents
• Falling objects
• And more.

Workers’ compensation attorneys can help employers identify risky scenarios at their business that can result in injuries for their workers. Reducing the risk around the workplace can help avoid messy workers’ compensation cases.

What Benefits Do Eligible Employees Receive Under Workers’ Compensation?

If an employee files a substantiated workers’ compensation claim, they are eligible to receive benefits. These can include wages for time missed at work, medical expenses for treatment and rehabilitation, and potential disability payouts.

• Lost wages: While an employee is off of work, they may be eligible to receive up to two-thirds of their regular wages, until they reach the Maximum Medical Improvement.
• Medical benefits: An employee may be eligible to receive payments to cover hospital stays, doctor appointments, surgery, and other forms of treatment and medications. If needed, employees may also be eligible to receive physical or mental therapy services.
• Disability payments: In severe situations, employees might also be eligible for disability benefits. There are four categories they might fall under:
  • Partial Disability: When an employee cannot perform their full job duties due to their injury or illness.
  • Total Disability: When an employee cannot work at all due to injury or illness.
  • Permanent Disability: When the employee’s injury is permanent.
  • Temporary Disability: When the employee’s condition is temporary, but they do require time to recover.

What Responsibilities Does An Employer Have?

By law, all employers must carry workers’ compensation insurance if they employ at least five people. Failing to carry this insurance can result in heavy penalties, including fines, personal liability for paying their employees, and possibly even criminal prosecution.

In addition to carrying workers’ compensation insurance, employers must file injury reports for all incidents at the workplace and provide medical treatment for all injured workers. And perhaps most importantly, employers cannot retaliate against employees who file workers’ compensation claims. To ensure they are following the laws, companies should consult with a workers’ compensation attorney.

What Does a Workers’ Compensation Attorney Do?

If an employee is injured or gets sick on the job due to work or workplace conditions, employers may need to hire a workers’ compensation attorney.

Some common issues an attorney can help employers navigate are:

• If there is a question about whether an employee’s injury or illness is covered under workers’ compensation. In some situations, an employee’s injury or illness may not be covered under the workers’ comp laws, even if the employee is injured or becomes ill at work. An attorney with knowledge and understanding of workers’ comp law can assist the employer and its insurer in deciding whether a claim is legally compensable or should be denied.
• If an employee files a lawsuit against the company. An injured employee may forgo his or her workers’ compensation benefits and instead file a lawsuit against the business to collect damages. Employers will need a workers’ compensation attorney to represent the company throughout the lawsuit.
• If an employer doesn’t have the correct workers’ compensation insurance in place. Failure to have workers comp in place to provide benefits to an injured employee can result in fines from the government, as well as potential lawsuits from the affected employee. Companies will need an attorney to represent them against the lawsuits and penalties.

An attorney can also help companies establish a workers’ compensation plan before anyone is injured. A workers’ compensation attorney can review a company’s policies and ensure they have the right coverage in place. A lawyer can also help employers create a process for how to handle claims to make sure they take the right steps when the time comes.

Why Hire Us For Your Workers’ Compensation Needs?

When your company needs workers’ compensation help, hire our experts at Johnstone Adams LLC.

Our workers’ compensation knowledge is comprehensive and specialized, which is an important consideration in a practice area where one size does not fit all. We defend all manner of workers’ compensation claims ranging from obtaining court approval of lump sum settlements to defending claims for permanent total disability benefits. We also defend against retaliatory discharge claims, co-employee claims, and claims for the tort of outrage.

As part of our full-service employment practice, we also provide counsel on ERISA, executive severance, and immigration matters from our attorneys specializing in these highly detailed areas of law. Our clients are self-insured employers and insurance carriers and include companies from the healthcare, shipyard, construction, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, and staffing industries.

Contact an Experienced Workers’ Compensation Attorney in Mobile

Johnstone Adams LLC has been ranked Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” in the region for 12 practice areas in 2023. We’ve helped clients for over a century and provide a wide range of specialties with decades of combined experience. Our broad interests allow us to serve individuals and companies with the legal help they need personally and professionally.

When you need a workers’ compensation attorney, contact our Mobile, Alabama office today at (251) 319-4659 or fill out our online contact form.

REPRESENTATIVES

Represented a health-care client and its managers in defending against a termination/harassment case filed by a 20-year employee. Individual managers were dismissed early in the action and the employer was dismissed on summary judgment.

Represented a hospital in cases alleging violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act by an employee suffering on-the-job injury and a companion workers’ compensation action. She was unable to return to her prior position and terminated when not placed in a different position within the leave of absence period. Motion for summary judgment was granted in favor of the employer. The case was appealed by the plaintiff to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals where summary judgment was affirmed. The companion workers’ compensation action also settled favorably.

Represented a financial institution in defending an Equal Pay Act claim by a female manager who was paid a lower salary than the supervisor she succeeded. Summary judgment was granted for our client.

Represented a national hotel chain in connection with a race discrimination claim filed by a terminated security guard; received a judgment for the employer after a trial on the merits.

Represented a hospital in a pregnancy discrimination case brought by a nurse terminated when physical restrictions placed on her due to a pregnancy that prevented her from performing job. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case in return for promise of neutral reference.

Represented a group health plan in an action alleging age and sex discrimination by an employee denied a promotion; summary judgment was granted for the employer.

Represented a retail client in a sexual harassment case; motion for summary judgment was granted in favor of the employer.

Represented a retail client in a case alleging violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act by employee claiming employer failed to accommodate his requests for certain lunch breaks necessary in connection with his alleged condition of diabetes. Case settled for $500.00 while motion for summary judgment was pending.

Represented an employer insurance company against Title VII and ADEA claims of age discrimination by a former district manager; summary judgment was granted by the District Court and affirmed by the 11th Circuit.

Represented an employer paper mill against Title VII claims of sex discrimination and hostile work environment; the claim favorably settled prior to trial.

Represented County School Board defending Title VII and §1981 and 1983 claims of reverse race discrimination. Case favorably settled during trial.

Represented an employer defending a retaliatory discharge claim. Obtained jury verdict in favor of our client, and the verdict was affirmed by the Alabama Supreme Court.

Represented a manufacturing client in a workers’ compensation action in which the plaintiff claimed permanent total disability arising from a neck injury allegedly resulting from repetitive action on a production line; received an award for the employer after bench trial. The plaintiff appealed the award to the Court of Civil Appeals, which affirmed the award for employer. The plaintiff further petitioned for certiorari with the Alabama Supreme Court where certiorari denied.

Represented an employer in a pro-active measure to obtain court approval of mass lump sum settlements with approximately 150 employees suffering hearing loss in order to avoid the expense of anticipated separate litigation.

Represented County Commission defending workers’ compensation claim of a former employee who was permanently disabled in a wreck involving a county dump truck; the case favorably settled prior to trial.