We focus 100% of our time representing injured Bakersfield residents.
Whether you work in a particularly hazardous industry or not, you have rights under the law in the event that you are injured while on the job. Workers are entitled to safe working conditions per the regulations set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as well as federal, state, and local laws. However, it may be possible to obtain compensation even if hazardous working conditions had nothing to do with how you sustained your injury. Similarly, you may have options for compensation if you have incurred a repetitive stress injury, aggravated a preexisting condition through work-related activity, or you have become symptomatic as a result of an occupational illness. The kind(s) of compensation to which you might be entitled will largely depend upon your worker classification status and what circumstances led up to you sustaining an injury while on the job. It is important to understand that exploring your opportunities for compensation now may not only help to ensure that you are not unduly burdened by the financial consequences of your injuries, doing so may also help to ensure that you and your coworkers remain safe on the job moving forward.
Our firm is proud to represent the workers of Bakersfield and surrounding communities. It is important that potential clients understand they have rights under the law as workers, regardless of whether or not they are documented workers or undocumented workers. As a result, we invite all workers who have been injured or made ill on the job to attend a free, confidential, and obligation-free case evaluation session at our firm. This opportunity will allow you to clarify your rights under the law, ask an experienced work injury attorney any questions currently weighing on your mind, and become informed enough to make truly knowledgeable decisions about your legal situation. We firmly believe that all workers deserve to remain safe while on the job. If you choose to work with our firm, you will be treated with the utmost respect and your case will be treated with the attention and attention to detail that it deserves.
Determining who (or what) was at fault for how you sustained injury or illness while on the job is a task that is more relevant in regard to one kind of legal option than it is to another. In the event that you are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, the issue of fault will only matter under limited circumstances. California’s workers’ compensation system is a no-fault enterprise. This means that unless you were drunk or high at the time of your accident, your injuries were sustained as a result of a fight started by you, or you intentionally engineered an accident so that you would sustain an injury, you are entitled to benefits even if you were wholly at fault for the harm you have suffered.
By contrast, any workers interested in filing a personal injury suit related to the harm they have suffered on the job must be preoccupied with the issue of fault as personal injury claims are only successful when another party partially or totally caused the victim’s injuries through their negligent, reckless, or intentionally dangerous behavior. Workers who are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits cannot sue their employers in a personal injury suit setting. The workers’ compensation system is set up so that in exchange for making benefits available to injured workers regardless of fault, injury victims are prohibited from suing their employers for any fault on their employers’ behalf that led to the harm in question. With that said, both workers who are and who are not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits may be able to file personal injury suits under certain circumstances.
As workers’ compensation benefits are available for most workers who are injured on the job, provided that they are eligible for this coverage, it is important to know what your eligibility status is as you begin constructing a legal plan of action related to the harm you have suffered. Generally speaking, anyone who works as a full-time employee or a part-time employee at a company that keeps more than a handful of workers on its payroll is eligible for workers’ compensation coverage in California. The major exceptions to this rule include workers who operate in specialty industries, such as maritime and railroad workers.
Workers who operate as independent contractors are ineligible for workers’ compensation benefits. However, workers are all too often either intentionally or unintentionally misclassified as independent contractors in an effort to save employers money. Therefore, if you are classified as an independent contractor and you believe that this classification may have been made in error, please alert our firm to this fact so that we can advise you accordingly.
Independent contractors and those who are otherwise ineligible for workers’ compensation benefits may sue any third party that has contributed to their harm through negligent, reckless, or intentionally dangerous behavior. Unlike those who are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, those who are not eligible for such benefits may sue the companies for which they provide job-related services.
Workers who are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits can only file a personal injury claim against third parties other than their employers. For example, if a truck driver who is eligible for workers’ compensation benefits is injured as a result of a motor vehicle crash that occurs while the operator is driving their route, they may simultaneously file a workers’ compensation claim and file a personal injury claim against the drunk driver who hit them. If you are unsure of which kind of claim or claims may be relevant to your legal situation, trust that we will advise you of all of your options and explain them in detail when you come to our office for your free consultation.
If your injuries are superficial and will not cause you to lose any time at work, the compensation to which you will likely be entitled will be minimal. This does not mean that filing a workers’ compensation claim isn’t worth your effort, it simply means that your case is one that is going to be relatively straightforward and “low-stakes.” You can choose to file a workers’ compensation claim for the most minor of injuries on your own if you feel comfortable doing so. However, if your injuries are at all significant, will require follow-up care, or will cause you to miss more than a day or two of work, you cannot afford the risk that your case will be rejected, devalued, or delayed. As a result, even if you are not interested in filing personal injury action at this time, it is a good idea to seek out the legal guidance of an experienced Bakersfield work injury attorney to better ensure that you receive all the compensation to which you are entitled and that this compensation ends up in your bank account as quickly as possible. Workers’ compensation claims adjusters are just like all other insurance claims adjusters. They are trained to find reasons to reject or devalue claims when possible. Speaking with an attorney will help to ensure that your claim is not singled out for devaluation, rejection, or delay.
If you are filing a workers’ compensation claim related to a diagnosis of an occupational illness, repetitive stress injury, repetitive trauma injury, or the aggravation of a preexisting condition, it is imperative that you speak with an attorney before attempting to submit your claim. The same rules of eligibility that apply to work injuries sustained as a result of an accident apply to these other kinds of claims. However, it is often harder to prove that these kinds of injuries resulted from work-related activities and work-related activities alone. As a result, the successful defense and submission of these claims often require more support, more legal nuance in their development, and knowledgeable, skillful drafting in order to be successfully approved. As a result, you will want to avoid submitting these kinds of claims on your own without first seeking experienced legal assistance.
Many workers are understandably anxious about the idea of reporting any injuries they have sustained to their employers. After all, many workers who are injured on the job are injured because their employers do not take safety seriously. Employers who do not take safety seriously do not always react appropriately when their workers are hurt. However, it is required that you report your work injury to your employer if you want to file a workers’ compensation claim. California law only grants you a short window of time, so it is important not to wait too long to complete this reporting requirement. Generally speaking, you must report your injury to your employer per California law within 30 days of sustaining your injury. With that said, if you are concerned that your employer will retaliate against you for reporting your injury, you can absolutely contact our firm for your confidential, no-cost consultation before you do any reporting.
It is unlawful to retaliate against a worker for filing a workers’ compensation claim or for reporting an injury sustained while on the job. However, this illegality does not keep all employers from engaging in retaliation. If your employer engages in retaliatory behavior after you exercise your rights under the law, trust that we will do our best to ensure that your employer is held accountable. This is true regardless of whether you are a documented or undocumented worker.
One of the major benefits of speaking with our legal team about your work-related injury is that we can help you file an anonymous request for a job site safety inspection from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This process is confidential - there will be no way that your employer will ever know that it was you who filed the request for inspection. OSHA conducts surprise inspections on workplaces all the time, so there is no reason for your employer to believe that the inspection occurred as a result of an anonymous request anyway. You and your coworkers are entitled to a safe job site under the law. Allow us to help ensure that you return to work in an environment that is as safe as possible given industry standards and legal regulations in place designed to keep all workers safe.
Because of California’s no-fault approach to workers’ compensation, chances are significant that if you have been injured while on the job, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, personal injury damages, or both kinds of compensation. Please allow our skilled and experienced legal team to help you exercise your rights and to access any compensation to which you may be entitled. We look forward to speaking with you. We look forward to speaking with you.
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