GALLATIN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAWYERS

If you were injured on the job in Gallatin or anywhere in the Nashville area, you are likely entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. In 2013, Governor Bill Haslam signed into law a major reform to the state’s workers’ compensation system.

The new law made sweeping changes to how the state handles cases and administers benefits. Some of these changes were favorable to employees, and others were not, but the Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers team has stayed on top of every development. Our Gallatin workers’ compensation lawyers know the ins and outs of the law in its current form and can make it work for you.

Before you file a workers’ compensation claim, sit down with us for a free case evaluation: 800-800-4600 today.

Tennessee law requires nearly all private employers to participate in the workers’ compensation program. Under this program, employers pay insurance premiums for each worker. If and when a worker gets injured on the job, he or she can file a workers’ compensation claim, which provides money for medical bills and time away from work.

If you are covered under workers’ compensation through your employer, you should be aware of a couple of things. One, you cannot sue your employer for a work-related injury as long as your employer carries workers’ compensation insurance. To recover compensation, you must go through the program. Two, while, in theory, workers’ compensation offers a straightforward, cut-and-dry way to get compensated for your injury, it does not always work out so easily. For example:

What if Your Employer Tries to Deny Your Claim?

An on-the-job injury does not guarantee you will receive money from workers’ compensation. For one, your employer might try to deny your claim. To do so, your employer might claim:

• Your injury occurred because you were behaving inappropriately (i.e., engaging in horseplay); or
• You were intoxicated or under the influence of drugs at the time of your injury.

If your employer can prove that your injury resulted from reckless or inappropriate behavior, it can deny your workers’ compensation claim. That does not mean, however, that your employer can turn down your claim just because you were careless or made a mistake.

For instance, if you failed to watch where you were going and fell off a loading dock, injuring your back, your claim would likely be valid. But if you and a coworker were roughhousing on the loading dock when you fell, your employer might have grounds for denial.

What if Your Employer Is Out of Compliance?

Less common but still possible is a scenario in which you file a workers’ compensation claim only to find that your employer is out of compliance with the program. In this situation, our attorneys can go over the different options you have to pursue compensation.

The Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation provides the following benefits for injured workers:

• Medical treatment by an authorized party
• Lost wage benefits: These can include temporary (partial and total) disability benefits and permanent (partial and total) disability benefits. Total disability benefits cover 66.6 percent of the injured worker’s wages. The Bureau usually awards partial benefits when a doctor places a worker on “light duty” status.
• Death benefits: $10,000 for funeral and burial expenses, 66.6 percent of the deceased worker’s lost wages.

Not all injuries at work are solely the responsibility of the injured party’s employer. Perhaps a third party was partially or fully responsible for your injury. Non-employer parties who might be liable for your injury at work include:

• Job site owners;
• Contractors;
• Vendors;
• Product manufacturers.

When we first meet for your free case evaluation, we review the full details of your injury, our goal being to determine exactly what happened and who was responsible. We identify every potentially responsible party. If one or more of those parties is not your employer, we can use the traditional legal system to pursue it for damages. That means either making a claim with its insurance company or filing a lawsuit and fighting the case in front of a jury.

You could be eligible to recover a long list of damages for your injury at work. When we take your case, we make a commitment that we will fight aggressively for your rights and for the full and fair compensation you deserve. While every workers’ compensation claim is different, many of our clients have won settlements including some or all of the following damages:

• Medical bills: Both your current and anticipated future medical expenses, including hospital stays, doctor visits, surgeries, prescription drugs, and medical devices.
• Lost wages: Income you had to forfeit while missing work to recover from your injury.
• Reduced earning capacity: Any reduction in future income resulting from not being able to perform the same work as you did before.
• Pain and suffering: Compensation to pay you for the physical distress you have undergone because of your injury.

This list is not exhaustive. Depending on the specific circumstances of your injury, you could be eligible for additional types of compensation. At your consultation, we will go over the damages you have incurred and let you know what to expect.