Category Archives: q a mondays

Monday Workers’ Compensation Q&A: I told my supervisor about the accident, is that enough?

QUESTION: I TOLD MY SUPERVISOR ABOUT THE ACCIDENT BUT I DID NOT SUBMIT AN ACCIDENT REPORT. AM I GOOD TO GO WITH THE VERBAL NOTICE?

ANSWER: ALWAYS REPORT AN INJURY IN WRITING

Joe was working a construction job when Mike accidentally beaned Joe on the head with a 2X4. After seeing a couple of Tweety Birds and a whole bunch of stars, Joe went down to his supervisor’s station and told him he had just had an accident. Then he went off to the ER to make sure he was not seriously injured, relieved he had taken care of business at the job site. All he had to do now was get better.

No, Joe! No!

Yes, Joe satisfied the notice requirement. However, Joe was NOT good to go.

Supervisors sometimes have a funny habit of forgetting conversations or oral notices of an accident. Even if Joe’s supervisor were his best friend, when push came to shove there could be no telling what the supervisor might say in Court front of a Judge.

Furthermore, Continue reading →

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Monday Workers’ Compensation Q&A: My injury isn’t serious

QUESTION: MY INJURY WAS NOT SERIOUS. SO WHY SHOULD I FILE A CLAIM?

ANSWER: BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN. ALWAYS FILE A CLAIM NO MATTER HOW MINOR THE INJURY.

As a Central Park Parks Department Supervisor, Joe was always in the thick of things, literally and figuratively. He ran a crew of 50 and everyone looked up to him. After a really bad storm that left the Park a disaster area, Joe corralled his crew and they all got to work clearing tons of debris and cutting down trees that were about to topple.

One such tree required someone to shimmy up and secure a rope for the tractor. Joe didn’t think twice and up he went. Down he came with a twisted knee. “Hey,” Joe, thought, “if I can still stand and walk, it must be no big deal.” So Joe didn’t stop to get his “minor” injury examined and he didn’t file a claim for that “minor” injury. Instead, he continued to work another 12 hours.

Oh no, Joe! No! Continue reading →

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Monday Workers’ Compensation Q&A: Hurt again, filing a new claim

QUESTION: I PREVIOUSLY HURT MY BACK AT WORK. JUST RECENTLY I HURT IT AGAIN. DO I NEED TO FILE A NEW WORKER’S COMP CLAIM?

ANSWER: Under the New York State Workers’ Compensation Law, an injured worker has two years to file a claim from the date of accident. Even if a worker injured the same body part, it is essential that a new case be filled.

On April 14, 2000, Joe Worker hurt his back on the job. The injury caused him to lose two months of work because of a back sprain. He then went back to work and stayed on the job without difficulties until July 22, 2003. On that day, he had a new accident that also caused a back injury. An MRI showed that he now had a herniated disc that required surgery. But Joe did not want to have the surgery because he could not get time off from work.

Unfortunately, he did not know he should file a new claim. Because he had hurt his back in 2000, he figured that this recent injury was related to the old case. On October 5, 2005, Joe’s back was killing him and he finally agreed he needed surgery. However, when Joe contacted the New York City Law Department he was advised that because they had no record of an accident from 2003 his surgery was being denied. When Joe contacted the carrier on the earlier case, he was told that surgery had been denied because it was not related to the 2000 date of accident. Joe then contacted his private carrier who denied liability because this recent injury was the result of a work-related accident. Joe was stuck.

The way to avoid this problem is that Continue reading →

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Workers’ Compensation Q&A: Hurt by somebody not in my company

QUESTION:  SOMEONE NOT EMPLOYED BY MY COMPANY HURT ME.  AM I STILL COVERED?

ANSWER: YOU ARE COVERED NO MATTER WHO EMPLOYED THE PERSON AT FAULT.

It was right before Mother’s Day and Joe’s job as a deliveryman for Flowers R Us was in high gear. He had eight bouquets to deliver before noon and time was tight. At the corner of 88th and Broadway, the light finally turned green. Joe checked for the all clear and then hit the accelerator. Out of nowhere a yellow cab barreled across 88th Street, running a red light and ramming smack into Joe’s delivery van.

Luckily, Joe was wearing his seat belt so he didn’t go flying through the windshield. However, his neck suffered the worse case of whiplash the EMS technicians had ever seen. After the ER visit, the X-rays, the brace, the painkillers and a lot of police reports and insurance paperwork, Joe called his boss.  He was definitely in no shape to pick up vases of flowers, let alone get behind the wheel of a vehicle. He was going to be out of work for a couple of weeks. Was Joe covered by Workers’ Comp? Since the accident was caused by someone who was not a Flowers-R-Us employee, Joe and his boss didn’t know if Joe was eligible for coverage. What should Joe do!? Continue reading →

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Monday Workers’ Compensation Q&A: Preexisting Injury

QUESTION: I HAVE A PREEXISTING INJURY TO THE SAME BODY PART I HURT AT WORK. DOES THIS MEAN I CANNOT CLAIM WORKERS COMPENSATION BENEFITS?

ANSWER: A PREEXISTING INJURY DOES NOT STOP A CLAIM.  FILE THAT CLAIM!    

Joe Worker was a high school quarterback.  Until that knee injury sidelined his dreams of playing for the NFL.  So he became one of the best construction workers New York City could ask for.  Until one day, on the job, Joe tripped over stuff somebody should have put away, and landed on that bad knee. Now, if his knee hadn’t been so screwed up in the first place, Joe would have been fine.  He would have dusted himself off and gone on with the day.  But the old injury flared up and Joe was sidelined again.  Joe didn’t know what to do.  It was, after all, his bad knee that made things worse, not a minor trip and fall on the job.  So he hesitated filing a new claim.  What should he do? Continue reading →

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Monday Workers’ Compensation Q&A: Punching In

QUESTION: I DID NOT PUNCH IN FOR WORK.  DOES THIS MEAN I AM NOT COVERED IF I HAVE AN ACCIDENT?

ANSWER: IF YOU ARE AT WORK AND YOU DON’T PUNCH IN, YOU ARE STILL COVERED. PUNCHING IN DOES NOT START COVERAGE FOR A WORKER.

Joe was running late.  A custodian at The City College, a CUNY school, the minute he got onto the campus, his radio crackled with news of a boiler freaking out in old Sheppard Hall.  Rather than punch in, he ran straight to the boiler to take care of business. Running down the hall to the boiler room, he passed a bunch of students hanging out on the floor as young people are want to do.  And before you could say Workers’ Comp, Joe went flying through the air.  The boiler wasn’t the only thing that broke that morning.  So did Joe’s right ankle.

After the ER and the X-rays, and the cast and the crutches and the really great painkillers, Joe called his supervisor to put in a claim.  Imagine Joe’s surprise when his supervisor told him that because he hadn’t punched in before heading to the broken boiler, he was not covered.  Joe panicked.  That ER visit was going to cost a bundle, and it was a bundle he didn’t have.  What should he do? Continue reading →

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