Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation

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PROTECT-ALABAMA-WORKERS-300x300Injured workers often ask, “Why do I have to go to court if my case settled?” It’s a good question. The quick answer is that court approval of Alabama work comp settlements is meant to protect injured workers.

Let me give a little background. Alabama workers compensation benefits are limited. I think they are unfair for injured workers. Too many injured workers suffer needless hurdles and delays obtaining basic medical treatment. On top of that, disability benefits are often limited in both time and amount. The Alabama Legislature capped permanent partial benefits decades ago. Since then, the Legislature has ignored increases in the cost-of-living, leaving Alabama families with an injured breadwinner existing at the poverty level.

Our entire work comp system is unfair to workers. I’ve written multiple articles on this. Because the system is unfair, it’s even more important for seriously injured workers to obtain skilled legal counsel and fight for ALL available benefits. And, it becomes even more important for injured workers (with or without a lawyer) to have a safety system where a court can insure the insurance company is not taking advantage of them.

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Blackwell Law Firm - Protecting Alabama WorkersA few months ago, I wrote an article asking if a boss who intentionally puts workers in danger should face criminal prosecution. You can read my article titled, When The Boss Tries To Kill His Workers! Remember, I’m not talking about negligent injuries. I’m only talking about intentional misconduct.

Now, our firm does not handle criminal cases. We only handle Alabama cases involving serious personal injury. Many of those cases are workers’ compensation claims. Over the years, I’ve seen a tremendous number of accidents and injuries that could have been prevented with a little safety planning from the company.

While most injury cases involve someone who caused an injury by acting negligently or recklessly, a small few involve terrible situations where someone purposely and intentionally chooses to put another person in danger. In the workplace, we should be able to trust our employers to, at least, try and keep us safe!

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Alabama Workers' Compensation AttorneysLast month, I wrote a post asking, “Is your employer giving you the run-around?” Over the last 20+ years, I’ve represented a lot of injured workers. Often, I hear stories about employers who try to avoid providing medical care for their workers hurt on the job. Too many companies give their employees the “run-around” instead of providing essential workers compensation benefits. In Alabama, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits including valuable medical care for your work-related injuries.

So, when I read an article about a company owner in California who was prosecuted and pled guilty for refusing to provide work comp benefits, I thought it was a good time to discuss this common issue. That led me to my prior post discussing “how” bad employers avoid providing medical care benefits.

In my prior blog post, I also discussed the real fraud in our Alabama workers compensation system — Companies that refuse to provide basic benefits. Over 99% of the fraud in our system is committed by employers and health care managers. It’s NOT injured workers. Almost every injured worker wants the same thing — To get better and get back to a normal life.

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Blackwell Law FirmA recent al.com article discussed the jobs with the highest workplace fatality rates. What are the deadliest jobs? While the article discusses current statistics, the overall types of deadly and dangerous work remain similar year-after-year. You can read the article at Jobs With The Highest Fatality Rates In The US. Here is the top 10 list:

10.  Farmers, Ranchers, Other Agricultural Workers (20.9 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers; Total fatal work injuries of 207)

9.  Underground Mining Machine Operators (21.6 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers; Total fatal work injuries of 10)

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Untitled-design-3-300x300Have you filed a personal injury claim? If so, the insurance company may conduct surveillance on you. After reading a recent news article about one insurance company that may have illegally conducted surveillance, I thought I would discuss the topic.

Injured? Surveillance Might Be An Issue.

In Alabama workers compensation cases, surveillance is very common. But, it also occurs in other personal injury cases such as car accident claims. The potential for surveillance is a topic any personal injury lawyer should discuss with his or her clients.

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In the last couple years, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in workplace injuries due to assaults. Usually, it’s a service industry worker assaulted by some irate customer. The customer gets angry because they had to wait for a table at the restaurant, or maybe they could not get their favorite table. So, the person become irate and hits the hostess. It’s all too common. It’s shameful behavior.

Over the last couple years, I’ve written several articles on the issue. My articles include the two below that discuss several serious workplace assaults:

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Huntsville Injury LawyersYou suffered a work-related accident and injury in Alabama? Afterwards, you asked for medical care. You need basic Alabama workers’ compensation benefits. But, your boss is trying to avoid reporting the accident or providing a doctor! You are getting the run-around!

Two of the biggest complaints I receive from workers hurt on-the-job are:  (1) the boss won’t report it; and, (2) the boss won’t let me go to the doctor. These are basic issues. When a worker is hurt, the boss should report the claim to the insurance carrier. And, the employer (or its carrier) should provide a doctor. So often. these initial steps are not done. Many times, the boss tries to avoid reporting the accident or discourages medical care. When the boss gives you the run-around, you may pay the price later.

The Real Fraud — Bosses Who Refuse To Provide Basic Work Comp Benefits

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Car Accident LawyersIn the current gig-economy, some companies have constructed huge enterprises based on business models that classify their entire workforce as independent contractors. By classifying their workers as independent contractors rather than employees, these companies shift their costs onto the workers and communities they serve.

Traditionally, companies paid payroll taxes on employees. And, companies provided benefits (such as workers’ compensation) for employees. Neither is true with independent contractors. The costs and taxes are shifted to the worker. Work-related injury and disability costs are shifted first to the worker. But, when the worker is unable to pay, these costs are borne by the entire community. In past years, I’ve written several articles discussing why basic workers compensation benefits are important to our entire community.

Employee classification matters for several reasons. Today, I’ll stick to a topic I frequently discuss — Workers’ Compensation In Alabama.

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Untitled-design-3-300x300A recent insurance journal headline reads, Positive Drug Tests In US Workforce Highest In Two Decades. According to the article, positive drug test rates increased another 4.6% in 2021. The rate shows a 31.4% increase from its all-time low just 10 years ago. In isolation, those statistics are troubling. Let’s talk a little more about the potential impact of increasing employee drug use on accidents and injuries. An increase in drug impairment means an increase in dangers among employees on worksites. It also means an increase in dangers to the public, especially on our roads and highways. Today, I’ll address a couple areas of concern as well as one area of potential long-term good news.

Do Changing Marijuana Laws Impact Workers Compensation Claims? And Other Personal Injury Claims?

I’ve written several times about the potential impact of changing marijuana beliefs and laws on work-related accidents. In Alabama, our work comp law bars claims where (1) the worker was impaired; and, (2) that impairment proximately caused the accident. That second requirement – the impairment proximately caused the accident – is likely to be a key issue in more future cases.

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Worker-Safety-Is-Important-For-Everyone-300x300Last Fall, I wrote about two deadly trench collapses in the Huntsville area. One trench collapse involved a private construction company in Madison. The other involved a City of Huntsville project and public employees. Year-after-year, trench collapses are one of the most frequent causes of construction site wrongful deaths.

Were these two deadly construction accidents treated differently? Yes. After an investigation, OSHA fined the private contractor in Madison for its fatal accident. The City’s public project? That’s a different story. The City was not cited for the dangerous worksite it created. And, it did create one. A 20 foot deep, unprotected trench, is a reckless and dangerous condition. It’s inexcusable for the City to put its workers in such tremendous danger!

Why were the two different sites treated differently? Why do workers employed with private companies get some protection from OSHA while many public workers do not? All workers deserve a safe workplace!

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