Scottsdale Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Employers in Scottsdale, AZ know that a healthy employee is also happy and productive. It is in the interest of your employer to do all they can to ensure you have a safe work environment. Still, accidents can and do happen even in the most safety-conscious workplaces. And when that happens, work accident lawyers may be the key to getting back some of your lost income.

A workplace injury can do more than interfere with your ability to earn an income. It can also negatively affect relations with others away from work, like your family and friends, and make it difficult to engage in normal daily activities.

If you are hurt on the job in Scottsdale, or your employment has caused you to experience a work-related illness or medical condition, the Arizona system of workers’ compensation is available for you to help pay for your medical expenses and cover some of your lost income.

At the Matt Fendon Law Group, our Scottsdale workers’ compensation lawyers provide full legal help for workers’ compensation claims and related legal services. If you need an Arizona workers’ compensation attorney to help you file and settle your initial claim or appeal a claim denial, then contact our law offices at (480) 903-8149 to schedule a free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer.

Benefits of Using Arizona Workers’ Compensation

Arizona workers’ compensation laws require your employer to carry workers’ compensation insurance. This means that in most cases, workers’ compensation is the only way to receive benefits from your employer when you are hurt on the job.

Of course, workers’ compensation benefits more than just the injured employee.

Workers’ compensation benefits your employer by eliminating the constant threat of employee legal action whenever an accident happens.

Workers’ compensation also benefits the state of Arizona by reducing the need for employer-employee injury-related lawsuits, thereby releasing limited court resources for other cases.

Can I Sue My Employer for an Injury at Work?

Because of the existence of workers’ compensation, generally, the only time you can sue your employer for an injury at work is if your employer does something to harm you deliberately. Short of this kind of intentional conduct, however, workers’ compensation prevents you from suing your employer for monetary damages in a personal injury claim.

What Are Job-Related Injuries, Illnesses, and Conditions?

To be job-related, the event or workplace condition that led to your workers’ compensation claim must have a connection to your employment. This includes the performance of your job duties and job-related travel during work hours.

Examples of work-related conditions include:

• Accidents
• Exposure to toxic substances or allergens
• Prolonged, repetitive motions
• Work that puts too much stress on your back, knees, or other parts of your body

An injury-causing activity that violates your employer’s safety policies and procedures, like fighting with another employee or engaging in horseplay that leads to an accidental injury, can cause your employer or its insurance carrier to claim that your claim is not work-related.

You Do Not Need to Prove Negligence for a Workers’ Compensation Claim

An important part of Arizona workers’ compensation claims in Scottsdale is that you do not need to prove that your injury was your employer’s fault. Workers’ compensation aims to help you receive the benefits and compensation you need, not to assign blame or punish.

Instead, you only have to show that the harm you suffered resulted from your employment. This makes workers’ compensation claims faster and easier to establish and receive benefits than filing a personal injury lawsuit in an Arizona court.

How an Arizona Workers’ Compensation Claim Works

Arizona workers’ compensation claims follow an established procedure. Here are the things for you to do, in order:

1. See a doctor or other appropriate healthcare professional

This is not just to treat your injury or condition. Although you do not need to prove negligence in a workers’ compensation claim, you must still show that you have been hurt and demonstrate the severity and extent of your injury. 

Your treating doctor will help prove the existence of your injury through medical records and doctor’s notes of diagnosis and treatment.

2. Notify your employer in writing of your work-related injury

You have 1 year to file a claim with the ICA to meet the statute of limitations. There is a second requirement to report the injury “forthwith,” which means within a reasonable period of time. This is best accomplished by a text or email to the employer or an in-house injury report. The “Forthwith reporting” rule of thumb is typically within 2 weeks of the injury.

You report your injury by filing a Worker’s and Physician’s Report of Injury form. Your treating doctor or other healthcare provider should have copies of this form, or you can download it from the ICA website. 

Once your employer receives your written notice of injury, it will pass this along to its workers’ compensation insurance company.

3. Prepare for an examination by your employer’s chosen doctor

Your employer has a one-time right to request you to undergo a physical exam by a doctor it chooses. If you continue to see that physician, they will be referred to as your attending physician. 

Workers’ comp insurance companies can also request that you undergo an independent medical examination if they need more information to evaluate your claim for compensation benefits.

4. Negotiate a workers’ compensation claim settlement with the insurer

Workers’ compensation claims are usually resolved through reaching a negotiated settlement between you and the employer’s insurance company. 

This can be a one-time, lump-sum full and final payment. If you settle the case fully and finally, you generally cannot reopen it. You can only reopen the case and receive additional compensation if you settle only the indemnity portion.

What Benefits Can I Receive Through Workers’ Compensation?

Workers’ compensation benefits cover medical costs, related treatment expenses, and lost wages resulting from workplace accidents. Some of what you can receive can be scheduled benefits that are they are set by statute but generally paid by an insurance carrier. Other benefits are called “unscheduled” and will determine how much you might receive based mainly on how much earning capacity you have lost and your age, work experience, and education.

Your injuries might be permanent, or you might receive temporary disability benefits, and these considerations can also reflect on the workers’ compensation settlement you will receive.

The benefits most commonly connected with workers’ compensation claims include:

• Paying the costs of your reasonable and necessary medical expenses, such as ongoing inpatient and outpatient care, physical or occupational therapy, and prescription medications.
• Partial compensation for lost wages if your injury means you cannot return to work.
• Death benefits for surviving family members if an injured worker dies because of a work-related injury, illness, or condition.

Call a Scottsdale Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Today

Many occupational injury claims are quickly and easily settled. Others, however, can run into resistance from employers and workers’ comp insurers. Either way, having access to experienced workers’ compensation attorneys to help you with your claim is a good idea for the following reasons:

• An experienced attorney specializing in workers’ comp law can help you prepare a benefits claim that is less likely to have problems and more likely to cover all the benefits you are entitled to.
• If you do encounter a challenge to your claim, an experienced workers’ compensation attorney can represent you in negotiations with the employer’s insurance company.

The reasons for employer and insurer challenges to workers’ comp claims can vary. Possible defenses can include the statute of limitations (which is one year), failure to report an injury right away, and disagreements on medical causation and treatment. When this happens, an experienced Scottsdale workers’ compensation attorney can help you to stand up to these claims by insurance carriers.

Arizona workers’ compensation law is an area of legal specialization. At the Matt Fendon Law Group, our highly skilled and compassionate Scottsdale workers’ comp lawyers are ready to provide you with legal representation for all aspects of your workers’ compensation claim.

Our legal team has successfully represented many injured workers and their family members in the Scottsdale area. Here are some of the specific ways that we help our Scottsdale clients in obtaining benefits for their workers’ compensation cases:

• Help understand Arizona law, the workers’ compensation process, and how it works, including how workers’ compensation can work with Social Security disability benefits.
• Help provide information on the medical care and experts you need and where to seek medical attention.
• Help dealing with your employer and negotiating with the workers’ compensation insurer.
• Help identify and calculate the maximum workers’ compensation, medical treatment benefits, and other assistance you are entitled to.
• Represent you at any ICA hearings on your claim, and handle your appeal of any claim denial.
• We can help partner you with attorneys who can help you file a civil lawsuit against third parties who may have contributed to your injury, or if need be, against your employer if warranted for intentional misconduct or retaliation against you for making a workers’ compensation claim.

Call our law firm today at (480) 903-8149 to schedule a confidential, free initial consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in our Scottsdale law office. Or, if you prefer, you can contact us online to ask a question or to schedule a free case evaluation of your on-the-job injury.