Tucson Workers Compensation Lawyer

Have you been injured while working in Tucson?

Is there something about your work conditions that makes you sick? Have you developed a chronic medical condition, like carpal tunnel syndrome, because of the nature of your work duties?

If any of these situations apply to you, then you may benefit from the system of workers’ compensation in Arizona.

At the Matt Fendon Law Group, our Tucson workers’ compensation lawyers help people like you with all kinds of workers’ compensation claims and related legal services. If you need a workers’ compensation lawyer in Tucson, contact our team at (520) 645-2353 to schedule a free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer.

What is Arizona Workers’ Compensation?

Simply put, workers’ compensation is insurance for employers that is under the supervision of the Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA). Your employer usually has a workers’ compensation insurance policy through an insurance carrier.

Workers’ compensation has two main purposes. First, it allows injured workers to recover compensation for workplace injuries, illnesses, and medical conditions without having to sue their employers. Second, it protects employers from many kinds of employee personal injury lawsuits.

What Does Job-Related Mean?

To qualify for workers’ compensation relief, your injury, illness, or medical condition must arise from something in your work. Some examples of circumstances that qualify for workers comp include accidents that happened to you on the job, environmental conditions that led you to become ill, or work that requires you to do things like prolonged, repetitive motions or that places too much stress on your back, knees, or other parts of your body that lead to injury.

If you are in one of these situations, contact a local Tuscon work accident and injury lawyer. They can help you navigate the process of filing a workers’ comp claim.

Negligence Does Not Apply to Workers’ Compensation Claims

In a personal injury lawsuit, you or your work injury lawyer generally must prove that the harm done to you was someone else’s fault. Before workers’ comp, employers might have sued for negligence by creating harmful conditions that lead to injured employees. However, work-related personal injury claim lawsuits can be time-consuming to negotiate, costly for employers and employees, and tie up judicial resources.

Workers’ compensation claims do not require you to prove that your injury was your employer’s fault. You only need to show that the harm was connected with your employment. This makes workers’ compensation claims generally faster and easier to make and to receive benefits for than filing a lawsuit in an Arizona court.

Can I Sue My Employer for a Work-Related Injury?

Generally speaking, workers’ compensation is the only way to receive compensation from an employer, meaning you cannot sue them unless they are uninsured.

However, if your employer does something to harm you, they could be found liable intentionally. You can use them in a personal injury claim if this is the case.

How Arizona Workers’ Compensation Works

Arizona workers’ compensation claims follow a procedure that, in most cases, works like this:

You should see a doctor or other appropriate healthcare professional for medical attention as soon after your injury as possible. Your treating doctor will be a helpful ally in proving the existence of your injury through medical records and doctor’s notes of diagnosis and treatment.

You must notify your employer in writing of your work-related injury. This can be done by email or text message. This must be done within a reasonable period (2 weeks from the injury should meet that requirement). Insurance companies can deny your claim within a one-year time period if there is not a correctly filed report. 

Your employer may reserve the right to examine you with a doctor. If you wish to keep this doctor, they will become what workers’ compensation calls your attending physician. You can choose your doctor. The insurance company can also request that you undergo an independent medical examination if it needs more information to evaluate your claim for compensation benefits.

You will often negotiate a workers’ compensation claim settlement with the workers’ compensation insurer. If you settle the case thoroughly and finally, you generally cannot reopen it. You can only reopen the case and receive additional compensation if you settle only the indemnity portion. 

Benefits Available Through Workers’ Compensation in Tucson

Workers’ compensation benefits cover many costs and losses due to a workplace injury. What you receive can be scheduled or unscheduled, partial or total, temporary disability benefits, or permanent disability benefits, depending on the underlying nature of your harm.

The benefits most commonly connected with a workers’ compensation claim include:

• Covering the costs of your reasonable and necessary medical expenses, including 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.
  
• Permanent impairment benefits can be scheduled. Arizona workers’ compensation law determines how much you might receive based mainly on how much earning capacity you have lost and your age, work experience, and education.
  
• Death benefits are paid to surviving family members if the injured worker dies as a result of the work-related injury, illness, or condition. These benefits include a burial allowance and dependents’ benefits.

Call a Tucson Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Today

Sometimes your workers’ compensation benefits claim can be challenged or denied by the workers’ compensation insurance company. The reasons for these challenges vary. For example, the insurer might claim that the injury was your fault or disagree with the value of your settlement payout calculations. 

When this happens, an experienced Tucson work compensation attorney can help you stand up to these claims by insurance carriers.

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

We have successfully represented many injured workers and their families in the Tucson area. Here are some of the specific ways that we help our Tucson clients with their workers’ compensation cases:

• Help understand Arizona law and the workers’ compensation process and how it works, including how workers’ compensation can work with Social Security disability benefits.
  
• Provide information on the medical care and medical experts you need and where to seek medical attention.
  
• Help deal with your employer and negotiate with the workers’ compensation insurer.
  
• Help identify and calculate the maximum workers’ compensation, medical 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.
  
• Help file civil lawsuits against third parties who may have contributed to your injury or your employer for intentional misconduct or retaliation against you for making a workers’ compensation claim.

Call our law firm today at (520) 645-2353 to schedule a confidential, free initial consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in our Tucson 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.