Virginia Personal Injury Blog - Workplace Injuries

Injury severity has the most effect on workers' compensation payouts, not attorney fees

Doug Landau — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:27:00 GMT

The severity of injury and level of impairment -- not the workers' legal fees -- have the most effect on payout for workers' compensation claims among Illinois construction workers, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health have found. The research is published in the November issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. journals.lww.com/joem/pages/default.aspx

The study uses workers' compensation data to quantify the actual amount of money spent on claims. The researchers identified specific factors associated with cost, such as age at the time of accident, weekly wage, fatality, attorney representation, number of body parts injured, and the severity of injury. Demographic data was also obtained for workers filing claims, including sex, marital status, number of dependents, and place of the accident.

The study evaluated 19,734 claims filed with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission between 2000 and 2005. Such claims are filed when an employee and employer are unable to resolve compensation for an injury independently. There were 1.21 construction claims per 100 Illinois construction workers. The study also found that those injured workers who had a lawyer helping them received more in compensation than those representing themselves, after controlling for all other variables. "The discussion that workers retaining attorneys are driving up costs always surprises me," said Lee Friedman, assistant research professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at UIC and lead author of the study.. "There has never been a discussion about employers retaining attorneys, which they almost always do. The discourse has always been one-sided." Indeed, the amounts an insurance company or employer can pay its lawyers is not reviewed by the Workers Compensation Commission in any state Herndon injury lawyer Doug Landau practices in and there is no limit to what these large firm lawyers can charge to defeat an injured worker or their family's claims. This disparity in the law is almost never discussed in the press. What is worse, says Landau, is that the insurance lawyers are paid, "win, lose or draw" on an hourly basis, unlike the disabled workers lawyer, who is usually paid on a contingent fee basis, "which means they are only paid for their efforts if they win or are otherwise successful on their clients' behalf." The insurance defense lawyers have little incentive to resolve the issues quickly and the more hours they bill, the more money they make for their law firms and themselves. this is one of the reasons that Virginia should enact laws to counter bad faith workers compensation claims handling and delay tactics. If you or someone you know has been injured in an on the job accident, e-mail us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., or call 703-796-9555 today.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Employers who hire day laborers still responsible for workers comp benefits

Doug Landau — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:15:21 GMT

Employers who hire day laborers, undocumented workers and cash only laborers still responsible for workers comp benefits, according to workplace injury lawyer Doug Landau of ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. In a decision in favor of Landau's client handed down by the Workers Compensation Commission, the worker's medical bills (without any deductibles), temporary total disability, out of pocket expenses for his prescription medications, travel to see his health care providers and permanent injury were all ordered to be paid by the insurance company.

FACTS: The worker was picked up at the Herndon 7-11, since, in their infinite wisdom, the Town Council closed the Herndon Day Labor Site and brought those seeking employment back to Elden Street where everyone who visits the "Historic" Town can see them every morning lining the roadway. The construction company owner selected several men with experience in the building trades who would be paid cash at the end of the day. The owner was driving a company truck, wearing the company uniform and had the company's tools in the back. Several of the laborers were dropped at a commercial construction site before Landau's undocumented client was dropped off with another worker at a residential property with the company's sign out front. The claimant was ordered to clean up the construction debris and was injured while doing so. When the injured worker sought help, he was told by the construction company that he was not an employee, and their insurance company added that he was not on their list of employees, not on their insured's work site and not covered by their policy. When the worker cam to ABRAMS LANDAU, he had received no benefits of any kind.

The injured worker had no documentary evidence other than the owner's business card and a recall of the address where he was injured. The ABRAMS LANDAU team was able to investigate his claim and find out that the residence was owned by the boss's sister, and that indeed, the company's sign had been out front. The injured workers law firm was able to show the Workers Compensation judge that by all appearances, this was indeed one of the company;s work sites, an that the men were hired by the company. Using the legal doctrine of "apparent agency," lawyer Landau was able to convince the comp judge that the claim was indeed meritorious and the judge ordered the construction company's insurer to pay the benefits sought. The construction company thought it could get away with hiring these men and then avoid responsibility if they got hurt. However, the Workers Compensation Commission ruled that the company was indeed responsible for the men it engaged and had working under its direction, regardless of their legal, temporary employment or work status. If you or someone you know has been injured in an on the job accident, e-mail us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., or call 703-796-9555 today.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Can the insurance company send investigators out to spy on me ?

Doug Landau — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:17:58 GMT

Injured workers call ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. all the time asking if the insurance company can spy in them. In a word, "yes." The insurance companies can and will hire investigators to look into your records, question your co-workers and neighbors and conduct surveillance of you and your family members. In any case where the insurance company may have to pay a lot of money for medical care, lost earnings and other expenses, they will readily invest several hundreds or even thousands of dollars to investigate in order to save money later on in the case. Disabled clients of Doug Landau ask, "Can these private investigators follow me, watch my home and talk to my neighbors ?" The answer, unfortunately, is "Yes" to all three questions. That is why it is a good idea to watch what you say, advise your friends, family members and neighbors not to speak to investigators about YOUR case, and to report suspicious behavior to the local authorities.

Virginia has laws against "stalking," and Herndon work injury lawyer Landau advises clients to get truck, van and car license plate numbers, makes and models to describe to the police. In several instances, when insurance investigators came on Landau's clients' private property, they were in violation of trespassing laws. If you, or someone you know is being followed, harassed or stalked by an insurance investigator, do not shoot them (see yesterday's post), but rather call an experienced workers compensation, disability and injury case lawyer to help you and your family. If you or someone you know has been injured in an on the job accident, e-mail us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., or call 703-796-9555 today.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Workers Comp insurance company investigator shot by injured claimant !

Doug Landau — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:06:00 GMT

In 25 years of helping injured workers and their families, I have heard of insurance company investigators going to great lengths to "spy on" comp recipients, but I had never heard of a "PI" getting shot. An upstate New York Workers Comp claimant plead "not guilty" to shooting an insurance investigator with his shot gun this week. The man says he was aiming for a turkey, not a private investigator following up on his workers' compensation claim, before firing
his shotgun earlier this year.

According to the newspaper story, the disabled worker said he spotted a turkey in a nearby cornfield and took aim and fired, hitting the insurance company's investigator with a shotgun blast in the side of his body, his back and legs. His injuries required surgery. The carrier's gumshoe was investigating the worker by hiding in the field by his home at the time of the shooting to monitor his workers' compensation claim.

The public defender's office, representing the worker, told the court that the PI was wearing dark-colored and camouflaged clothing and lying on the ground at the time of the shooting. The public defender said the claimant didn't expect anybody to be near the cornfield and after hearing the insurance company's investigator cry out, he called 911 immediately. While an insurance company hiring an investigator to "Spy" on an injured worker and his family does not surprise anyone at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., the fact that the investigator hid, camouflaged in the worker's field and got shot is certainly a first. Herndon Virginia injured workers attorney Doug Landau has had disabled clients who have wanted to shoot insurance investigators, but never heard of one accidentally getting one during turkey hunting season !

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Increase funeral, transporatation and burial benefits for workers' families

Doug Landau — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:37:00 GMT

Injured workers lawyer Doug Landau often represents workers and their families from other states and countries. When these workers suffer fatal injury, their families are confronted with enormous and immediate expenses. The cost of even a simple funeral can often run several thousands of dollars. However, the amount available under the Virginia Workers Compensation Act is limited, and does not pay all the bills related to transporting the fallen worker's remains to their home state or country. Unlike Cost of Living Adjustments ("COLA"), which are tied to the Consumer Price Index ("CPI"), and mileage reimbursement rates, which also change annually, the amounts for funeral and transportation do not increase with inflation. According to Herndon Reston area workers comp lawyer Doug Landau, this must change. As more and more workers come from other states and countries to work in Virginia, especially in the Internet, software, security, construction and hospitality fields, the law of this Commonwealth must reflect this reality and change with the times. Presently, the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission's ("VWCC") web site lists

BENEFITS UNDER THE ACT:

#5 Death Benefits

* A surviving spouse, children under 18, children under 23 enrolled full time in an accredited educational institution, parents in destitute circumstances or other qualifying dependents may be entitled to wage loss benefits.
* Death benefits include funeral expenses not to exceed $10,000 and transportation cost of $1,000.

Our clients have often exceeded this $11,000 benefit maximum amount. The legislature needs to keep up with the times and inflation. If you or someone you know has lost a loved one in an on the job accident, e-mail us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., or call 703-796-9555 today.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Workers lose their lives in the Construction trade

Doug Landau — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:01:00 GMT

With over 6 million people in the construction trades in the United States, it is a significant sector of our economy, However, construction is also one of the most dangerous kind of work, with over 8,000 workers killed on construction sites each year and many thousands injured and maimed for life. At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., we see first-hand some of the devastation caused by unsafe construction practices and lax inspection, regulation and enforcement by state, local and federal agencies. We have tried cases were our clients have been injured or killed on construction sites. Some of the injuries were caused by:

* Falls from roofing,
* Loads dropped on a workers head,
* Failure of scaffolding causing falls from heights,
* Unsecured stairways, steps or ramps,
* Wood snapping, breaking or coming loose,
* Getting shot with a nail from a nail gun,Ladders twisting and falling,
* Explosions causing hearing loss,
* Asbestos dust particles causing lung damage,
* Combustible materials catching firing and causing burns,
* Construction vehicles hitting other trucks, cars and workers on the ground.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a construction site accident, e-mail us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., or call 703-796-9555 today.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Settling workers compensation cases takes time

Doug Landau — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:19:00 GMT

While Herndon job injury lawyer Doug Landau advises clients that settling comp claims take time and effort, there are still many questions about the settlements of workers compensation cases. Workers Comp claims seem to take a lot more time from acceptance of the settlement offer to the ultimate approval of the paperwork. This is especially true according to Herndon injured workers lawyer Landau, when compared to the settlement of a car crash or slip and fall case. In those "liability' or "negligence" cases, the check and release comes withnin days or weeks from the insurance company or defense lawyer. In Virginia comp claims, the ultimate approval takes months after the parties submit the signed (and notarized) paperwork to the Workers Compensation Commission ("VWCC") in Richmond. The Virginia Code provides (65.2-701) that compromise settlements of workplace accident, occupational disease or job fatality cases, "may be approved only when the Commission...is clearly of the opinion that the best interests of the employee or his dependents will be served thereby." Rule 1.7 sets forth the requirements for a compromise settlement package. Unlike the resolution of a car crash or dog attack case, a workers comp case requires a number of documents (and signatures !).

The Virginia Workers Compensation Commission does not approve every single settlement that is submitted to it. The VWCC is not a "rubber stamp" and settlement documents are carefully reviewed. Deputy Commissioner Courtney Mercer manages the Compromise Settlement Department, with a claims examiner who supervises the department and who is assisted by a claims technician and two senior judicial secretaries. Deputy Commissioner Mercer shared his thoughts with Doug Landau recently in Richmond. Workplace accident and fatality lawyer Doug Landau was invited to a special "Retreat" for lawyers who only represent injured workers and not insurance companies. If you or someone you know, has questions about their workers compensation case or settlement, please contact ABRAMS LANDAU or call us today.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Workers Comp and violation of OSHA Safety Regulations

Doug Landau — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:30:00 GMT

Loudoun Fairfax construction accident lawyer Doug Landau is often asked about safety violations on the work site. If the employer is in violation of safety standards, are they automatically found liable for the disabled worker's injuries ? And if the injured employee is found to be in violation of a safety rule, can they still collect workers comp benefits ?

Unfortunately, it is not good for the injured worker in Virginia. Even if the employer is found to be in violation of a safety statute or fined by OSHA, that does not mean that the employee automatically gets their workers compensation benefits. The ABRAMS LANDAU injury trial team has won cases where the employers were found guilty of homicide in criminal court, and Virginia law still did not allow them to be sued for negligence ! So, the employer's negligence or recklessness is not reviewed by the workers compensation judges.

However, the employee's failure to follow a known and enforced safety rule, can and will preclude an award of workers compensation benefits. In one case that Loudoun Fairfax and Leesburg construction injury lawyer Doug Landau won, the employee had "unhooked" his safety belt right before he slipped and fell from a roof, fracturing both ankles. The employer's insurance company lawyers alleged "wilfull violation of a safety rule," and comp benefits were denied. Landau won the case by showing that ALL the employees, and the supervisors all "unhooked" in order to put the top pieces of roofing in place. Furthermore, the injured worker had never been disciplined for this practice, written up or docked pay, so it was not an "enforced rule." If you or someone you know has been injured in a construction site accident or other workplace accident, e-mail ABRAMS LANDAU or call (703-796-9555) today. Just because the insurance company denies the claim, does not mean that the case cannot be won in court.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Fall-Related Death of Worker at Norfolk Sanitation Plant Under Investigation

Rick Shapiro — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:57:00 GMT

Randy Piche, a long-time Hampton Roads Sanitation District employee, died Tuesday morning after falling through an opening on a third-floor walkway at the Army Base Treatment Plant in Norfolk on Tuesday morning. Neither the wastewater and sewage-treatment organization nor the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health department have yet determined why Piche, a 37-year HRSD veteran, would have fallen to his death.

Industrial plants are inherently dangerous places to work. In Virginia alone, more than 150 workers died in workplace accidents during 2008. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration posts weekly summaries of deaths at work on its Web site. The most recent set of summaries, from Aug. 28, 2009, includes 18 entries. Listed causes of death ranged from electrocutions and crush injuries to falls and explosions.

Employers have legal and moral obligations to minimize risks to their employees. If HRSD did not have signs, guardrails or procedures in place to make it difficult or impossible to fall through the walkway opening at its plant on the grounds of the Norfolk International Terminals, then the organization would be liable for contributing to, or even, principally causing, Piche's death.

Regardless of the cause of the accident, my thoughts go out to Piche and his friends and family. I have seen too many times the tragedies that can result when people work in unsafe conditions and environments.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law, and we have experience handling slip, trip and fall cases. Check out this case result involving a woman who slipped and was injured at a restaurant. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now. We provide free initial confidential injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as pro bono public information services.

EJL

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rick Shapiro

The Locomotive Inspection Act - Protecting Railroad Train Crews From Serious Injury On The Job

John Cooper — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:27:09 GMT

When it comes to legal liability and negligence, the threshold question is generally what attorneys call "duty." If I am injured in some way, I cannot recover any damages unless the person responsible for the injury had a duty of care toward me. The duties owed by a railroad employer to its workers are controlled by the FELA (Federal Employers Liability Act). Railroad employees do not get Workers’ Compensation like regular people in other industries. The major railroad companies have to provide the train crews like engineers and conductors, as well as all persons on the job, with a reasonably safe place to work. This basic FELA duty is owed to all railroaders on duty.

Proof of some negligence by the railroad is normally required under the FELA. Negligence standards sometimes are replaced with strict liability. Strict liability means basically that if you break it, you bought it. If someone is injured in certain aspects of railroad work, the railroad is automatically responsible. One such area often governed by strict liability standards is the equipment involved in the operation of locomotive engines. According to the Locomotive Inspection Act [LIA] (formerly the Boiler Inspection Act), a supplemental law to the Federal Employer’s Liability Act, interstate railroads have an absolute and continuing duty to provide safe locomotives for their workers running the trains. This legislation is intended for remedial and humanitarian purposes, and is to be construed liberally in favor of the worker.

What this means for employees of railroads is that if you are injured while on board a train, due to defective locomotive equipment, your employer is almost always liable. Note, however, that the locomotive must be "in use," though not necessarily in motion for this law to apply. Haworth v. Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Ry. Co., 281 F.Supp.2d 1207 (E.D. Wash. 2003). I must reemphasize that if death or injury results from a defective condition on a locomotive, then liability is automatic.

Examples of what qualifies as defective engine equipment are broken chairs, ill-maintained brakes, or inoperative cabin lights. The injury must be caused in whole or in part by the bad equipment on the engine to come under the LIA. If an employee is injured without any defective or misused equipment being the cause, then the LIA will likely not apply.

A showing that the injury was caused by defective or misused locomotive equipment will be a powerful argument to force the railroad company to fairly compensate the worker. An LIA case is typically going to be more valuable than a regular FELA claim and command more money in settlement. As always, if you have been injured and are seeking restitution, you should consult qualified legal counsel. That counsel should be experienced and have a working knowledge of the specific legal area (railroad worker injuries). If you have been injured while operating or riding on a train or locomotive engine, that expertise should include detailed knowledge of the FELA and the Locomotive Inspection Act.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Cooper