Coronavirus & Workers Compensation

In and around Mankato, Minnesota, countless employees are being exposed to coronavirus. The pandemic is plaguing the entire nation- and it’s important to know that, as an employee, you have rights. At Harvey & Carpenter, Attorneys at Law, we’re here to provide you with the legal support that you need in a friendly, professional, no-contact manner. We’ll answer your legal questions and provide you with a free consultation to help you determine what your next steps should be.

Mankato Workers’ Compensation & Covid-19

Employees are required to provide you with a safe working environment. This includes taking the necessary precautions to avoid injury while also providing you with adequate PPE. During the time of the coronavirus, there are extra precautions being released from the CDC. Businesses in Minnesota and around the country are being deemed “essential” to ensure that people get basic supplies. This includes medical professionals, restaurant workers, construction workers, police and fire, and many more. It is presumed to be work related for specific workers who get C0VID-19 such as nurses, doctors, health care professionals, police, and more. You may not have a choice but to go into work. However, your employer needs to ensure that you have access to masks, gloves, sanitizer, hand-washing stations and more. Otherwise, your employer is making it difficult to keep you from getting sick. If you contract COVID-19 as a result of unsafe working conditions, you may be eligible for filing a lawsuit against your employer due to COVID-19.

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Contact Harvey & Carpenter Today

You can take action by getting legal assistance. It ensures that there’s someone fighting for your rights throughout the whole process. You can focus on getting better while a lawyer fights for your worker’s compensation.We’re here to help you with your legal struggles. Contact us at Harvey & Carpenter, Attorneys at Law in Mankato, Minnesota today to schedule a no-contact consultation to discuss your case.

Contact Harvey & Carpenter if You Contracted Covid-19 in The Workplace

At Harvey & Carpenter, Attorneys at Law, we’re here to provide you with the legal assistance to help you overcome your workers compensation battles. Filing worker’s compensation is never something you should do on your own. Combine it with some of the uncertainties found during the pandemic and it’s critical that you have a worker’s compensation lawyer on your side. We’re here to listen to your case, ask questions about what your employer provided to keep you safe, and fight for your rights. It’s not just about the money. When you contracted COVID-19, you are fighting for your life. You have time away from work, medical bills to pay, and the uncertainty of whether you have a job to return to when it’s all over. You need to focus on getting better, not stressing about your job or ability to pay bills. Worker’s compensation insurance is in place to help you. However, your employer or the workers compensation insurer may try to fight your claim because of the unusual nature. Pandemics are not a typical work accident, yet with the number of essential workers having to go into work daily, a positive coronavirus test has to be considered a workplace accident. Additionally, if your employer isn’t held responsible for their lack of PPER and other unsafe practices, they may be dealing with more positive tests in the future.

The Coronavirus Pandemic Is a Completely New Scenario for Workers’ Compensation

The country has never dealt with a pandemic in modern times like what we’re dealing with regarding COVID-19. This means that there is no protocol for dealing with testing positive in terms of it being a worker’s compensation issue. However, it can still be proven that it’s a worker’s compensation case because of your employer’s inability to provide you with a safe working environment. You shouldn’t have to deal with the medical bills associated with the coronavirus on your own simply because you were trying to be a good employee. As soon as you were deemed “essential,” there were risks. However, your employer should have properly navigated these risks. Just because you have never heard of anyone being able to get worker’s compensation during a pandemic doesn’t mean it’s not possible. We’re in a new situation – and you deserve to hold onto your rights. Further, you don’t want to lose your job. With so many people losing their jobs or being furloughed, you want to maintain your rights as an employee. If you got sick because of unsafe practices, your employer may have to keep your position free until you are better.

What Happens if You’re Injured at Work Due to Covid-19?

Typical workers’ compensation injuries are easier to manage because you can quickly identify that it happened at work. Whether you fall, trip have something fall on you, or are injured by machinery, you can quickly fill out an accident claim. When you’re injured in the form of contracting a virus, it’s more complicated. You have to prove that you got COVID-19 at your employer – and this can be hard to provide. This means you will need to report it as soon as possible. Further, it’s important to find out if there are other employees who have also tested positive. When you have employees who are willing to corroborate your story about a lack of PPE in the workplace, it can make it easier to show that your employer is responsible for your positive test results. Your employer may try to brush your positive test under the rug. They may say that you didn’t get it from the workplace. They may also try not to accept the blame. This is when it’s critical to seek legal intervention. Even if your employer is willing to write up your positive test as a workers’ compensation incident, your employer’s insurance company may try to settle quickly. They may offer to pay you for your time away from work – but is that enough? Insurance companies are notorious for settling for less than what is deserved.You don’t want to settle. Instead of working solely with your employer’s insurance company, you want someone on your side – a Mankato workers’ compensation attorney from Harvey & Carpenter. You need someone that will fight for you. We have decades of experience in workers’ compensation claims. Although the pandemic is unchartered territory, we can still navigate the laws to assist you throughout your case.