It is estimated that one hundred workers get injured every day in Minnesota. If you’re one of these workers, you already know the weeks and months after a workplace injury are a terribly stressful time. You’re in pain, the usual bills are piling up, and now you’re forced to take on extra medical costs or childcare expenses — even though you’re too injured to work or have to work reduced hours.
At Harvey & Carpenter, our experienced legal team serves injured employees in Southern Minnesota. Our mission with these blogs is to answer questions about Minnesota workers’ comp claims for people who don’t have much legal knowledge or experience. Today, we’re answering the big question: “Should I Call a Work Injury Lawyer in MN?”
So let’s talk about the clients we serve as workers’ comp attorneys. If you’d like a free consultation about your workplace injury, contact us today.
Call a Work Injury Lawyer if You Were Injured at Work — Even if it was “Your Fault.”
Here in Minnesota, workers’ compensation is a no-fault system. In other words, even if you feel the injury was “your fault,” you still qualify for workers’ comp if you got hurt at work.
- The Minnesota workers’ comp system provides benefits to ALL employees who are injured due to their employment activities.
- It is a no-fault system. Employees don’t need to prove the employer was negligent to prove their liability.
- Your employer cannot use negligence on the part of the employee as a defense — even if it is “your fault,” your employer is still responsible for a workplace injury.
Accidents Don’t Cause All Workplace Injuries.
While slips, trips and falls cause many work injuries in Minnesota, some injuries happen slowly over time or with repeated motion.
The MN Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) website says: “A work-related injury can be any condition that is caused, aggravated or accelerated by the employment activities. This includes traumatic injuries, repetitive type injuries, occupational diseases and qualifying mental injuries [like PTSD].”
As an employee, you only need to prove that the employment activities contributed substantially to your injury / disability / need for medical care.
Can a Work Injury Lawyer Help Me if I Was NOT Injured at Work?
No, but there’s no such thing as a foolish question. Work injury lawyers can help if you were:
- Injured while actively working
- Injured at the worksite while on break
- Hurt while on company time or “on the clock” even if you weren’t at the jobsite
- Injured in a work vehicle or while driving your vehicle for work purposes — even if you volunteered to use a private vehicle for the task
If your injury happened elsewhere — like on the slippery pavement at the grocery store on your day off — you need a different type of personal injury attorney.
Contact a Work Injury Lawyer if Your Application for Workers Comp Was Denied
The paperwork and process associated with Social Security Disability and Workers Compensation in Minnesota are complicated. That’s why so many claims are initially declined!
Still, you don’t need to give up your right to workers’ comp benefits if your claim was denied. Start by taking these steps:
- Look closely at the letter of denial.
- It should include the reasons for denial.
- Sometimes, it’s missing paperwork or a small error on the paperwork — like a missing date or signature.
- In that case, you could contact the workers’ comp claims adjuster to clear up the issue. However, this route won’t be successful unless your employer or the insurance company made a genuine mistake and admits it.
- More likely, you’ll have to consider appealing the denial and calling a work injury lawyer.
Now that you’re confident this is the right time to call a Southern Minnesota work injury lawyer let’s give you a few tips to strengthen your appeal.
Help Your Work Injury Attorney Strengthen Your Appeal
In Minnesota, all the reasonable costs of your injury or disability should be covered by workers comp. If you need to hire a taxi or rideshare driver to make it to your doctor’s appointment, keep the receipts.
Small details are essential to your workers’ comp appeal. Remember to keep all medical paperwork relating to your injury. Keep copies of your hospital discharge papers and receipts for the smallest expenses, even if they’re for co-pays at your doctor’s office or prescriptions.
Don’t forget to keep receipts for:
- First aid items like bandages, gauze, wound care products
- Anti-bacterial wound ointments like Neosporin or Bacitracin
- Over the counter medicine, like Tylenol and Ibuprofen
- Household medical devices, like grab rails for your bathroom, a bedpan, or a commode
Remember, time is of the essence! We know you don’t feel well now, but here in Minnesota, you may need to complete the correct forms right away to appeal a denial or pursue your claim.
KatoLaw.com: Our Mission at Harvey & Carpenter, Attorneys at Law
Ruth M. Harvey and J. Chris Carpenter are Mankato, Minnesota attorneys who work exclusively in workers’ comp and disability claims. Our experienced and understanding legal team is ready to fight on your behalf for the compensation you deserve after a work injury.
Remember, a denial of a workers’ comp claim in Minnesota isn’t the end of the story. MOST CLAIMS ARE INITIALLY DENIED! Don’t allow a denied claim to derail your life. Get the help you need to overcome a workplace accident, illness, or injury now — even if you believe the injury was your fault.
Contact us today for a no-cost, no-pressure consultation with Chris or Ruth. They’ll sit down with you to get more details about your claim and to talk with you about your unique situation.
Whether you work in a blue-collar field like construction or extraction or in a climate-controlled office, you’ll leave with a better understanding of your possible options for a workers’ comp claim. Then, you can make informed choices based on the facts of your case. Once you’ve decided how you’d like to proceed, our team will get to work right away!