Hopkins, SC Workplace Injury Lawyer
Accidents in the workplace that leave victims with injuries and disabilities can be quite expensive to those workers. Lost wages make it harder to afford the care they need, and the care itself is incredibly expensive. Although insurance setups might work to keep costs low for injured workers, these systems are imperfect and can leave you without certain areas of compensation you deserve.
For help with an injury from work, you should always talk to a lawyer who can guide you through the process, tell you what your injuries are worth, and work to maximize the compensation you get for your case.
Call the workplace injury lawyers at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers today at (803) 451-4000 for help with your potential claim.
Damages for Workplace Injuries in Hopkins, SC
There are a wide range of damages you could be entitled to in a workplace injury case, but not all of them are available in all cases. As we discuss the damages you could suffer, our workplace injury attorneys will go over how and when these damages might be available to you or when they are blocked by certain insurance rules and regimes.
Medical Expenses
Injuries are expensive to treat, especially if they are severe. For many injured workers, some long-term consequences and disabilities require ongoing medical care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and even mental health therapy. After an accident, it is vital that you receive all of this treatment, but it could be more than you can afford.
You can often sue for these damages, but injuries at work are a bit different. Your employer’s insurance is supposed to cover all medical care for a work-related accident, but there might be certain restrictions on how this works. They may require you to see doctors of their choosing or their insurance company’s choosing instead of seeing your own doctor.
If you want to see your own doctor, you might be able to pursue coverage for these damages in a lawsuit – but it has to be against a party other than your employer in most cases. Negligence lawsuits against one’s own employer are usually barred under Workers’ Compensation rules.
Lost Wages
If you cannot work because of an injury, you and your family will lose the income you should have received. This could be substantial if your injury keeps you out of work for a long time or permanently forces you to take a lower-paying job or stay home entirely.
Your employer’s insurance is supposed to pay you back for lost wages, but it usually does not pay them at their full value. To get 100% of your lost wage damages, you may need to pursue a lawsuit instead.
Pain and Suffering
When you are injured, you suffer more than just the economic consequences. The physical pain you face, the fear of reinjury, the emotional distress, the feelings of loss – all of these have no price tag on them but can still lead to compensation.
Unfortunately, South Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation laws block these damages from being paid at all as part of those benefits. Ultimately, the downsides of using that insurance are the lack of pain and suffering damages – along with the partial payment of lost wages and the inability to select your own doctor. However, you do not need to prove fault to get compensation that way. To get these damages paid at all, you will have to pursue your case as a lawsuit, likely against a party other than your employer.
Proving Fault in a Workplace Injury Lawsuit in Hopkins, SC
As mentioned, you cannot usually sue your employer if they were at fault for your accident. If they were truly the only ones who caused the accident, then a lawsuit might not be available to you. Similarly, if you caused your own injuries by accident or the accident was a true accident and no one caused it, then you would not have grounds for a lawsuit. Workers’ Compensation might be your best bet in these situations, as it is a no-fault insurance system. However, to get the rest of your damages paid and take the case to court, proving fault will be a vital component of your case.
When you sue another party for causing an accident, you can prove that they were at fault by showing that the accident only happened because the defendant breached some legal duty they owed you. For example, safety gear manufacturers must produce effective gear that lives up to their design, and substituting for weak materials or making mistakes during assembly could compromise the safety gear and give you grounds to sue them in a product injury claim. As another example, if you are putting up a sign by the street when a driver crashes into you, their speeding or driving up onto the curb also qualifies as a breach of duty.
This is often called “negligence,” and it forms the basis of most injury claims. However, you can also sue for intentional injuries, and these claims can even be filed against an employer. If you work in an arrangement where you have no “employer” because you are an independent contractor, you might also be able to sue your boss for injuries caused by negligence.
When to Contact a Lawyer for a Work Injury in Hopkins, SC
It is important to call a lawyer as soon as you are injured. While you should take some time to first focus on your injuries and healing, you will soon start to face questions of how you are going to pay for your medical bills, how much you should tell your employer about what happened, and whether you will be able to return to work – and when. Our lawyers can get you answers to all of these questions and advise you on how to go about dealing with your employer, reporting the injury, filing insurance claims, and potentially even filing personal injury lawsuits for your damages.
Call Our Workplace Injury Attorneys in Hopkins, SC Today
Call Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers for a free case assessment with our workplace injury attorneys today by dialing (803) 451-4000.
