Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
If you were injured (or became ill) at work, you may be eligible for worker’s compensation benefits. Your benefits will depend on the nature of the injury, the extent of the disability, and the injured worker’s ability to return to his or her job. In Massachusetts, injured workers are eligible to receive benefits, to include medical expenses, based upon the degree of incapacity, typically defined as total incapacity or partial incapacity. Injured workers are often confronted with the real possibility that they may not be able to return to their former occupation and may have a lasting impairment – or a permanent and total incapacity from gainful employment.
When evaluating a workers’ compensation claim, it is important to understand that, in order for a work injury to be compensable, it must “arise out of and in the course of employment.” In order to fully justify a claim and avoid misinterpretation of the circumstances surrounding it, it is best that an injured employee notify his or her employer within a prescribed time after the injury or the onset of the initial symptoms. This notification should be made in writing on a special form. In the event the employer refuses to provide benefits, it is in the worker’s best interests to consult with a lawyer, who can then request a hearing before the state board or commission of workers’ compensation.
Even though a person may have not caused an injury, the legal doctrine of “vicarious liability” may assign him or her liability for an injury to a person on the basis of his or her legal relationship to the person who did cause the injury. For example, if an employee were to cause injury to someone as a consequence of acting negligently, the responsibility could be passed to the employer. For this to happen, the negligent act must have been committed during the course of employment. A parent could also be held liable for the negligent act of a child. Both of these cases are concerned with the “law of agency,” which makes one party the legal agent of another.
Massachusetts law requires that every employer provide worker’s compensation coverage insurance for the benefit of their employees. Those employers who do not have worker’s compensation insurance (or qualify as a self-insurer) are referred to as “uninsured employers.”
Uninsured employers are at risk for facing significant financial exposure should an employee get injured on the job. The consequences can be harsh. The law provides for both civil and criminal penalties. In fact, state regulators can shut down a business for failing to have workers compensation coverage. Although Massachusetts has a Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund to protect injured workers, uninsured employers can still face a civil lawsuit from injured workers and will be prevented from raising certain legal defenses.
If you are disabled from work and have been denied workers’ compensation benefits, put Mort Shuman’s expert legal team to work for you. Injured workers are entitled to payment of their lost wages and necessary medical expenses. In some instances, vocational training is also available. The insurance company is not on your side. We have a long history of successfully handing workers’ comp cases and we will put our experience to work for you.
