Our firm understands the importance of receiving workers’ compensation payments after sustaining a serious injury on the job. These benefits can give injured workers the financial assistance they need to receive necessary medical care and to get back on their feet again. For over 30 years, our firm has helped individuals in Manhattan and throughout New York City recover the benefits they need, and we are ready to put that experience to work for you. Contact our seasoned Manhattan workers’ compensation attorney to learn about how The Law Offices of George Poulos can represent your best interests through every step of the claims process ahead.
Our Legal Services
The Law Offices of George Poulos can provide you with the following answers to your questions after sustaining a workplace injury:
- What is Workers’ Compensation?
- Who is covered?
- Filing a claim
- Workers’ Compensation Benefits
- Disability Classifications
- Occupational Diseases
- Third Party Lawsuits
- Claim Disputes
Understanding Workers’ Compensation
- Workers’ Compensation: Regardless of where you work, there is always a chance that you may sustain a serious injury on the job. In many cases, these injuries are not even the worker’s fault. Fortunately, in most cases, workers’ compensation benefits can provide those employees with the benefits they need to obtain medical treatment and swiftly get back into the workforce.
- Determining Whether You Have a Claim: The first step of the process after sustaining a workplace injury or developing a medical condition due to one’s job is to determine whether New York State’s workers’ compensation laws cover your injury. As long as your injury occurred in the course of your employment and your employer is covered under the workers’ compensation law, there is a very good chance that you will have a valid workers’ compensation claim.
- Determining Your Disability Classification: Once we determine whether you have a claim, we will then have to assess your disability classification. To do so, you must seek medical treatment and receive a doctor’s note that details the extent of your disability, how it hinders your daily function, and how it, therefore, prevents you from returning to work for some time. During this process, you will need an experienced attorney on your side to ensure we obtain all the information we need.
- Filing Your Claim: Filing workers’ compensation claims is, at times, quite complex, which is why it is best to retain the services of a seasoned Manhattan workers’ compensation attorney who can work to ensure you submit all of the necessary documentation so you know you applied the first time correctly.
- Handling Claim Disputes: Even after hiring an attorney to help ensure you submit your claim properly, there are times when insurance companies will still dispute your claim and try to prove that you are not really injured. In most cases, this is simply due to the fact that insurance companies are businesses and care far more about making a profit than they do about helping those who are injured. However, while insurance companies may not be on your side, The Law Offices of George Poulos is. Our firm is ready to handle any disputed claim to prove your case and help win you the compensation you deserve and need.
- Filing Third-Party Lawsuits: In most cases, when someone is injured on the job, they will file a workers’ compensation claim. However, there are times when workers’ compensation benefits do not cover the extent of the injury sustained, and if you find yourself in this situation, we may have grounds for a third-party claim. Essentially, a third-party claim is when you sue a negligent third-party other than your employer for a work-related injury. For example, if you were injured due to a defective machine that you used on the job, you may sue the product manufacturer or designer in a third-party claim. This can help you recover the maximum compensation while keeping your job.
Statute of Limitations
Every state has a statute of limitations in place when it comes to workers’ compensation and third-party claims. If you are looking to file a third-party claim after an injury in New York State, you must not wait any longer than three years from the date of your accident to sue. However, if you are looking to file a workers’ compensation claim, you will most likely have even less time to take legal action, as the statute of limitations for workers’ compensation claims is, generally, two years.
Two Deadlines That Decide Your Claim
Two years is the deadline to file your claim with the Board. It is not the deadline most workers miss. You must also give your employer written notice of the injury within 30 days, and that is a separate bar. A claim filed comfortably inside two years can still be defeated because nobody put the injury in writing during the first month.
Written is the operative word. Telling a supervisor, sending a text to a manager, or mentioning it in passing will not reliably satisfy the requirement, and none of them give you proof a year later when the carrier claims it never heard about the accident. Write it down, state how and when it happened, keep a copy, and note the date you handed it over.
The clock does not always start on the day of the accident. For an occupational disease that built up over years rather than in a single incident, a back condition from repeated lifting, hearing loss, a lung condition from exposure, the two years generally run from when you knew or should have known the condition was work-related.
Where Manhattan Claims Are Heard
A workplace injury in Manhattan is a New York County claim, administered through the Board’s Manhattan district office at 215 West 125th Street rather than the Queens, Brooklyn or Bronx offices. Hearings are largely virtual now, so the address matters less for attendance than it once did, but the district office still determines which examiners and law judges handle your file. If the carrier disputes your claim, that is where the hearing happens.
Contact Our Experienced Manhattan Workers’ Compensation Attorney
The bottom line is that if you are someone who has been injured on the job, you must retain the services of an experienced Manhattan workers’ compensation attorney as soon as you possibly can. We have helped countless individuals through the workers’ compensation claims process for decades, and we are ready to do the same for you. We know that this is a critical time in your life, and we are ready to fight for your right to a swift recovery. Contact The Law Offices of George Poulos today to learn more about what we can do for you.