I’m pleased to announce the launch of my firm’s new and improved website — attorneysheehan.com.
I have had the privilege of representing hundreds of injured workers and accident victims over the years. While some in the media and our communities joke about lawyers — often in a malicious, mean spirited and uninformed way — I have seen the positive impact my legal representation has made in the lives of my clients and their families.
If you ask me what do I do for a living? I could answer that I’m a personal injury trial lawyer. I say that with great pride. Really, what I do is simply help people…regular, everyday working people. That’s the same for my fellow trial lawyers.
I offer this reflection as I start a new beginning with this new and improved website. I hope that it provides a valuable service to injured workers and accident victims in Massachusetts.
Copyright © 2010 John J. Sheehan
After a disabling work accident, it is not uncommon that the employer tells the employee that there is no work until the employee has a full work release from his/her treating doctor.
What do you do? Not knowing that they may be entitled to workers’ comp, some injured workers instinctively sign up for unemployment even though they are injured and, sometimes, may require surgery. That’s a mistake if the worker is not physically able to work due to a work injury.
By filing a claim for unemployment, the injured worker represents that he/she is able to engage in gainful employment which often is contrary to the facts. Many injured workers hide their injury in order to get unemployment out of fear and desperation.
If the worker is injured and disabled from work pursuant to a treating doctor or medical provider, it is a mistake to file a claim for unemployment. The injured worker should file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. The problem is that the injured worker may not know the identity of the workers’ compensation insurer, especially if the employer never reported the accident. Left to his/her own devices, the injured worker is frequently stuck and helpless to pursue his/her legal rights.
Yet another reason why you need to contact a workers’ comp lawyer as soon as possible after a disabling work accident.
Copyright © 2009 John J. Sheehan
In Massachusetts, if you are injured while acting in the course of your employment, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits paid by your employer’s workers compensation insurance company. If you require medical treatment, the workers’ compensation insurer will pay for any and all reasonable and necessary medical treatment that is causally related to your work injury. If you are temporarily totally disabled from work because of your injury, you are entitled to weekly workers’ compensation benefits at the rate of 60% of your average weekly wage (“AWW”).
During the first 180 days or 6 months from your injury, payments made by the workers’ compensation insurer are without prejudice. This is commonly called the 180 Day Pay Without Prejudice Period. That’s a fancy way of saying that the workers’ compensation insurer has not accepted liability or legal responsibility for your industrial injury. As a practical matter, the workers’ compensation insurer can modify (usually reducing benefits) or discontinue benefits without permission from a judge provided that the insurer gives the employee written notice 7 days before it takes any action against the injured employee’s benefits.
If the workers’ compensation insurer pays benefits beyond 180 days, the insurer accepts liability or legal responsibility for the injured employee’s industrial injury provided that the employee did not sign an agreement to extend the 180 Pay Without Prejudice Period. That doesn’t mean that the insurer cannot try to modify or discontinue workers’ compensation benefits. However, the important difference is that the insurer must continue paying benefits until it receives permission from a judge to reduce or discontinue benefits.
Many injured workers make the mistake of not contacting an attorney to represent their legal interests immediately after a disabling work injury. It is a mistake to hide your head in the sand hoping that the workers’ compensation insurer will do the right thing. Insurance companies have lawyers representing their legal interests, and every worker who is disabled from work due to a work accident should be represented by a workers’ comp lawyer as early as possible to protect their legal rights and ensure that they are paid all the benefits to which they are legally entitled.
Copyright © 2009 John J. Sheehan
