California Labor Code has specific provisions prohibiting employers from discriminating against employees who suffered work-related injuries. If you were demoted or fired for reporting a work-related injury, seek legal advice and don’t let your employer get away with this.
California law obligates employers to educate their employees about their rights under workers’ compensation. Specifically, when hiring a new employee, an employer should provide them with a workers’ compensation pamphlet; employer also needs to post the workers’ compensation poster in a place where all employees can see them. However, today many employers still intentionally turn a blind eye on their employees’ reports of injury and brush such reports under the rug. If your employer made it difficult for you to report your work injury, and your claim for benefits are now delayed or denied, immediately seek legal advice. It is absolutely possible for your attorney to overturn the denial of your claims and restore your benefits. It is also important to act swiftly because the longer you wait the higher the chance of your claim running the statute of limitations.
Sometimes while admitting liability for a work-related injury, insurance companies limit workers' compensation benefits to only one body part while an injured worker has legitimate injuries to many body parts. An experienced attorney will help you develop medical evidence that could force the insurance companies accept liability for all body parts that were legitimately injured at work.
In fact, California law allows injured workers to receive workers’ compensation benefits for so called “cumulative traumas.” These traumas happen when an employee performs repetitive work over time and suffers a series of micro-injuries that gradually accumulate into a serious condition. This could be a construction worker who has multi-level disc bulges in the spine from heavy lifting at work over a period of time. Another example is a clerical employee who develops severe carpal tunnel syndrome in the right wrist due to the lack of access to ergonomic office supplies. Sometimes the work environment is so toxic, an employee may develop a mental health problem. This could be a basis for a cumulative stress or harassment claim, which would allow to obtain medical benefits and compensation for stress, anxiety, PTSD and other job-related psychiatric conditions.