Workers’ Compensation

If you work in Georgia and are injured on the job, you are automatically eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.  Every employer with more than three employees must purchase insurance to cover the costs associated with on-the-job injuries.

As an injured employee, you are eligible for:

• medical care for your work injury
• lost wage payments equaling 2/3 of your average weekly wage with a cap of $725 per week
• reimbursement for transportation costs for travel to and medical providers
• payment for approved medical devices
• modifications to your residence in cases of catastrophic injury

Georgia’s workers’ compensation system does away with the concept of fault.  In other words, you do not have to prove that your employer was negligent in any way – as long as you were hurt while performing a task associated with your job, you are covered.  This includes situations where your own mistake resulted in your injury.

In theory the workers’ compensation law was supposed to make life easier for injured employees and reduce the need for litigation.  The reality has been much different.  Employers and their insurers frequently contest even the most legitimate work injury claims and they try to force injured employees to settle claims for pennies on the dollar.

Our workers’ compensation attorney, Jodi Ginsberg, fights back against the unfair denials and gamesmanship utilized by the workers’ compensation insurance injury.  Formerly an associate attorney at a leading insurance defense firm, Jodi saw firsthand the tactics used by insurance companies to deny claims and create hardship for workers:

• denying that the injury actually happened on the job
• claiming that the injured employee was on break or not yet at work, and therefore not covered
• arguing that the injured employee had an undisclosed pre-existing condition
• improper delays in issuing missed wage payments as a tactic to squeeze the injured worker
• improper delays in paying for travel costs
• low ball settlement offers
• refusal to authorize a specialist
• use of biased doctors as a way to minimize the severity of claims
• cutting off wage benefit arbitrarily

With over 30 years’ experience, Jodi has represented hundreds of injured workers. She has expansive knowledge about medical conditions as well as about the qualification and biases of most of the physicians in the state who accept workers’ compensation cases.  Jodi’s caseload includes cases arising from

• back injuries
• neck injuries
• elbow and shoulder injuries
• repetitive motion injuries (carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel)
• hip injuries
• knee injuries
• ankle injuries
• burns
• crush injuries
• closed head injuries
• post-concussive syndrome
• puncture wounds
• industrial blade accidents
• falls
• lifting accidents
• machinery failure
• vehicle accidents (including forklifts, trucks, autos)

Jodi has published several online resources to help you learn more about Georgia’s workers’ compensation system and to learn more about her as well:

• Comprehensive Georgia work injury web site
• Work injury video channel on YouTube
• Georgia workers’ compensation blog

Jodi invites you to contact her with any questions you may have about your work injury.  You can use the form on this page to email her or call her directly at 770-351-0801.