If you have injured your back at work, you should not hesitate to file a work injury report to protect your rights under Georgia workers’ compensation law.
Under Georgia law you must report your back injury to a supervisor within thirty (30) days of your accident date. It does not matter if you were at fault and it does not matter if your injury was unwitnessed. Even if it later turns out that your back injury is not serious, you should always protect yourself by reporting your injury, preferably in writing, to a supervisor at your job.
Unfortunately, even the most friendly, “we are a family at work” employers can become very hostile workplaces when you report a work injury. Under Georgia law your employer is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance coverage and every claim, even minor ones, can make the cost of this insurance go up. Add to the mix an insurance adjustor who questions the truthfulness of everything you say and you can see why workers’ compensation cases can become very adversarial very quickly.
The two most immediate concerns you likely have if you cannot return to work due to a back injury involve medical care and weekly wage benefits.
Medical Care Under Georgia Work Injury Law
Under Georgia law, your employer is supposed to make available to you a “posted panel” of doctors who will see you (at no charge to you) and treat your back injury. Unfortuntately, you will discover that most posted panel doctors have a financial interest to downplay your symptoms, delay ordering expensive tests, and prematurely release you to full duty work. That’s where an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer can be a great help.
At Ginsberg Law, we have well over 30 years’ experience representing injured workers with back injury claims. We know which back doctors (orthopedists, neurosurgeons, pain management, etc.) are reasonable, and which ones who work mostly for the benefit of the insurance company.
We also know when a workers’ compensation doctor is giving you the runaround and who is unreasonably delaying needed treatment, and we can use Georgia law to even the odds. For example, Georgia law allows us to request an independent medical exam with a doctor of our choosing, should the posted panel doctor pursue a course of treatment that makes no sense. We can then petition the State Board of Workers’ Compensation to changea the “authorized treating physician” to a doctor who truly has your interest at heart.
Weekly Wage Benefits Under Georgia Workers’ Compensation Law
Similarly, we know how important it is to you and your family to have money coming in each week. Under Georgia law, if you are unable to work, the insurance company is supposed to send you a weekly check that amounts to 2/3 of your average weekly wage (with a maximum of $725 per week). Here, too, insurance companies sometimes calculate your weekly wage check (called a TTD check) incorrectly, shortchanging you. Sometimes they are late sending you your check. Sometimes they don’t send a check at all.
Under Georgia law, we can ask the State Board for a hearing and demand penalties if the insurance company plays games with your check. Most importantly we are watching what they are doing because we have seen so much unfair and sometimes illegal activity by workers’ compensation insurance companies over the years.
Our experience also tells us that your recovery from a serious back injury depends on fast and thorough treatment with a qualified physician. Workers’ compensation insurance companies often use delay tactics in the hope that you will get frustrated and settle for pennies on the dollar because you are running out of money. They also want to avoid the cost of diagnostic tests and surgery.
To put this another way, the insurance adjustor does not have your best interests at heart. But we do. A large part of our day is spent negotiating with or litigating with insurance company lawyers to recover all of the benefits our clients deserve under Georgia work injury law.
Settlement of Your Georgia Workers’ Compensation Back Injury Case
We also offer our experience and perspective when it comes time to settle your case, if your case is one that should be settled (some are not). In settlement negotiations, timing and leverage are extremely important and we can advise you about when the time is right to start settlement negotiations and how much you can expect to receive. The insurance company does not have to settle your case but they will if we can document how much it may cost them in future medical care, future wage benefits and other factors if they don’t settle.
As you can see, there are a lot of factors that can arise when you hurt your back at work and you should not try to deal with an insurance adjuster or defense lawyer on your own. Like every other workers’ compensation lawyer in Georgia, our fee is limited to 25% of your settlement, if we settle (i.e., no fee unless we settle). Unlike other lawyers, however, we offer 30+ years of hands on experience handling cases just like yours. Read our Google reviews to see what our past clients say.
We hope that you never need our services, but if you can’t work because of what appears to be a serious back injury, please call us at 770-351-0801.
