It's very common for employees to get injured at work, and knee injuries are one of the most catastrophic injuries that tend to affect workers. In the event of sustaining a knee injury, the injured employee is entitled to seek compensation for lost wages and medical treatment.
However, negotiating a workers' compensation claim with an insurance company can be challenging, which is why it's crucial to employ the skills of a knowledgeable and experienced attorney who can ensure the victim's rights are upheld with insight on how to prove a back injury at work. To learn more about knee injury settlements, keep reading.
What Are the Different Types of Knee Injuries?
There are a number of different types of work-related knee injuries that employees tend to suffer from, namely:
Torn ligaments: Tearing a ligament results in knee buckling, swelling, pain, popping sounds, and limited mobility.
Torn meniscus: Symptoms include stiffness, pain, swelling, locking, and limited mobility.
Osteoarthritis: This condition develops after suffering a previous knee injury.
Broken kneecap or patellar fracture: Depending on the severity, this may require surgery.
What Workers' Comp Benefits Are Available for an Injured Worker Who Sustained a Knee Injury on the Job?
Unfortunately, knee injuries can be serious and result in terrible consequences. Thus, it's vital for an injured worker to receive proper treatment to recover and live a normal life again. Receiving workers' compensation benefits can assist with the recovery process.
A few of the benefits available to anyone who has suffered a serious knee injury include:
Medical treatment:
These benefits will cover any medical bills resulting from required knee surgery, doctor's appointments, physical therapy, prescriptions, etc. However, for the medical expenses to be covered, the treatment has to be approved by the employer's insurance company.
Lost wages:
In general, compensation for lost wages covers two-thirds of the injured worker's pre-injury weekly wage for a specified timeframe. However, this will be based on the doctor's recommendations and the severity of the workplace knee injury. Compensation for lost wages is also determined based on whether the knee injury sustained is partial, total, temporary, or permanent.
Vocational benefits:
These include rehabilitation, job modification services, and retraining.
A medical professional might declare that the victim has achieved maximum medical improvement (MMI) once the injured employee has benefited as much as possible from their medical treatment. If the victim's knee(s) are permanently damaged, they may be eligible for permanent partial disability benefits. These are benefits that may serve as the cornerstone of discussions regarding payout and final settlement.
What Is the Average Workers' Comp Settlement?
There's no straightforward answer to this question, as each workers' compensation case is unique and has specific circumstances that need to be considered. However, a professional attorney can assist with a number of vital issues that will be considered when negotiating a fair settlement with the employer's workers' compensation insurance company and help you with getting a fair amount from your workers comp settlement. A few of these issues include the settlement structure and possible future medical expenses that may be incurred.
Therefore, an injured worker can expect their settlement offer to include compensation for medical treatment and two-thirds of their average weekly wage during recovery. The worker can seek additional compensation if they fail to fully recover within the initially believed recovery timeframe. This compensation is generally also at the rate of two-thirds of the worker's average weekly wage.
Injured workers are under no obligation to reach a settlement if their employer and the insurance provider are pressuring them to do so in order to conclude the workers' compensation claim. It's possible that the insurance company is trying to reduce or eliminate its exposure while putting its own interests ahead of the victim's. Keep in mind that once a settlement is accepted, any attempts to receive further compensation will be rejected.
What Impacts the Workers' Compensation Settlement Amount?
Not every case will have the same circumstances, which is why it's essential to hire a knowledgeable and experienced lawyer who can apply their professional judgment to the knee injury case.
Some of the general factors that will be taken into consideration in workers' compensation knee injury settlements include:
The type of medical treatment required.
The extent and type of knee injury.
Whether knee surgery will be required in the future.
The method used to calculate your average weekly wage
Circumstances surrounding the knee injury.
Another crucial thing to keep in mind is that an injured worker must act immediately after sustaining a knee injury, as there is a limited timeframe in which the injury needs to be reported and the workers' compensation claim filed.
Fortunately, a workers' compensation attorney can offer assistance regarding these factors, when the right time to seek a knee injury settlement is, and whether the compensation is fair.
How Can a Lawyer Assist with a Workers' Comp Knee Injury Settlement?
Before taking action, an attorney will take the time to understand the case and answer any concerns or questions the victim might have. There are various stages involved in a workers' compensation case, and a lawyer will help their client navigate each stage of the process, namely:
Filing the claim
Working with doctors regarding the appropriate medical treatment and medical expenses
Getting a second medical opinion
Negotiating with the insurance company
Assessing whether the offered settlement covers all the victim's entitled benefits
Evaluating all possible compensation elements
Negotiating a final settlement amount
Appealing denials
An Experienced Workers' Compensation Attorney Can Help Get the Compensation You Deserve
In order for injured employees to get the compensation they deserve after sustaining a knee injury at the workplace, it's vital to work with experienced and qualified workers compensation attorneys. This is the best way to ensure the claim is filed correctly and to receive the maximum workers' compensation benefits.
The knowledgeable lawyers at Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys in Nashville, Tennessee, are here to assist with all aspects of your knee injury claim, including any questions regarding the filing process, workers' compensation settlements, and more. To get answers to your questions and the legal representation you deserve, contact us today for a free consultation.