I talked to an injured worker recently whose claim was being denied. He got hurt on a Thursday before a holiday weekend. He finished his shift, and already was scheduled off on Friday, and the long weekend gave him Monday off also. He was in pain, but figured if he had a long weekend to rest up, he would be okay. After all, he had suffered back pains before, but they went away with a little rest and some aspirin.
By Sunday, he was in such pain that he called his doctor, who was off for the weekend, and was told to go to the emergency room. He told the admissions interviewer at the hospital that his back was bad when he went home on from work on Thursday, but over the weekend it really got worse. He was just concerned about his condition, and did not specifically tell the admission clerk about hurting his back while trying to move a delivery out of the back room at the office.
He was examined, x-rayed, given medicine and sent home, and told to follow up with his own doctor. When it came time to got to work on Tuesday, he was hurting too much to go. He called in and told the office he had been hurt at work the week before. When his employer reported the injury to the carrier, the carrier denied the claim on the basis that the worker "could have been hurt over the weekend" because the injury hadn't been reported promptly.
These are hard times for workers. Afraid to lose any standing with their employer, they hold off telling an employer about an injury thinking they are protecting their job. When they are unable to work, their failure to report the injury right away is used against them.
If you are hurt and aren't sure what we should do, call us and we will be happy to see if we can help.
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