Work Injury Damages

After being injured in a work-related accident, the first place you should turn to for assistance is your employer. Most employers in Wisconsin are required to purchase workers’ compensation insurance for their employees, unless it is an extremely small business or falls under a specific exception. You should be able to report your injury to management, who in turn reports it to the company’s workers’ compensation insurance provider. If your claim is approved, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, such as:

• Medical care
• Wage loss
• Loss of earning capacity
• Temporary partial or total disability
• Permanent partial or total disability
• Disfigurement
• Vocational training

However, a workers’ compensation claim may not be available to you, and even if it is, it will not cover all of your physical, emotional, and financial injuries. That is why, if you were injured by a third-party outside of your work, you should contemplate a third-party personal injury claim. You may have the right to file a third-party claim against an independent contractor, employee from another business, or pedestrian who came onto your work-site. The Wisconsin workplace injury lawyers of Studinski Law, LLC can help you through both a workers’ compensation claim and third-party suit.

Work Injury Damages Available During a Third-Party Claim

During a third-party claim, you can seek to hold the at-fault party liable for your injuries by proving negligence, recklessness, or intentional wrong doing. This gives you the opportunity to seek compensation for a number of types of damages, including:

• Medical expenses
  Despite your workers’ compensation insurance you may still have a great deal of medical expenses to pay, including the cost of travel for treatment, at-home care, medical aids, and accommodations to your home due to a disability. If you did not have workers’ comp coverage, then you will be responsible for all of your medical expenses outside of your normal health care coverage, which could be hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
• Wage loss
  When you are off work due to an injury, you lose out on weeks of compensation. Workers’ compensation may cover a portion of your lost wages but not all. A third-party claim gives you the chance to recover the rest. Without workers’ compensation, this is your only opportunity to recover the wages you have lost while receiving treatment and recovering.
• Loss of earning capacity
  If the work-related injury led to a disability, disfigurement, or other issue that reduces your potential income, then a third-party suit is your opportunity to obtain the difference between the compensation you were likely to earn over your lifetime prior to the accident and what you are likely to earn over the course of your life after the injury.
• Pain and suffering
  Accidents and physical injuries often lead to a great deal of physical pain and psychological suffering. While a workers’ compensation claim does not take these damages into account, a personal injury suit does. You may have the right to pursue compensation for both your pain and suffering, in addition to economic damages.
• Emotional distress and mental anguish
  Despite the common knowledge that being part of an accident or suffering an injury can lead to emotional distress, it is often difficult to recover compensation for your psychological injuries. We are here to help you prove the emotional distress and mental anguish you have suffered because of your work-related injury and seek the maximum compensation for it. This may include providing evidence that you now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, a sleep disorder, another diagnosable condition, or emotional trauma that disrupts your ability to function on a daily basis.
• Disability
  Work-related accidents are often significant enough to cause a disability. A disability is a temporary or permanent restriction on your physical or psychological capabilities, which you deserve to be separately compensated for. You may be permanently and completely disabled if you suffer a paralyzing spinal cord injury. Or you may be temporarily partially disabled if you suffer nerve damage in your legs and feet that is likely to return over the years and interfere with your ability to get back to work. Whatever your exact level disability and its likely duration, an experienced personal injury attorney can help you seek appropriate compensation.
• Disfigurement
  A disfigurement is an injury that negatively alters your appearance. It could be scarring on your face or the loss of a limb. Whatever you specific injury, you deserve to be compensated for the disfigurement you must now contend with the rest of your life.
• Loss of enjoyment of life
  After serious injury, particularly one that leaves you disabled or disfigured, you may no longer be able to enjoy life as you used to. You may not have the ability to remain independent, participate in your favorite hobbies, or actively take care of your kids. You can seek monetary compensation for this loss.
• Loss of society and companionship
  This is also known as loss of consortium. When you are severely injured at work, your physical and psychological injuries may alter your romantic and familial relationships. You have the right to seek compensation for this type of injury, particularly when it affects your relationship with your spouse or children.

Contact Our Wisconsin Work Accident Lawyers Today

After suffering an injury in a work-related accident, you are burdened with pain, myriad negative emotions, a long road to recovery, and the fight for the compensation you deserve. In a fair world, you would receive all of the workers’ compensation benefits you need and the party at fault for your injuries would appropriately compensate you for your injuries. Unfortunately, it is up to you to fight for what you deserve. At Studinski Law, LLC, we can help you protect and advance your rights. We are here to help you obtain the workers’ compensation benefits and personal injury compensation you are entitled to under the law. Call us today at (715) 343-2850 to schedule an initial consultation.