New York City | Queens | Brooklyn | Bronx Workers’ Compensation Lawyers What Does Your Lawyer Need to Prepare for Your Workers’ Compensation Hearing? If
You’ve been injured at work, notified your employer and filed a workers’ compensation claim. You’ve received notice that you must submit to a physical examination by a doctor chosen by the workers’ compensation insurance company or by your employer. What’s the best strategy for how to handle this exam?
First and foremost, it’s important to be as honest as possible. Don’t exaggerate or minimize the impact of the injury. Be specific about what limitations the injury places on you. If you are still able to perform many of the daily tasks in your life, admit that. If you overstate the impact of your injury and the workers’ compensation insurance company sends out a private investigator who videotapes you doing things you said you couldn’t do, your claim will likely be completely rejected.
Your Rights During a Workers’ Compensation Insurance Company Medical Exam
When you’ve been hurt on the job and you file a claim for workers’ compensation, one of the first steps you’ll have to take is to submit to a medical examination by a company-selected doctor. Based on that physician’s findings, your claim will generally be approved or rejected. So what are your rights with respect to such an exam?
Can You Refuse to Be Examined by a Company Doctor?
It’s a requirement that you be checked out by a doctor chosen by the insurance company or by your employer. That does not mean, however, that you cannot go to your own doctor or that you cannot get a second opinion. If the findings of the company doctor differ from those of your doctor, the workers’ compensation judge will have to make a decision regarding what evidence is most credible and may even have you obtain a third opinion.
Can You Videotape the Exam?
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Can Your Employer Deny Your Claim by Calling You an Independent Contractor?
One of the classic ways in which an employer or a workers’ compensation insurance company will attempt to deny coverage for an injury is to allege that you weren’t really an employee, you were an independent contractor. They’ll allege that you were your own boss, that you had your own business, that their coverage is only for employees and that you should have had your own policy of workers’ compensation insurance.
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A question we frequently get from prospective clients has to do with whether or not an employer can be sued in court for a personal injury suffered on the job. The answer, as is often the case, is that it depends.
If your employer had a valid policy of workers’ compensation insurance, as required by law, you cannot file a lawsuit for a personal injury, even if the employer was clearly at fault. That’s the purpose of workers’ compensation insurance. Under the workers’ compensation laws, if your employer has workers’ compensation insurance, your only recourse for wrongful acts by your employer or a co-employee are through a workers’ compensation claim.
What are the Cash Benefits under the New York Workers Compensation Law?
When you have been hurt on the job and need to file a workers’ compensation claim, you want to know what types of cash benefits you may be entitled to receive.
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