At Renfro, We Know Workers’ Compensation
Workplace Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
Workplace Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
Workplace brain injury and spinal cord injuries often have a tragic lifelong impact on a worker’s employment and personal life. Workers with a brain or spinal cord injury also frequently encounter great difficulty in getting the full workers’ comp benefits they deserve. Our Richmond workers’ compensation law firm, Renfro & Renfro, has substantial experience in brain injury and spinal cord injury cases. We serve clients throughout the metro area and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
“The team is awesome! They were so friendly and helpful with the whole process. They made us feel like family! I would recommend them to anyone!”
Sylvia Bivins
Why You Need a Lawyer For Workplace Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury
If you suffer a workplace brain and spinal cord injury, you face significant challenges. One problem is that these injuries are not always immediately apparent after an accident. Even when symptoms appear, medical professionals cannot always predict the long-term implications for your work and personal life until the full scope of your injury manifests itself, which often takes time. That in turn causes problems recovering your full workers’ compensation benefits.
For these reasons, if you suspect a possible brain or spinal cord injury from an on-the-job accident, your best strategy is to contact an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer immediately. Our brain and spinal cord injury attorneys at Renfro & Renfro have the skill, knowledge, and background to pursue your workers’ comp claim and get the full compensation you deserve. We have over a decade of injury litigation experience and dedicate our practice to recovering compensation for injured individuals.
Causes of Workplace Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
Some types of accidents commonly cause brain or spinal cord injury. If you have this type of accident, you should immediately get professional medical attention and report the accident to your employer. Then, at the earliest possible time, contact a knowledgeable workers’ compensation law firm.
Accidents during work that cause brain or spinal cord injury include being struck by a falling object or falling because of a slippery surface, uneven floor or terrain, or another workplace hazard. The location may be at your employer’s location or another place you go to perform your job. If the accident happens at a different location, you may have both a workers’ comp claim and a third-party negligence claim — and you should make certain that your lawyer handles both kinds of cases, as do our Richmond workers’ compensation and personal injury lawyers at Renfro & Renfro.
Construction accidents and auto accidents also frequently cause brain or spinal cord injuries. These types of accidents also may result in both a workers’ comp and personal injury claim if a third party’s negligence caused the accident.
Finally, brain or spinal cord injuries sometimes occur if an unexpected event occurs while you are performing repetitive work. While workers’ comp generally does not cover an injury that develops over time because of repetitive work, a brain or spinal cord injury may be covered if it results from a single event or incident that happens during repetitive work.
Symptoms of Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
Certain symptoms may indicate a brain or spinal cord injury. A brain injury, especially if it rises to the level of a traumatic brain injury, can affect you physically, emotionally, behaviorally, and mentally. Your symptoms depend to some extent on which part of your brain was injured. Confusion, headaches, or difficulty with speech, vision, or hearing are common symptoms of a brain injury. You should never ignore symptoms that may relate to a brain injury.
Like a brain injury, the location of a spinal cord injury also determines what symptoms you suffer. Common symptoms include pain and numbness in limbs, paralysis of arms or legs, muscle aches, loss of muscle control, and bladder or bowel issues. These symptoms may not appear immediately after an accident. As soon as they do, you should get immediate professional medical help.
Workers’ Compensation For Brain or Spinal Cord Injuries
A workplace brain or spinal cord injury frequently is catastrophic, causing long-term or lifelong disability that affects the worker’s employment and personal future. If you suffer an on-the-job injury of this type, you must pursue financial compensation through workers’ compensation, which provides specific benefits while foreclosing the possibility of suing the employer for the injury, except in very limited circumstances.
Workers’ comp benefits include:
- Lifetime medical benefits relating to the injury, including medical expenses and transportation costs
- Wage loss replacement for the time you are unable to work or earning less due to your injuries
- Permanent partial disability for injuries such as loss of a limb, partial loss of the use of a limb, loss of hearing or vision, or disfigurement
- Permanent total disability, which includes lifetime wage replacement for brain injuries, permanent partial disability to two or more extremities, paralysis, or other catastrophic injuries
Workers’ compensation claims arising from brain and spinal cord injuries are extremely complex. You have the best chance of recovering the maximum potential workers’ compensation benefits if you retain an experienced workers’ compensation law firm.
Many workers’ comp insurance companies aggressively attempt to reduce compensation for these injuries, because of the significant financial payment that is often involved. Attempting to navigate your claim without the benefit of a lawyer likely means that you won’t receive all your benefits or will end up with a settlement that does not adequately compensate you for your injuries.
Our Richmond brain and spinal cord attorneys at Renfro & Renfro have the necessary skill and experience to obtain full Virginia workers’ compensation benefits for injured workers. Workers’ comp cases are a primary focus of our law practice.
Third-Party Personal Injury Claims For a Workplace Brain or Spinal Cord Injury
If you’re covered by workers’ compensation, you cannot sue your employer for negligence in a personal injury claim. However, if someone other than your employer or a fellow employee is responsible for your injuries, you may be able to make a personal injury claim against the third party who is at fault.
One example is an injury from an accident at a location that is not your workplace or employer’s premises, but is a place where you go to perform your job. If the owner or lessee negligently maintained the premises, you may have a personal injury claim against them. Another example is an injury you receive as a passenger or driver in a vehicle accident that happens during your work, if another driver negligently caused the accident. In that situation, you may have a personal injury claim against the at-fault driver.
Compensation in a personal injury claim potentially includes more than your workers’ comp claim. However, even if you have a personal injury claim, it doesn’t mean you recover twice for items like medical expenses. You likely will have to reimburse the workers’ comp insurance company for items they paid, if you recover in a personal injury claim.
Free Case Evaluation By Our Respected Richmond Brain & Spinal Injury Lawyers
If you received a brain or spinal cord injury at work, our experienced workers’ compensation and personal injury attorneys at Renfro & Renfro are here to help you and your family. You can count on us to get the full amount of workers’ compensation you deserve, as well as evaluate your case for potential third-party personal injury claims. We offer injured workers a free consultation and case evaluation.
We serve clients in the Greater Richmond Region, including in Petersburg and Dinwiddie, and throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. We welcome you to schedule a consultation by using our online form.
