Work Injury & Workers' Compensation Lawyer in Big Bear City, CA

1. Report the injury to your employer in writing as soon as possible. California requires prompt notice, and late reporting is the most common reason claims are denied.
2. Get medical care and tell the provider the injury happened at work. Follow your state's rules on choosing a treating doctor.
3. Keep copies of every form, letter and benefit check, and write down the names of witnesses and supervisors.
4. Do not accept a "light duty" assignment that violates your doctor's restrictions, and do not resign.
5. Note whether anyone other than your employer was involved: a subcontractor, a property owner, a driver, an equipment manufacturer.
6. Talk to a lawyer before giving a recorded statement to the workers' comp insurer or signing a settlement.

California generally gives injured people two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit in the San Bernardino County Superior Court. Miss that window and the court will almost always dismiss the case no matter how strong it is. Claims against a city, county or state agency usually have much shorter notice deadlines, sometimes only a few months.

California follows pure comparative negligence, which means you can recover damages even if you were mostly at fault, but your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurance adjusters know this rule well and routinely try to shift blame onto the injured person, so what you say in the first days after an accident in Big Bear City matters.

Cases that cannot be settled are filed in the San Bernardino County Superior Court. Most workplace injuries in San Bernardino County resolve through negotiation with the insurer, but the credible ability to try the case locally is what produces fair offers.

• Your employer's workers' compensation insurer (no-fault benefits, no lawsuit against the employer in most cases).
• General contractors and subcontractors on multi-employer job sites.
• Property owners who controlled a dangerous condition at the work location.
• Manufacturers of defective machinery, tools, scaffolding, vehicles or safety equipment.
• Negligent drivers who injured you while you were working on the road.
• Utility companies and other third parties whose negligence caused the injury.

• Your written injury report and the employer's first report of injury.
• OSHA citations and inspection reports.
• Incident photos, equipment maintenance records and safety training records.
• Witness statements from co-workers.
• Medical records and impairment ratings.
• Wage records establishing average weekly wage.

California workers' compensation typically pays all reasonable medical treatment, a percentage of lost wages (usually around two-thirds, subject to a state maximum), permanent partial or total disability benefits, vocational retraining and death benefits for families. It does not pay for pain and suffering. A third-party personal injury claim filed in the San Bernardino County Superior Court can recover full lost wages, future earning capacity and pain and suffering, with the workers' comp carrier reimbursed from the recovery under California's lien rules.

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See also: Workplace Injury Claims: Workers' Compensation and Third-Party Lawsuits, the workplace injury practice area overview, the San Bernardino County injury guide and the California personal injury guide.