Workplace Injury Claims

These situations commonly justify a free consultation. None of them means you have a valid claim; that is for an attorney to assess.

• Your workers' compensation claim was denied, delayed, or you were sent back to work before you were ready.
• Someone other than your employer caused the injury: another contractor on a job site, a driver, a machine or tool manufacturer, or a property owner.
• The injury is serious or permanent, involves a head, spine or crush injury, or you have been told you cannot return to your old job.
• Your employer has no workers' compensation coverage, or you are classified as an independent contractor and believe that is wrong.

• The written injury report to your employer, and the date it was made. Reporting deadlines are short and strict.
• Names of coworkers and others who saw the incident, and photos of the equipment, scaffold, vehicle or hazard involved.
• OSHA inspection reports or citations, safety training records and equipment maintenance logs.
• Every medical record and work restriction from the treating providers, including any independent medical examination.
• Pay records showing your average weekly wage, which sets the level of workers' compensation benefits.

Personal injury law is state law. The examples below name Georgia and Tennessee because those states have dedicated guides on this site; your own state's rules may differ.

• Workers' compensation is entirely state-based. Each state sets who is covered, how quickly an injury must be reported, which doctors you may see, how wage benefits are calculated and how disputes are decided. Georgia claims run through the State Board of Workers' Compensation; Tennessee claims through the Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
• The exclusive remedy rule generally bars suing your employer, but states differ on exceptions such as intentional harm or an uninsured employer.
• Third-party claims follow the state's ordinary personal injury rules on fault and deadlines. Georgia bars recovery at 50 percent fault; Tennessee bars recovery unless your fault is less than the defendant's.

State guides: Georgia, Tennessee.

There is no national personal injury deadline. Each state sets its own statute of limitations, and separate notice rules often apply to claims against government bodies. Missing a deadline usually ends the claim.

• Reporting to your employer: most states require notice within days to a few weeks of the injury, and a late report can forfeit benefits. Report in writing and keep a copy.
• Filing the workers' compensation claim with the state agency has its own limitation period, commonly one to two years, which varies by state.
• Third-party lawsuits follow the personal injury statute of limitations: two years in Georgia and one year in Tennessee.
• Federal employees, railroad workers, longshore workers and seamen are covered by separate federal systems with their own deadlines.

Workers' compensation attorney fees are usually capped and approved by the state agency, often as a percentage of the benefits recovered. Third-party claims use ordinary contingency fee agreements. Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee: a percentage of any settlement or verdict, with no fee owed if there is no recovery. Case expenses (filing fees, records, experts, depositions) are separate. Some attorneys advance them and deduct them from the recovery; others may ask you to repay them even if the case is lost. Read the written fee agreement before signing, and ask how expenses are handled.