Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

May 25, 2015

If You Sustained A Cumulative Trauma Disorder on the Job, You Should Speak with a Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

According to Bureau of Labor statistics from 2011, cumulative trauma disorders comprise over half of all occupational illnesses in the U.S. CTDs are caused and aggravated by repetitive movements or exertions that affect specific parts of the body. Nerve tissue, muscles, and tendons can be damaged over time, with the wrists, shoulders, knees, hands, eyes, neck, and back among the most common body parts affected.

CTDs can be cause by small, repetitive movements, not taking breaks, poor workstation setups, non-ergonomic working conditions, working in the same position for extended periods, too much physical grasping while working, poor work techniques.

May 21, 2015

Employer Cannot Get Credit for Lump Sum Previously Paid in Workers’ Compensation Case, Rules Court

by Altman & Altman

According to a ruling by a state Supreme Court, an employer is not allowed to get credited for the full amount of a lump sum workers’ compensation settlement that it already paid in a case that was later re-opened after the employee’s occupational disability worsened. The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the employer Gardens Glen Farm did not have a right to receive dollar-for-dollar credit for payments made previously to the claimant.

The employee, Bethany Balderas, was seriously injured while working as an exercise trainer for Gardens Glen in 2006. The horse she was riding fell and rolled over her, causing her to fracture two vertebrae. She underwent fusion surgery before going back to work. For her harm suffered, Balderas negotiated a $100K lump sum payment based in part on a 29% disability impairment rating.

However, according to court filings, she petitioned to have her workers’ compensation claim re-opened because her occupational disability had worsened. An administrative law judge ruled two years later that Balderas had demonstrated that with a decreased range of spinal motion and other impairment issues, her impairment had increased by 30%. She also was no longer able to work as an exercise trainer.
The judge awarded her 425 weeks of permanent partial disability benefits at a rate of $275/week. That amount was determined in part by Balderas’s eligbility of $456.25 in benefits a week, with $180.42/week credited to offset her claim when she had settled earlier with Gardens Glen.

May 20, 2015

Serious Job Hazzard – Chemical Injuries That Can Cause Blindness

by Altman & Altman

Across many professions and industries, employees are routinely exposed to hazardous chemicals at work. Everyone from scientists, dealing with chemicals in labs, to janitors who use chemicals for cleaning purposes, is exposed to these substances in various settings. Unfortunately, many chemicals commonly used in workplace settings are extremely hazardous, and cause workers serious and long-lasting eye injuries.

According to Prevent Blindness America, an organization dedicated to promoting eye safety in the workplace, over 2,000 workers injure their eyes in work-related incidents every day, and of these incidents, 10-20% result in temporary or permanent blindness.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) estimates that eye injuries cost over $300 million each year in lost production time, medical expenses, and workers compensation benefits. The high prevalence and cost of workplace eye injuries has resulted in a nationwide education campaign, started by OSHA, to seek better eye protection practices and minimize eye injury risks in workplaces around the country. In particular, OSHA is focusing on the craft industries – including mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, and general repairers, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that over 40% of workplace eye injuries occur in these industries. Continue reading

May 15, 2015

Disney Worker Death Lawsuit May Proceed, Rules Judge

by Altman & Altman

A circuit judge has turned down Walt Disney Parks and Resorts’ motion to dismiss a complaint submitted by a woman whose husband died while testing a ride. Terrie Roscoe sued the company in 2012, the year after her husband, attractions mechanic Russell Roscoe, was struck by a ride vehicle at the Animal Kingdom.

At the time of the work accident, Roscoe and other workers were “wet testing” the Primeval Whirl ride. This involved workers spraying water at the top of the lift platform during inspections.

According to the family’s lawyer, the accident happened while Russell was in the ride envelope, where he wasn’t supposed to be. The attorney said there was sufficient evidence indicating that managers knew where Russell was and that the worker had reasonable grounds to think that a car was not going to be launched while he was in the ride envelope.

April 30, 2015

$64.5M Construction Accident Verdict Awarded to Man Injured in Building Collapse

by Altman & Altman

A jury has awarded Robert Matthews $64.5 million for catastrophic injuries he sustained in a 2009 construction accident. Matthews, then 25, was crushed by an 11,000-pound prefab building.

At the time, he had been underneath the building. The structure fell when a train passed by the site, causing the ground to vibrate and the building to move.

He suffered crush injuries to his legs and pelvis as well as his organs. Last month, a jury said that three companies were responsible for the construction accident: fertilizer maker Mosaic, Semco Construction, and Mark Rice. Semco prepped the construction site and the third company was paid to install the prefab building. At the time of the work accident, Matthew was working for Mark Rice.

April 24, 2015

62 Massachusetts Workers Injured in On the Job Accidents Over the Last 16 Months

by Altman & Altman

As part of commemorating Workers’ Memorial Day on Friday, labor leaders in Springfield read the names of the 62 people killed in Massachusetts work accidents in the last 16 months—that’s a little over one death a week. National Council for Occupational Safety and Heath director Mary Vogel said that most of the worker injury deaths could have been prevented if only there had been the necessary safety-minded precautions and procedures in place.

Workers’ Memorial Day—April 28—marks the annual anniversary of when the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970. Last year, there were 4,500 workplace fatalities in the U.S.—a figure that has stayed pretty consistent in the last few years. Many more workers sustained injuries or work-related diseases because of their jobs.

April 14, 2015

Massachusetts Bill Could Expand Workers’ Compensation Benefits to Include Permanent Disfigurement to the Lower Body

by Altman & Altman

In the state Senate, a bill was introduced this year that could enhance the benefits allowed for injuries involving permanent disfigurement under the Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Act. Currently, workers here who sustain disfigurement on their legs, arms, and torsos are not entitled to work injury compensation for those injuries, although they may still receive other benefits for income loss, medical care, and non-scar based disfigurements.

Massachusetts workers’ compensation for permanent scarring is only provided for disfigurement that occurs to the neck, face, or hands. State workers’ compensation law awards a lump-sum payment to these permanently scarred or disfigured workers. If the injury is purely scar-based, the amount of the award will depend on the size of the scar and whether discoloration occurred.

The bill would allow workers disfigured on the lower areas of their body to get compensation too.

April 7, 2015

Employees Injured Because of Workplace Violence May Be Entitled to Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Benefits

by Altman & Altman

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s blogs, many workers in the social services and health care industry are at risk of physical assault on the job. As a matter of fact, the 2013 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that over 23,000 workers sustained serious injuries from assault, with over 70% of these incidents occurring in either one of those industries. Many of these assaults could have been prevented.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a section on its website dedicated to workplace violence that discusses such hazards and offers violence prevention plans. Workplace violence is defined as any threat or act of physical violence, intimidation, sexual assault, rape, harassment, or other threatening disruptive behavior, and may include verbal abuse and threats too. Homicide is reportedly the number four leading cause of worker deaths in the U.S. and the number one cause of death of female workers. Many incidents of worker violence go unreported.

March 27, 2015

Deadly Construction Accident Involving Scaffolding that Killed Three, Injured One Under Investigation

by Altman & Altman

It may be months before investigators conclude their probe into the construction accident that killed three workers on Monday. The deadly incident happened when a piece of scaffolding—known as the mast climber scaffold—fell to the ground, causing construction workers who were on it to fall 200 feet. A fourth worker was taken to the hospital with injuries. The incident occurred in North Carolina.

The scaffolding had been attached to a new building. One of its tracks snapped off, causing the equipment to fall onto the ground.

March 19, 2015

OSHA Confirms that Workers Have Not Been Helped by Workers Comp. Reforms

by Altman & Altman

In a recent Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog post, we wrote about an NPR and ProPublica probe that found that recent workers’ compensation reforms are hurting more than helping injured workers. Now, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued its report that reflects similar findings.

According to OSHA’s report, statistics show that over three million workers are hurt every year, with thousands killed while doing their job. These figures do not include incidents that go unreported and chronic illnesses that continue even after exposure on the job to hazardous substances has stopped.

Many workers who were seriously hurt find it hard to keep working—especially as modifications to workers comp. insurance programs have made it harder for someone who was hurt on the job to get full benefits. Employers are now taking care of just a small portion of overall workplace injury and illness costs through their work injury compensation programs.