Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

If you are hurt on the job, you likely have a Workers’ Compensation case. Workers’ compensation cases are very different from other types of personal injury cases because fault does not need to be established in order for the employer to be responsible. When the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act was adopted by the legislature, employers and employees came to a compromise – employers would only be responsible for certain types of damages and employees would not be required to establish negligence on the part of the employer.

Workers Compensation Benefits

Injured workers are typically entitled to two types of benefits: medical benefits and indemnity benefits. However, if a worker dies as a result of his or her injures, the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act (“LWCA”) also provides for death benefits payable to the deceased workers family members. Additionally, the LWCA also requires employers to help employees that can no longer perform the same job as a result of their injuries.

MEDICAL BENEFITS

Medical bills that are related to a work place injury are paid by the employer and their workers’ compensation insurer. However, non-emergency medical expenses need to be approved by the employer / insurer before the treatment occurs if the treatment exceeds $750. Medical benefits are payable for the life of the injury – or, in other words, as long as you need medical treatment for that injury. Medical benefits also include medical mileage – the miles that you drive to/from your doctors and therapy appointments.

INDEMNITY BENEFITS

Indemnity benefits represent lost wages. While there are many different types of indemnity benefits – they are essentially all designed to compensate the wage loss caused by your workplace injury. Typically, injured workers will receive indemnity benefits while they cannot work or cannot earn the same wages. However, there are weekly maximums on what you will be paid. For example, even if you earned $500,000 per week – the weekly maximum your employer would need it pay is $705 for 2021.

DEATH BENEFITS

If an injury at work causes death to an employee within 2 years after the last medical treatment for the workplace injury, Louisiana provides for benefits to be paid to the family members and dependents of the employee. Typically, the employer is required to pay reasonable burial expenses as well as weekly. However, death claims can become tricky. Before accepting any sort of settlement, be sure to check with an experienced attorney!

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION

If you are unable to return to your job, you may qualify for job retraining. Your employer will send you for a “functional capacity examination” (commonly referred to as an FCE) to assess your abilities post-accident. From there, a vocational rehabilitationist will work to find new jobs what fit within your work restrictions.

In the majority of cases, yes. The Louisiana Workers’ Compensation contains an exclusivity provision that states that an employee cannot sue his or her employer in tort. However, there are two ways you can seek damages typically not compensated under the Workers’ Compensation Act.

INTENTIONAL TORT

There is only one exception to the mutual exclusivity clause – intentional torts. If the employer commits an intentional tort against an employee, the employee can both collect workers’ compensation benefits and maintain a tort suit against the employer. The Supreme Court of Louisiana held in Meyer v. Valentine Sugars, Inc., 444 So.2d 618 (La. 1984) that a claimant must establish that the person who acted either (1) consciously desired the physical result of his or her act; or (2) knew that the result was substantially certain to follow from that conduct. In other words, a claimant must establish that the employer acted with an intent to injure him or her in order to fall within the exception of the exclusivity provision.

THIRD-PARTY LIABILITY

Many job sites have multiple companies working simultaneously. If the accident that gave rise to your injuries was caused by another company, you may be able to maintain a tort suit against the third-party while simultaneously pursuing a Workers’ Compensation claim against your employer. For example, many oil and gas companies have multiple subcontractors on site. Let’s assume Bob works for New Orleans Oil Company. Let’s also assume that New Orleans Oil company hired a welding company, Mr. Weld-It, to fix an issue with a storage tank. In this hypothetical we could have an Mr. Weld-It accidentally weld on the wrong storage tank and cause an explosion. If Bob were injured in this explosion, he would then have a tort claim against Mr. Weld-it as well as a Workers’ Compensation claim against his employer.

Get Help from Malvin Law

Workers’ compensation cases require an in-depth understanding of the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act as well as a skilled attorney. Here is how our attorneys can help:

1. Indemnity Checks – we verify the amount that you are receiving is accurate based on your earning history. The calculations used to determine your indemnity benefits vary depending on the type of benefit and your type of employment. We fight to ensure you receive all that you are entitled to.
2. Medical Treatment – your employer or their workers’ compensation carrier may try to trick you into seeing one of their physicians who look out for them, not you! DO NOT SIGN A CHOICE OF PHYSICIAN FORM WITH WITHOUT CONSULTING AN ATTORNEY FIRST! Your employer or their insurer may also tell you a certain procedure or treatment isn’t “medically necessary.” We fight to ensure your employer and their insurance company don’t take advantage of you or provide all the medical treatment you need.
3. Penalties and Attorney Fees – When your employer or their workers’ compensation insurer do something wrong, the law may force them to pay you a penalty AND an attorney fee. Penalties are often caused by:
   1. Late payment of indemnity benefits;
   2. Failure to approve medical treatment;
   3. Failure to properly investigate the claim;
   4. Failure to pay correct mileage;
   5. Late payment of a settlement or judgment
4. Explore All Avenues of Recovery – just because you have Workers’ Compensation claim doesn’t mean that you don’t have other types of claims. We work with you to explore all potential claims and remedies to ensure you get ever dollar you deserve.

From there, we won’t stop until you are fairly compensated!