Scholarships for the Children of Injured Workers in Virginia

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR INJURED WORKERS' CHILDREN IN VIRGINIA

In Virignia there is great news for the children of workers who have suffered a fatal or job ending injury. An organization was formed in 2011 to provide scholarships for these children. The scholarships are available for both colleges and trade schools.

The organization is Kid's Chance of Virginia or KCVA. It is a 501c3 non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to fund scholarships for these needy children.


For more information visit their website at Kids Chance of Virginia. You can either apply for a scholarship or make a donation to this worthy cause.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or (800) 256-8862 or visit our website at Virignia Workers' Compensation Lawyer.

The Questionable Virginia Worker's Compensation Injury

An injury at work is not always obvious. Some real life examples:

You scratch yourself at work and shrug it off. IS THIS A WC INJURY AND SHOULD YOU REPORT IT?

You load a truck with boxes. On the 25th box you feel a pull in your back and continue working. IS THIS A WC INJURY AND SHOULD YOU REPORT IT?

You reach up and behind you and pull something off the wall for a customer and snap something in your shoulder and finish the work day. IS THIS A WC INJURY AND SHOULD YOU REPORT IT?

You have had a bad back for years. You lift a widget at work and you experience new back pain. IS THIS A WC INJURY AND SHOULD YOU REPORT IT?

You walk down the back steps at work and stumble and fall due to the poor lighting. IS THIS A WC INJURY AND SHOULD YOU REPORT IT?

Your fellow worker disagrees with a work assignment you gave him and starts a fight and hits you. IS THIS A WC INJURY AND SHOULD YOU REPORT IT?

You are rushing to work and slip on wet pavement before you arrive at work and fall. IS THIS A WC INJURY AND SHOULD YOU REPORT IT?

In summary, these are real life examples from cases I have had where the claimant was injured at work and did immediately report the injury. So, the insurer denied the claim and the claimant sought my representation. A clear immediate report to the employer and an immediate trip to a doctor may have spent immediate acceptance of the injury.

For more information: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or (800)256-8862 or visit our website at Virginia Workers' Compensation Worker

Hire a Virginia Workers Compensation Lawyer or do it yourself?

6 REASONS TO HIRE A VIRGINIA WORKERS' COMPENSATION LAWYER

The original design of the Virginia Workers Compensation Act was to have a simple mechanism to provide injured workers compensation and medical care. However, the system is now much to complicated to handle it yourself. If you had a brain injury would you consult a brain injury expert or should you do it yourself? The do it yourselfers make these mistakes:

1.  If the worker loses the hearing they expect to hire a lawyer for the appeal. But in a workers' compensation case, no new evidence can be added on an appeal so the worker is usually stuck with whatever evidence the worker produced at the hearing.

2.  The worker may expect the Workers' Compensation Commission to act for the worker and protect the worker. However, the Commission has to be "neutral" and cannot take sides. By law the Commission cannot help the workers at a hearing.

3.  The worker may expect the Workers' Compensation insurer to do the right thing and pay the worker compensation and the medical bills for the accident. But the worker doesn't realize the insurer will look for any reason to deny the claims.

4.  The insurer may request the worker's prior medical records. The worker may not know the reason for this. The reason is the insurer is looking for a pre-existing condition to deny the claim. If the worker does have a pre-existing condition, the worker may face a long delay in getting benefits or have the benefits denied.

5.  The employer may refuse to cooperate and may not report the worker's  accident or the worker's past wages to its insurer in an effort to defeat the claim. This is especially the case if the worker did not report the accident right away or the worker  did not go to a doctor right away to document the injury. Also, if the worker was just recently employed the employer may be reluctant to honor the worker's claim (since it has no loyalty to the worker).

6.   The worker will be asked to give a recorded statement by the claims adjuster for the insurer. The worker may not realize that this statement will be used against the worker if the worker made any errors in the  statement that harms the case. A common error is to fail to describe a compensable accident under the Workers' Compensation Act.

In summary, this is just some of the reasons why an injured worker should not represent himself or herself on a workers' compensation claim. As Abraham Lincoln said, "he who represent himself has a fool for a lawyer."

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or (800) 256-8862 or visit our website at Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer

Pain and Suffering in a Virginia Workers' Compensation Case?

WHY CAN'T I GET PAIN AND SUFFERING FOR MY INJURY ON THE JOB?

In my Virginia Workers' Compensation practice injured workers often ask "Why cannot I get pain and suffering and compensation for loss of quality of life due to the painful injury I suffered on the job?" The workers also say "After all it all occurred as a result of my injury on the job which was caused by my employer's negligence or the dangerous work environment."

The answer to this question goes back to the creation of the workers' compensation laws in the United States. These type of laws were first created in Germany by Bismarck to fend off Marxism and protect workers who were injured on the job. In the United States most of the states including Virginia enacted workers' compensation laws to provide for wage loss and medical expense coverage for injured workers in 1919 becoming the 37th state to enact such laws.

Even though these laws did benefit employees they did lose some rights. The injured employees lost their common law rights to sue their employers for "pain and suffering" and "loss of quality of life."
This loss can create a special hardship for an employee who has a permanent pain condition or impairment that not only prevents him or her from working but also has caused a loss of quality of life such as engaging in recreational activities.

Moreover, even though the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act provides compensation for wage loss coverage, in most cases this compensation ends in 500 weeks even though the injured worker is still unemployed due to his or her impairment. In even more cases, the worker loses his compensation because although still impaired or in pain due to his work injury he or she returns to "light duty employment" of one kind or another.

In summary, it may be unjust but you don't receive "any" compensation for pain and suffering in a Virginia Workers' Compensation case.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or at (800) 256-8862 or visit our website at Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer.

How to Handle the Insurance Company's Job Placement Worker in a Virginia Workers' Compensation Case

In Virginia, the insurer will press the doctor to release "the injured worker" to light duty work soon after an accident at work. If the doctor agrees, the insurance company will assign a job placement worker (vocational consultant) to the injured worker's case.

The worker will first try to place you back with your old employer. The worker will ask the old employer to place you in a light duty job or in some cases request that the employer create a light duty job for you. The employer has an incentive to take you back in order to lower your its insurance costs.

If the employer does not have a job the placement worker will attempt to place the injured worker in a light duty job elsewhere. Typical light duty jobs are security jobs and clerk jobs at the Dollar stores. If the proposed jobs are within the injured worker's restrictions the worker will have to take the job. The insurer benefits since the insurer gets to deduct the light duty wages from the pre-injury wages and thus pay the injured worker less in compensation benefits.

The Virginia Workers' Compensation Act does provide the insurer is allowed to do "job placement" for a reasonable time before having to pay for any re-training or re-education expenses. In my experience the insurers rarely offer to pay for re-training or re-education expenses.

Failure to cooperate with the job placement worker can be a serious offense under Virginia Workers' Compensation law. If proven, it can mean forfeiture of compensation payments. The injured worker is well-advised to consult with an experienced workers' compensation lawyer when face with "job placement" by the insurer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or (800) 256-8862 or visit our website at Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer.

Bad Performance at Your Virginia Workers' Compensation Functional Capacity Examination (FCE)

DON'T FAKE YOUR PAIN AND SUFFERING AT YOUR VIRGINA FCE!

The doctor declares the claimant to be at maximum medical improvement (MMI) for his or her work place injury. What happens next?

Well in Virginia the doctor often does not set permanent work restrictions. Rather, the doctor refers the worker to a skilled therapist who has been trained as a disability examiner. The disability examiner puts the injured worker through  a 4 to 6 hour test to determine what the worker can lift and carry. Also the examiner may test standing, sitting and bending ability. This report is then sent to the doctor for approval. This report is called a Functional Capacity Evaluation or FCE. This report can set the worker's permanent work restrictions if the doctor signs off on the FCE.

The biggest "danger" many workers run into is they will attempt to embellish or exaggerate their difficulties when it comes to the FCE. The second "danger" is the worker will refuse to do activities required by the FCE. If the worker does the first, then the worker can be labeled a "faker" regarding his/her symptoms. If the worker does the second, then the worker can be accused of non-cooperation.

In summary, I always tell my workers to give a "good faith effort" on the exam.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or call toll-free at (800) 256-8862 or check our website Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer.

Virginia Workers Compensation Attorney & Your Accident

When you have an accident at work, you need a specialist in Virginia Workers' Compensation Accident.  You would not go to a family doctor for brain surgery!

1.   First, look for an attorney who specializes in Virginia WC law.

2.   Second, make sure your attorney has Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating of AV.

3.   Third, make sure your attorney belongs to the Virginia Trial Lawyers' Sub-committee on    workers' compensation.

4.    Fourth, make sure your attorney has no disciplinary charges against his/her record by checking with the Virginia State Bar.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: call Jerry Lutkenhaus at (804) 358-4766 or (800) 256-8862 or check
our website at Virginia Workers' Compensation Lawyer.