Accident

[Cromwell]

Hello, I don't know how to find information on what I should do after I was injured at work.  I live in Wisconsin, and work at a farm machinery dealership. They had our open house in our new shop, and moved everything into the old shop so we could work in there during the open house.  It was too crowded to do much in there.  I had to remove the rear wheel from a tractor and could not use the forklift because of the overcrowding.  The wheel fell over on me because I could not get out of the way, also because of the overcrowding. Both legs and left foot were crushed. I am on workers comp. since the accident on 3/7/07.  I wanted someone to advise and represent me so I'm not going through this on my own.  No attorneys will talk to me or return my calls because they feel they can't make any money on me because it is work related. I got very little help from the Dept. of Workforce Development. I am now back to work on limited hours and light duty restrictions.  I'm being paid partly by workers comp., and medical bills are being covered so I'm grateful for that, but shouldn't I be able to get some compensation for pain and suffering, lost income, and mental anguish for me and my wife? I still lost a lot of income, had anxiety attacks and a nervous breakdown, and was diagnosed with depression because of the uncertainty of my future, and the things I can't do anymore, because of an accident that was caused by an unsafe work situation. My wife and I both lost about 6 months out of our lives. She had to give up her plans to take care of me, and it was very stressful emotionally and mentally. We can't pay the bills each month and have used up any savings we had to survive the last year.  Worker's comp. can't reimburse me for anything but 2/3 of my base pay at the time of the accident.  I normally get a lot of overtime, and I had a part-time job on weekends, had nothing being paid into my 401K, and my wife took off from work, all of which worker's comp. can't pay me for. I don't know if this is something you can help with, but thanks for reading my sob story. I don't know what to do when the doctors sign off on me and determine that there is no more they can do and want to close the case.  I'm told the case could remain open for many years, but the doctors already are saying there is no more they can do and my improvement has gone about as far as it will go.          Thanks for your time,          Arnie

ANSWER: Arnie,

I suggest you speak to a workers' compensation attorney.  This is an attorney who deals solely with workers' compensation cases and is accessible to individuals such as yourself.

I am not licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and cannot provide you with legal advice.  In most jurisdictions, workers' compensation is a no-fault system in which there does not have to be negligence.  In other words, all you have to show is that you were injured at work regardless of who is at fault.  The trade off is that you may be limited to only recover what is available through accepting workers' compensation benefits and may lose the right to collect pain and suffering.

Again, I suggest you contact a Wisconsin attorney who specializes in workers' compensation to determine your rights.

Very truly yours,

Paul D. Friedman, M.A., Ph.D., J.D.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

Hello,   I have tried speaking to attorneys who advertise that they specialize in worker's comp. cases, but like I said, nobody will even return my calls because in Wisconsin the state limits what an attorney can charge for worker's comp.

cases.  They don't want to use their time for something like this when they can make more money on other types of cases.  I did have one finally tell me that they can only help me if my employer is not cooperating and is denying me any worker's comp. benefits.  They are cooperating, so I am told there is nothing I can do.  I only wanted someone to guide me and help protect my rights because I know nothing about this sort of thing. If this had been a car accident or something, I would have attorneys standing in line at my door all wanting to represent me.  When I call, I can never speak to an actual attorney.  I get a secretary or paralegal who takes down my information and says an attorney will call me back, but then they never call back.  I called every law firm in the phone books and got nowhere.  So I guess I'll have to face it alone.  Anyway, thanks for your time and your prompt answer.  I appreciate it.  I volunteer as an expert on allexperts.com also.  (Not in the law category, obviously.)

[Blyth]

Arnie,

You are welcome.

If you end up with a permanent injury, you will have plenty of access to an attorney but may not wish to hire one.  

Most likely you can only receive a set limit per workers compensation and there is no reason to pay an attorney a percentage of what you can receive on your own.

I wish you the best.

Paul D. Friedman