Injured on the job | Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd

Working as a truck driver may put you at risk for certain injuries. Do truck companies remedy for their wrongs? Watch the video to learn more.

First, truck drivers, like every other worker, have rights guaranteed by their state that their employer must abide by. This includes workers’ compensation. When an employee is injured on the job, regardless of fault, the employer is required to pay workers’ compensation to the truck driver. This may include the time the driver is off work, his or her medical bills, and for what’s called total temporary disability. This may be the case even if your employer calls you an independent contractor.

Second, not all truck accidents happen while a driver is on the road. Many injuries happen when a driver is loading or unloading a shipment. It’s not uncommon to hear about injuries that happen when loading and unloading equipment, such as lift-gates, chassis pins, winch bars, pallet jacks, chains, etc.—when they don’t function as expected and injure the truck driver.

Third, truck drivers often take their breaks away from home and eat and sleep at truck stops, which face a lot of incoming and outgoing traffic. These premises should be kept clean and clear to prevent slips and falls, whether the truck driver is walking or bringing his vehicle in or out of the truck stop.

Like truck stops, loading and unloading premises must also be safe and clear so the trucker can work properly. There are often cases when truck drivers fall from elevations while loading and unloading. Cases include falling while making upper-level deliveries, falling into openings or on unclear stairs, or stepping into holes. Remember, truckers aren’t familiar and can’t control the terrain where they may be making their deliveries. It is the shipper’s or receiver’s responsibility to keep their premises clean and the traffic throughout their yards safe.

Remember, if you are injured in a truck accident, you may be able to collect compensation from both your employer and one or more third-parties, such as an equipment manufacturer, a truck stop, or a loading or unloading site. It takes a skilled truck accident injury attorney to review your case and find all the parties responsible for causing you harm.

If you have questions or have a loved one who’s a truck driver who’s out of work due to an injury, contact the Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd. at 1 (312) 384-1920 or 1 (800) 693-1LAW, or by email. We are here to answer all your questions and help you navigate through this difficult time.

Have you been fired by your job after giving them years of your life? Why did they fire you? Did you have a workers’ compensation claim?

Workers’ compensation is a huge slippery slope. On one hand, it gives protections to you as an employee. On the other hand, your employer may try to retaliate because you filed workers’ compensation. You have a right to workers’ compensation, and a company cannot fire you as retaliation for filing a worker’s compensation claim. The key is having evidence to prove that this is why you were fired.

I once had a client who had worked for the same company for over 20 years. She injured her arm while working, and had to file a workers’ compensation claim. The doctor checked her out and told her it as Fibromyalgia, then had her take a leave from work. Her employer didn’t like that, so they sent her to a different doctor who declared that she was able to return to work.

She re-injured herself, and had to go on leave indefinitely. Her employer begged her to come back, and being a hard worker, she did. She requested and was granted some unpaid days off around a winter vacation. She was fired 2 days into her unpaid vacation. She was upset. Her employer said they were firing her because of job abandonment, but she knew she had received permission.

We had several experts testify on behalf of the client, but the most important testimony is the one from a coworker who their supervisor giving our client permission to have those days off. In response, the jury awarded a verdict of $1.8 million in favor of our client. Watch the video to learn more.

You can also find more videos and learn further about workers compensation laws on our media page. If you have questions about what to do if you were fired from a job for filing a worker’s compensation claim for an on the job injury, please contact us by email or at 1-312-384-1920 or 1-800-693-1LAW. At the Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd., our workman comp lawyers from Chicago are here for you.