If you have suffered an injury at workplace due to carelessness or not following the due procedure of operating machines and tools you are likely to wonder if you can still claim Workers’ Compensation benefits. The good news is irrespective of what led to your injury you are eligible to claim benefits and compensation. This is the reason why employee rights attorney often refer to workers’ comp as a ‘no-fault’ system. It literally means your compensation and benefits aren’t factored on what led to the injury rather they factor treatment costs, wage losses and your ability or inability to resume work in the aftermath of the injury.
Once you have suffered an injury you should immediately bring it to the notice of the employer and follow the instructions as advised. You may have to take treatment from a hospital or doctor who is a part of your employer’s insurance network. At the very same time you must also get in touch with an Oakland workplace accident lawyer to improve the prospects of getting maximum compensation.
Are All Self Inflicted Injuries Covered Under Workers’ Compensation?
We have mentioned that workers’ compensation follows a no-fault system and injuries that happen in the workplace or while you are on duty are eligible for benefits and compensation but there are some exceptions. Your Oakland work accident lawyer will be able better explain to you about your eligibility with compensation when you bring to their notice exact chronology of the events that led to your injury. Here are few exceptions where you aren’t eligible for benefits –
Messing with Machine & Tools There are strict safety protocols at workplace when it comes to the use of machines and tools. As a worker you need to strictly adhere to these safety protocols at the workplace. If the injury resulted due to your failure to adhere with the safety protocols or you were found messing with the tools and equipment Workers’ Compensation Law in California terms this as ‘horseplay’ and in such cases your compensation claims may be denied.
Injuries Resulting from Altercations and Violence If you are injured at the workplace due to a fight that you picked up with a supervisor or co-worker you aren’t eligible for compensation. However your employee rights attorney will be able to help you claim compensation in case you didn’t start the fight and were injured by another worker who got into a fight. Your attorney would have to prove that the physical altercation wasn’t started by you and any injury you inflicted on the other person was in self-defence.
Intentional Injuries If the injury at work was intentional your attorney at law Oakland isn’t likely to be able to help you claim compensation. These are injuries those the workers inflict upon themselves either to stage it to for claiming compensation or when they attempt a suicide.
Losing Job after Injury
There are cases when workers have been fired from their jobs for inflicting wounds intentionally upon themselves or getting into altercations with fellow employees. While such instances are rare if you pose a threat to the security of other workers or don’t follow the required safety protocol using machine and tools intentionally the employer is well within their rights to fire you from the job and in such cases you’d also lose your right to claim compensation for injuries.
To sum up if you have been injured at the work place and have an iota of doubt that the injury was your own fault you shouldn’t judge for yourself whether you are eligible for compensation or not. You need to leave it to a work injury attorney in Walnut Creek. At the Law Offices of James E. Latimer & Associates we have been fighting for compensation and rights of injured workers and their families for more than two decades. If you are eligible for any compensation and benefits under Workers’ Compensation in California we shall fight for the last dollar.
Summary – In this write-up we look at whether workers suffering injuries due to their own fault can claim workers compensation and in what circumstances their claims can be dismissed.