Las Vegas
Work Injury
Lawyers

Common Workplace Accidents

At Oronoz & Ericsson Injury Lawyers, our workplace injury lawyers handle the aftermath of all types of accidents in Las Vegas and Henderson. Whether you slipped and fell in an office building or suffered a serious incident at a natural gas facility, we can help. We know the ins and outs of third-party liability and workers’ compensation law and will use our knowledge and experience to pursue compensation.

We handle work injury claims involving:

• Construction accidents
• Heavy equipment or machinery accidents
• Industrial work accidents
• Oil and gas industry accidents
• Transportation accidents
• Falls, slips, and trips
• Falls from heights
• Struck-by-objects accidents
• Pinned-by-objects accidents
• Acts of violence
• Fires and explosions
• Exposure to harmful substances

Our job injury lawyers have handled claims involving:

• Severe sprains or strains
• Severe lacerations and scarring
• Broken bones
• Neck and back injuries
• Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
• Repetitive strain injuries
• Face, dental, and head injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Vision and hearing loss
• Respiratory injuries
• Burns
• Amputations
• Internal organ damage
• Nerve damage
• Raynaud’s Syndrome/White Finger Disease

Nevada’s Workers’ Comp Law

Nevada requires all private employers with one or more employees to carry workers’ compensation insurance. This insurance provides medical care and compensation for those injured at work. These benefits are provided regardless of who was at fault.

Work Injury Compensation & Other Benefits

Benefits available through workers’ comp include:

• Medical care: Payment for all necessary and reasonable medical treatments for your work-related injuries.
• Temporary Total Disability (TTD): Payments equal to 66.66% of your wages until you can return to work.
• Temporary Partial Disability (TPD): Payments equal 66.66% of the difference between your current and previous earnings until you can return to your full position and pre-injury wages.
• Permanent Partial Disability (PPD): Payment is usually a lump sum work injury settlement based on your age, percentage of disability, and previous wages.
• Permanent Total Disability (PTD): Payment is typically equal to the wages you would have earned through the remainder of your career.
• Vocational Rehabilitation Training and Maintenance: Training for a new occupation and TTD compensation.

We recommend consulting a work-related injury attorney to determine the amount of compensation you should receive for a temporary or permanent disability. If your employer incorrectly reports your earnings or the insurer improperly calculates the benefits, you may not receive everything you are entitled to.

It is especially important to consult with a lawyer before agreeing to a lump sum for a PPD or PTD. You need to be confident a lump sum covers your medical needs and lost wages for years to come. Accepting too little can lead to financial hardship in the future.

I Was Hurt at Work, Can I Sue?

If workers’ compensation covers your injuries, then no, you cannot sue your employer. This is the tradeoff with workers’ compensation coverage. When employers carry insurance for their employees, they can limit their liability for work-related injuries.

There are rare exceptions when you can sue your employer. For example, if your employer fails to carry workers’ comp despite being required to by law, you should speak with a Las Vegas work injury lawyer about filing suit.

Also, if you were hurt at work because of the actions of someone outside of your employer, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit against that individual or business. This is known as a third-party liability lawsuit.

Pursuing a Workers’ Compensation Claim

After a workplace accident, you need to fill out a Notice of Injury or Occupational Disease—Incident Report (C-1 Form) and turn it into your employer within seven days of the accident.

You also must fill out the Employee’s Claim for Compensation/Report of Initial Treatment (C-4 Form). This form goes to your employer and then the workers’ compensation insurance provider. You have 90 days from the date of your injury to provide the C-4 Form to your employer.

The next steps are your employer’s responsibility. The employer will fill out the Employer’s Report of Industrial Injury or Occupational Disease and file it with their insurer within six days of receiving your form. Your employer will also fill out the Employer’s Wage Verification Form.

Within 30 days of receiving notice of your injury, the insurance carrier must approve or deny your claim and provide you with notice of the decision. If your claim is denied, or you believe the benefits you are granted are incorrect, contact a work accident lawyer immediately. We know how to appeal a denied workers’ comp claim and fight for you to receive the maximum benefits available.

Appealing a Workers’ Comp Claim Denial

Depending on the circumstances, your employer or the insurer may try to get out of paying you workers’ comp benefits. There are several defenses an employer can use to deny you workers’ comp, including:

• Off the Clock: Your employer may claim you were injured while off the clock, in which case, workers’ comp insurance would not apply.
• Intoxication at Work: Your employer can deny your claim if there is evidence you were impaired due to alcohol or drugs at the time of the workplace accident.
• Intentional Injury: Your employer or insurer may claim you intentionally harmed yourself.
• Fraud: Your employer or insurer may claim you are trying to defraud the insurer and wrongfully receive workers’ comp benefits.
• Late Filing: The insurer may claim you failed your notice of injury too late to receive compensation.

At Oronoz & Ericsson Injury Lawyers, our work-related injury lawyers have fought back against many workers’ comp claim denials. Let us fight for you. Contact us as soon as possible after receiving a denial letter. This enables us to begin analyzing your workers’ comp claim and the reason for the denial right away.

You have 70 days to file an appeal with the Nevada Department of Administrations (DOA). We will file a Request for Hearing once we have determined the strongest argument against the denial.

The next step in the appeal process is attending an informal meeting with a DOA Hearing Officer. The officer will listen to both side’s oral arguments and decide in favor of you or the employer.

If the Hearing Officer decides in favor of the employer, we will file a Request for Hearing Before Appeals Officer within 30 days. This is a more formal appeal during which each side can present evidence to the Appeals Officer. You may have to wait several days for a decision.

If the Appeals Officer decides in favor of your employer, the next step is to file a lawsuit in civil court. We will file a Petition for Judicial Review within 30 days of the latest denial.

Third-Party Liability

You may get hurt at work, but that does not mean a coworker or supervisor is at fault. The at-fault party may be an individual from outside of your employer or another business entirely.

For example, you may be injured when a former employee returns to your office and commits an act of violence. You may get hurt when an employee from another vendor or contractor is negligent while working at the same site as you.

You may be injured because the property owner failed to maintain reasonably safe premises. This would be a Nevada premises liability claim. Or, you may get hurt because one of your tools or pieces of equipment are defective. This would be a Nevada or federal product liability claim.

When someone from outside of your employer is responsible for your injuries, talk with a work injury lawyer about filing a third-party liability lawsuit. Workers’ comp benefits will never cover the full toll of your injuries. Workers’ comp is meant to deal with your medical expenses and a portion of your lost wages. It never addresses your pain and suffering.

By filing a third-party liability lawsuit, you can demand compensation workers’ comp does not cover, including but not limited to scarring and disfigurement, pain and suffering, mental anguish, reduced quality of life, and loss of consortium (spouse relationship).