Lower body injuries are not uncommon in the workplace, but because people
regularly walk most of their lives it is sometimes difficult to prove
in workers' compensation cases that work was the prevailing cause
of injury and not degenerative change. Employers and their insurers fight
hard to show that age and degeneration or arthritis are the underlying
cause of injury in hopes of avoiding payment of workers’ compensation.
If you suffer a foot, ankle, hip or knee injury at work it is important
to make a very clear record of the lower body injury and how it occurred.
You should also contact a workers’ compensation attorney right away.
At Cantor Injury Law, we can guide you through the workers’ compensation
process and accurately document both the cause and the need for care of
your lower body injury.
We encourage you to call us immediately if you have a lower body injury
at (314) 485-4005 so that we can begin protecting your rights as early
in the case as possible. If you are not sure that you want to hire a workers'
compensation lawyer to represent you in your case, you can take advantage
of our free case consultation. We will discuss the merits of your work
comp claim and outline your options for receiving workers' compensation benefits.
As we have mentioned before on this site, workers’ compensation does
not pay for pain and suffering, but only permanent partial disability.
The amount of compensation you receive is often determined by the location
and severity of the lower body injury.
Knee Injuries are some of the most common lower body injuries we encounter,
and the medial meniscus tear is among the most frequently reported. The
medial meniscus is a small pad that separates the bones in your knee.
This knee injury is most commonly repaired by removing the part of the
meniscus that is torn. In our opinion, this causes permanent partial disability
at the knee because a portion of the knee is removed forever. In our experience
we have found that insurance company doctors frequently evaluate medial
meniscus tears as having 0% or minimal disability. According to the disability
compensation chart, knee injuries are only worth 160 weeks of disability
payment. THE KNEE IS ONLY WORTH 160 WEEKS OF TWO THIRDS OF YOUR PAY (Which
equates to 106.6 weeks of pay) AND THAT IS IF YOUR LEG IS CUT OFF AT THE
KNEE! If the insurance company doctor evaluates your disability at 5%,
they will offer you two thirds of your average weekly wage multiplied
by 8, which is the equivalent of around five full weeks of pay. Cantor
Injury Law will also represent you in your knee injury or patella fracture case.
According to the disability compensation chart ankle injuries are worth
155 weeks of pay at two-thirds of your average weekly wage. The insurer
often argues that ankle injuries are only worth 150 weeks in the most
severe cases. The disability compensation chart is drawn to favor employers
and insurance companies. According to the chart, the ankle is worth 150
weeks and the mid foot is worth 110 weeks. Again, compensation is only
two thirds of your salary and the weekly totals are often far underestimated.
Hip injuries are based on a value of 207 weeks of pay, but insurers often
argue that hip injuries are only worth 160 weeks, which is the equivalent
of a severe knee injury! Cantor Injury Law can help with your hip fracture,
hip replacement or hip surgery case. We also frequently represent claimants
and lower body injury victims with leg fracture cases related to anterior
cruciate ligament damage and tibia and fibula fractures.
Cantor Injury Law routinely wins lower body Missouri workers’ compensation
cases. We encourage you to call us immediately if you have a lower body
injury caused by a work accident so that we can begin protecting your
rights as early in the case as possible. Insurance companies will frequently
argue that once a fracture is healed that the claimant has no disability.