Back Injuries in the Airline Industry

Lawyer for Chicago Workers’ Compensation Claims

There are numerous dangerous situations that arise on the job in the airline industry, and different injuries may result. Back injuries are among the most common kinds of injuries. If you suffered a back injury in the airline industry, you may be able to file a workers’ compensation claim to obtain benefits. Insurers are often skeptical about workers’ compensation claims and may deny claims that are legitimate. It can be important to consult with an experienced Chicago workers’ compensation attorney about your case.

Back Injuries in the Airline Industry

Back injuries in the airline industry can be triggered in many different ways. Often they’re caused by employees lifting passenger baggage and reaching into overhead bins. Sometimes the worker himself is partially to blame for the injuries. Lifting technique can result in back injuries. Sometimes employers provide appropriate safety training, but in other cases, workers are left to figure it out for themselves. Often employees become desensitized to how much effort they’re using on a consistent basis, and this can result in forgetting to stretch or twisting while carrying a heavy object.

Workers’ compensation benefits are available for workplace back injuries irrespective of fault. It doesn’t matter, in other words, whether you lifted a bag inappropriately and that’s why you were injured. It also doesn’t matter if your employer’s lack of appropriate safety training is what caused your injuries. You will not need to establish fault. Instead, you’ll need to show that the back injuries were suffered on the job.

Pre-existing Conditions

Often people have pre-existing conditions that involve their backs or spines. An insurer may deny a back injury claim after looking at medical records and spotting a disc herniation, degenerative disc disease or an earlier soft tissue injury. You should not simply accept the denial. The aggravation of a pre-existing condition is a compensable injury under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. An employer takes an employee as it finds him. If you have a preexisting condition, you aren’t barred from making a claim for back injuries where your job caused an aggravation of the preexisting condition, and a skilled work injury attorney can help you make your case.

Pre-existing conditions vary in severity and kind. Sometimes they are minor back strains for which you previously saw a doctor. In other cases, they are major problems like a painful disc rupture. The aggravation of the pre-existing condition must be work-related in order for you to recover workers’ compensation benefits in connection with the aggravation. It has to be traced to a time and cause that is connected to your job. For example, if you previously suffered a disc herniation in a car accident, and eventually it seemed all right, but while you were lifting luggage on the tarmac, the disc ruptured and you were filled with excruciating pain, you may be able to recover benefits for the rupture.

Benefits

The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act entitles workers who suffer back injuries on the job to recover benefits ranging from temporary partial disability to permanent total disability. You will not need to establish your employer’s fault in order to obtain these benefits, and you cannot be excluded from benefits because you used an improper lifting technique or otherwise aggravated your own preexisting condition. Workers’ compensation benefits to which you may be entitled include medical care, disability benefits, vocational rehabilitation, and medical mileage.

Knowledgeable Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Serving Chicago

Although there is no requirement that you prove fault in workers’ compensation cases and this should simplify the process of recovering benefits, in practice, this is not the case. Often preexisting conditions are used to deny back injury claims. If you suffered back injuries as a worker in the airline industry in Chicago, the committed workers’ compensation lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca can assess your case. We represent airline workers with back injuries in Aurora, Rockford, Springfield, and Quincy, as well as Kane, Champaign, Sangamon, Winnebago, Adams, and Cook Counties. Please call us at 312-724-5846 or contact us online for a free consultation.