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​Experienced ILLINOIS Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
& CHICAGO Injury Lawyers

Airline Workers’ Compensation Appeals

Chicago Lawyers for Employees Hurt On the Job

Workers’ compensation benefits are supposed to be provided regardless of fault if you are injured at your airline job or you’ve been diagnosed with an occupational illness. In other words, you’re not supposed to have to show that your employer is at fault to obtain benefits, and an insurer can’t say that you are at fault to deny you workers’ compensation benefits. The system was set up to make it easier for workers to recover benefits than it would be if they had to take their employers to court to obtain compensatory damages. Even so, all too often, insurers issue denials for valid claims. If your claim has been denied and you have questions appealing, a skilled Chicago workers’ compensation attorney can help. We can look into the underlying circumstances that resulted in your accident or occupational illness, and work with knowledgeable medical professionals to appeal a denial or arbitrator’s decision against you.

Airline Workers’ Compensation Appeals

You can appeal a workers’ compensation denial or adverse decision, but it is advisable to get help from an experienced workers’ compensation attorney with this. Often it’s stressful for a worker and their family to appeal a denial, but an appeal may be necessary to survive financially. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) is meant to provide an impartial adjudication, but that doesn’t mean they will rule in your favor.

For an airline workers’ compensation appeal, you will need all the evidence and documentation that supports your claim and that shows you’re eligible to receive benefits under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. At a bare minimum, you must have been employed on the date of the job-related accident or illness, and be able to show that there is a causal connection between the toxic exposure or accident that led to your harm. You also need to have provided timely notice to your employer of the toxic exposure or accident that harmed you. When, for example, there is a plane crash that causes your work injuries, you may feel it’s obvious that the airline knows about the crash. However, it’s still important to provide notice of your injuries.

Sometimes, an insurer allows you to recover certain benefits, but not others. The insurer may disagree about how badly you were harmed or how your average weekly wage should be calculated. There are situations where the insurer believes a treatment wasn’t necessary or reasonable; this can be an issue, for example, with surgeries. When there is a dispute, you can ask an arbitrator to hear your case.

Arbitration and Appeals

If an arbitrator of the IWCC reaches a decision at trial that either party disagrees with, it’s possible to appeal that decision. The Commission is a panel of three commissioners that looks over the arbitrator’s determination and examines whether there was enough evidence for it. Appeals involve a hearing before the Commission, and at that hearing, both the airline and the airline worker get a chance to present their evidence and arguments. The Commission evaluates the arguments and evidence, and makes a decision about the issues presented within 60 days.

While an appeal is pending, the airline doesn’t need to pay you the benefits that the arbitrator awarded. You can get interest along with the award if you win your appeal.

Consult a Dedicated Workers’ Compensation Attorney in Chicago

You shouldn’t assume that the rejection of your workers’ compensation claim by the insurer, or even by the arbitrator, is valid and will stand such that you can’t get benefits. It helps to have the representation of an experienced work injury lawyer when you are appealing a workers’ compensation denial in or around Chicago. At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca, we are available to assist with airline workers’ compensation appeals and represent injured workers in Rockford, Champaign, Quincy, and Aurora, as well as Winnebago, Adams, Kane, Sangamon, and Cook Counties. Contact us at 312-724-5846 or by completing our online form.