Amazon Warehouse Worker Injuries

Chicago Law Firm for Amazon Warehouse Worker Injuries

Amazon promises exciting opportunities for workers. Unfortunately, it also requires its workers to be productive at very high speeds. Its warehouse workers are particularly susceptible to serious injuries. If you are concerned about Amazon warehouse worker injuries in Chicago, you should discuss your situation with seasoned Chicago workers compensation attorneys. Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca may be able to able to help you. In addition to being effective advocates with Amazon’s insurers and in the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, we also understand when it’s also appropriate to pursue damages in a third party lawsuit. As knowledgeable litigators, we can work to make sure you obtain the best available result.

Amazon Warehouse Worker Injuries

In the Amazon warehouse, workers must select, pack, and put together customer orders for shipping at high speeds and under severe physical stress. This can result in catastrophic or fatal injuries. As a warehouse worker, you may face crushing injuries, broken bones and fractures, repetitive stress injuries, toxic exposures, and more. For instance, if your arm was amputated in an equipment accident, you may be able to obtain benefits not only as a partial replacement for wage loss, but also for the full spectrum of medical care you need. When your injury is work-related or occurs on the job, it can be the basis of a workers’ compensation claim for benefits.

Workers compensation is a no-fault system. This means you will not have to prove that your employer or anyone else was negligent in order to obtain important benefits such as temporary total disability, permanent total disability, medical benefits, medical mileage, medical equipment, and vocational rehabilitation. Rather, our attorneys will need to be able to show an arbitrator at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission that you were harmed in a work-related accident.

In some cases, Amazon and its insurer refuse to pay benefits even for acute injuries or death on the job. They may issue a denial, for instance, on the grounds that you have a pre-existing condition. However, you can obtain benefits even if you had a pre-existing condition, so long as it was aggravated or exacerbated by your work for Amazon.

There are situations in which Amazon believes workers are malingering. That is, the company may doubt your work-related injuries are as serious as you say they are. For that reason, its insurer may conduct surveillance after hours. This surveillance may occur in-person. However, it can also occur on social media. You need to be cautious that you follow all of your doctor’s medical advice if you’ve made a claim for benefits. For instance, if your treating physician recommends you no longer lift anything more than 5 pounds due to a disc rupture, you must take care not to do so. Your doctor may also place limits on your ability to go back to work.

Amazon and its insurer may also ask you to undergo an independent medical exam (IME). Despite the name of the exam, your IME may not be conducted using objective criteria. In many cases, IME doctors are retained by insurers because they tend to recommend conservative care or not treatment at all. Moreover, if Amazon’s insurer is suspicious that you are not gravely injured, it may let the doctor know this. The IME doctor and his or her staff may watch how you approach the medical offices and scrutinize your behavior in the office and as you leave.

Third-Party Lawsuit

If you sustain injuries as an Amazon warehouse worker, and you were injured due to the fault of someone other than your employer or coworker, you may be able to bring a third-party lawsuit against the responsible person or entity. The circumstances of the accident will determine what theories should be asserted to recover damages. Our attorneys will look closely at your particular situation and try to obtain the greatest available relief for you.

Hire a Chicago Law Firm for Amazon Warehouse Worker Injuries

Warehouses are full of threats to worker safety. Our attorneys represent Amazon warehouse workers in Champaign, Rockford, Quincy, and Aurora, as well as Sangamon, Winnebago, Kane, Cook, and Adams Counties. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.