Amazon Workers with Back Injuries

Chicago Lawyers Helping Warehouse Employees

Amazon has built its reputation on fast deliveries. However, Amazon workers are often placed at risk of injuries when trying to meet the company’s aggressive delivery deadlines. Amazon experiences a higher than usual rate of injuries, particularly in its warehouses. Amazon workers with back injuries should consult the seasoned Chicago workers’ compensation attorneys of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca.

Amazon Workers with Back Injuries

Amazon workers are at risk of many different types of back injuries, including damage to the tailbone, vertebrae, discs, ligaments, and muscles. The spine may be fractured or dislocated. A disc may be torn or ruptured. Nerves in the lower back may be compressed. Ligaments or muscles may be sprained. These injuries may be the result of strain over time or an acute injury. For example, if you lift heavy boxes in the warehouse every hour, you might suffer a herniated or ruptured disc as a result. Alternatively, if a work vehicle backs into you while you are in the warehouse, you might suffer damage to your vertebrae. If you sustained back injuries while on the job, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Back Injuries

Workers’ compensation benefits include medical expenses, medical mileage, vocational rehabilitation, temporary or permanent disability benefits, and death benefits. Your employer’s insurance company should pay for medical care that is reasonable and necessary to treat your back injury. You have the right to select a health care provider. If your employer belongs to a Preferred Provider Program, you will have two choices of health care providers paid by your employer’s insurer. If you select a provider outside the network, you will only have one choice covered by insurance.

The back injury may prevent you from working on a temporary or permanent basis. For example, if you suffer a spinal cord injury, you may not unable to continue lifting heavy packages all day in the warehouse. You may be eligible for temporary and permanent disability benefits. In Illinois, compensation for temporary disabilities are paid at a rate of 2/3 your average weekly wage until you reach maximum medical improvement. This is the point at which you are not expected to improve any further. If the back injury persists even beyond the point of maximum medical improvement, the disability may be permanent. If you are permanently disabled, the permanent disability benefits may be calculated based on wage differential, scheduled injury, percentage of loss or extent of disfigurement. Contact a lawyer to understand the full range of benefits available under the workers’ compensation program.

Insurers may be skeptical of back injuries that require surgery. You should be aware that you may be subject to surveillance if your insurer doubts the severity of your claim.

Pre-Existing Conditions

Your employer’s workers’ compensation insurer may deny your workers’ compensation claim. You should not assume that a denial is valid. A common basis for denial is a pre-existing condition. An insurer may scan your medical records and see a prior visit to the doctor that notes a back injury or degenerative disc disease. However, your employer’s insurer cannot legitimately deny your claim simply because you have a pre-existing condition. The relevant question is whether the pre-existing condition was exacerbated or aggravated by work. Once the back has been injured or strained, it may be more easily injured again. If you suffer from a pre-existing condition, such as degenerative disc disease or muscle strain, and sustained a herniated disc after lifting boxes for work, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

Retain a Seasoned Attorney in Chicago

Amazon workers with back injuries should seek a consultation with the experienced workers’ compensation lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. Our firm provides legal representation to injured Amazon workers in Chicago, Champaign, Quincy, Aurora, and Rockford, along with Winnebago, Kane, Cook, Adams, and Sangamon Counties. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.