Special Ed Teachers’ Injuries
Chicago Attorneys for Special Ed Teachers’ Injuries
As a special ed teacher, you face specific challenges on the job that others may not realize. You could be injured when lifting heavy objects or medical equipment for a student, in a slip and fall, or due to school violence. You may face psychological challenges, as well. Seeking legal counsel from an experienced Chicago workers’ compensation lawyer if you suffer job-related injuries or illnesses is vital. At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca, we have more than 60 years of experience fighting for workers who’ve suffered because of significant and disabling job-related injuries.
Chicago Lawyers for Claims Arising Out of Special Ed Teachers’ Injuries
Special ed teachers in Illinois face a wide range of risks on the job. These can include getting sick, slip and falls, medical device malfunctions, lifting injuries, and school violence. Slip, and falls are among the most common types of accidents at schools. For example, suppose you are helping a disabled student with classwork and trip on an electrical cord while returning to your desk, suffering complex fractures. In that case, you may be unable to work for a period, and you likely need medical care. You may have grounds for a workers’ compensation claim for benefits.
Benefits for Special Ed Teachers in Illinois
As a special ed teacher injured or made sick on the job in or around Chicago, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The type and amount of benefits depend on the nature of your injuries. These are no-fault benefits, which means you can recover them without proving fault. Even so, navigating the complicated workers’ compensation system can be challenging.
Workers’ compensation benefits include disability, medical, and vocational rehabilitation benefits. If, for example, you were in a slip and fall that left you permanently disabled and unable to stay on your feet and could no longer teach special ed, it might prove essential to obtain vocational rehabilitation to get retrained for a different job you could still do. Your treating physician may need to provide evidence that you are no longer able to do the same job and that you now face restrictions due to your work-related injuries.
Unfortunately, employers and insurers do not necessarily accept every claim for benefits. It is crucial to provide notice of your work-related injury as soon as possible or within 45 days, but even with this notice, you may find your claim is denied. While you can provide verbal notice to your employer under the law, you should consider giving written notice instead, as this cuts off the possibility that your employer will claim you didn’t give timely notice of your work-related injuries.
Third-Party Lawsuits in Chicago and Elsewhere in Illinois
Workers’ compensation benefits are an exclusive remedy, meaning you cannot sue the school that employs you for damages. However, if someone other than your employer was to blame, you may have grounds to sue for damages in a third-party personal injury lawsuit. For example, if you were injured when adjusting a special ed student’s medical device because it was defective, you may have a claim against the device manufacturer. Similarly, you may have grounds to sue an at-fault driver if you get in a car accident [link to car accident] while driving to a student’s home to tutor them. In many instances, you would need to prove negligence to recover damages. Our lawyers handle not only workers’ compensation claims but also third-party lawsuits arising from the same incident.
Consult a Seasoned Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
If you sustained injuries on the job as a special education teacher, you must consult an experienced Chicago workers’ compensation attorney about your legal options. Our lawyers represent special ed teachers in workers’ compensation claims, personal injury lawsuits, and SSDI claims in Rockford, Champaign, Quincy, and Aurora, as well as Sangamon, Winnebago, Kane, Cook, and Adams Counties. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.