UPS Drivers with Broken Bones

Chicago Lawyers Helping Injured Delivery Workers

UPS drivers can sustain serious injuries, including broken bones, on the job. These injuries commonly result from repetitive strain while driving or in traumatic accidents. UPS drivers with broken bones may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca, our experienced Chicago workers’ compensation attorneys help injured workers throughout the workers’ compensation claim process.

Broken Bones

Although bones are rigid, they can withstand and bend a little when pressure is placed upon them. They break, however when the pressure is too severe. The seriousness of the break depends on the degree of force that caused it. When the force is extreme, as it is in a truck crash, the bone may shatter into fragments. This poses an infection risk if the bone fragment punctures the skin and opens a wound. Types of fractures include comminuted fractures, oblique fractures, transverse fractures, and open and compound fractures.

UPS Drivers with Broken Bones

Delivery drivers with broken bones from work-related accidents may be eligible for a range of workers compensation benefits. The nature and type of these benefits depends on the severity and location of the broken bones. Some simple breaks may only require a UPS driver to take several weeks off of work. However, UPS drivers who suffer complicated or comminuted fractures may require surgery, as well as rehabilitation and therapy for the affected areas.

Workers’ compensation benefits include temporary total disability benefits, permanent total disability benefits, reasonable and necessary medical care, and vocational rehabilitation. For instance, if you need to get a cast for a broken arm at the emergency room after a UPS truck accident, workers’ compensation benefits may cover these expenses.

You may be able to obtain disability pay in the form of two thirds of your average weekly wage. However, the insurer may miscalculate your average weekly wage. An experienced lawyer can make verify that an appropriate measure was used to calculate your average weekly wage. While broken bones rarely cause permanent disability, you may be able to receive permanent disability benefits if a severe fracture results in a lifelong disability.

Denials

Sometimes, UPS and its insurer may try to deny benefits on spurious grounds. For example, if you need more care than is usual for broken bones, they may argue that you have a pre-existing condition. You should be aware that this is not a valid ground for denial. So long as the work accident that caused your broken bones aggravated or exacerbated your condition, you should be able to obtain benefits.

UPS and its insurer may retain a private investigator to tail you and try to show that your broken bones aren’t as serious as you claim. In some cases, surveillance is conducted on social media, where many people try to make their situations appear better than they are. You should follow your doctor’s instructions regarding your broken bones and be cautious about posting to social media.

Third-Party Lawsuit

Sometimes, broken bones are the result of an accident caused by a negligent driver. You may be able to bring a lawsuit for damages against the negligent driver. You’ll need to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the other driver’s conduct fell below the reasonable care that should have been used under the circumstances and this failure caused your injuries.

Retain a Chicago Attorney

UPS drivers with broken bones from work accidents should talk to the experienced Chicago lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. We also represent 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.