Texas Workmans Compensation, a specialty of Houston Workman’s Comp Lawyer
If you need a Houston workman’s comp lawyer to assist with Texas workman’s comp claim and settlements, we can help.
Generally speaking, when employees are injured, ill, or die in the course of their employment, they -- or their families or dependents -- are usually entitled to collect worker's compensation benefits without hiring workmans compensation lawyers. The entitlement is virtually automatic, as long as the worker qualifies as an employee and experiences an on-the-job injury.
Worker’s compensation laws were enacted to reduce court delays, encourage safety, and to give injured employees a reliable source of income and benefits, regardless of who was at fault in causing the injury. All 50 states and the federal government now have some type of worker's compensation law in effect.
In the worker's compensation system, employees receive benefits without regard to who caused the accident. The issue of negligence -- whether on part of the employer or the worker -- plays no part in a worker’s compensation matter. This means that the barn worker who was kicked in the head while trying to pasture a horse, even if his own negligence and inattentiveness helped cause the injury, could recover benefits.
What is Worker’s Compensation Generally Designed to Cover?
If the "employee" suffers an injury, illness, or death on the job, then worker’s compensation applies. Benefits, which vary depending on the severity of the injury and whether the injury is permanent, can include reimbursement for medical expenses, doctor bills, hospital stays, and rehabilitation costs. Benefits can also include reimbursement for a certain amount of the worker’s lost income. Should a worker die, the laws provide certain benefits to his or her spouse and certain dependents (such as the worker’s children).
Other losses, such as "pain and suffering," are generally not recoverable through worker’s compensation. However, the injured worker might hire a workman’s compensation attorney to recover losses from others responsible for the injury (maybe, for example, a defective machine was at fault and could be sued separately).
Who Qualifies for Benefits?
Worker’s compensation benefits are only available to "employees" (as defined in the applicable law) who suffer illnesses, injuries, or death arising "out of and in the course of employment." In the example at the beginning of this article, both the injured driver and stable worker would likely have claims. Those seeking worker’s compensation benefits should notify the employer promptly after an injury and, where required, submit a claim form.
Contact our Houston workman’s comp lawyer today for a free, no obligation professional review of your case by filling out and submitting the short, online form OR call us at:
Houston - 713-552-1117
Toll Free - 800-732-2934
EVALUATION
WALKER & CRAWFORD, PC
Houston Personal Injury Lawyers
1924 Portsmouth | Houston, TX 77098
Phone: 713-552-1117 | Fax: 713-552-0956
E-mail: Info@walkertexaslawyer.com
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