Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD or SSDI) is a payroll tax-funded federal insurance program of the United States government. It is managed by the Social Security Administration and designed to provide income to people who are unable to work full time.
You hurt yourself at work, but you keep your job. You can’t do what you did before so your boss gives you a modified job and you continue to work. But when you returned to work, things have changed. You’re treated differently by your boss and/or supervisor. You don’t feel trusted and you feel disrespected. What happened? Why the change? I see this in my workers compensation law practice all the time.
After work injuries, bosses seem to go from good guy Dr Jekyll into bad guy Mr. Hyde. The change usually comes in the nature of a bad job offer that you legally have to accept. You have to take a job that you completely don’t want to do. Perhaps it seems like a fake offer or setup. Perhaps the offer is insincere; it seems like a punishment because you got hurt; like a demeaning no-duty job. You might feel offended by any of this the strange behavior because you gave your heart and soul to this employer and all of a sudden it’s turning its back on you, playing a game.
You hurt yourself and began receiving compensation. You saw your employer’s doctor and soon after that, you received a letter to go back to work to a modified job within your restrictions. You don’t think you can do it, and your doctor agrees with you, and gives you a note to stay out of work. What should you do?
This scenario plays out in court throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania all the time. No one should go through this without a workers’ compensation lawyer. The consequences of the choices you make can be so dramatic in this instance, you need as much information as you can get. There’s no way you should make the decision without knowing your legal rights.
You sustained a work injury and disability and you’re receiving workers compensation. You get a letter from your employer’s insurance company saying you have to see an independent doctor. What do you need to know, and what should you do? Most of my lessons in this article apply to anyone who must be examined by an “independent physician” for any type of legal matter.
The internet, cell phones, and social media have collectively created a giant, online data base consisting of written journal entries, picture of social occasions, and even home videos which give details of our daily activities, nights out, trips, vacations, and outings; all this information is neatly organized by date, time, and place. These online journals give details of our work, family, recreation, vacations, daily routines, accomplishments, and emotions. The information is public, and even if its private, a good opposing lawyer can sometimes access it.
We’ve discussed in another video that you can’t sue your employer for work injury, you can only workers’ compensation from your employer. What other benefits are available to injured workers other than workers’ compensation (WC)?
Well, just because you can’t sue your employer doesn’t mean you can’t sue someone else who’s responsible for causing your work injury. Let’s go review some common targets for lawsuits of a work injury.
First, a landlord. The owner of your place of employment might be different from your employer, and therefore, that landowner wouldn’t have immunity. If your injury is caused by a dangerous condition of the property, and the landlord knew, or should have known of this danger, then the landlord is a target.
You can’t sue your employer for pain and suffering and all the other injuries because there’s an exclusivity provision of a
workers compensation laws which give immunity to employers. The reason why lawmakers put that protection in is so that everyone would get covered — all injured workers, not just the ones in unsafe conditions. But the employees waive their right to sue for pain and suffering.
