In Minnesota, workers’ compensation does cover repetitive stress injuries when they’re related to work. This includes both injuries that develop gradually over time and injuries that can be traced to a single traumatic event, though the first is far more common with repetitive stress. Getting proper compensation isn’t always easy, and a workers’ comp lawyer in Saint Paul, MN can help you find out if you qualify and present a strong claim.
Definition and Examples of Covered Injuries
When the cumulative effects of small, repetitive trauma build from doing your ordinary job duties, the repeated stress can sometimes become serious enough to cause disability. In 1960, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in Gillette v. Harold, Inc. that such gradual injuries are compensable as personal injuries under workers’ compensation law, even if they build up over an extended period. These injuries are now known as Gillette injuries.
Examples of Gillette injuries would be lower back pain from repetitive lifting and bending, conditions that arise from assembly line tasks involving twisting and standing, and wrist or shoulder injury caused by constant computer use.
Eligibility and Proving the Link
To qualify for compensation, your injury must arise out of and in the course of employment, though there doesn’t have to be any fault or negligence on the part of your employer for you to qualify, and it doesn’t matter if you were negligent, either. Workers’ comp is paid regardless of fault.
Preexisting conditions can be covered only if you can show they were aggravated by work-related repetitive trauma. To prove your injury qualifies, you’ll need medical evidence that establishes a causal connection between your ordinary work duties and the disability. Your medical provider must clearly understand your actual job tasks so they can link them to the symptoms you’re experiencing.
Reporting and Notification Requirements
Once your doctor has alerted you that your condition is likely linked to work, report the injury to your employer as soon as possible. For Gillette injuries, you have to give written notice to your employer or verify they have actual knowledge within 180 days of the date it becomes apparent to a reasonable person that the injury has resulted in (or is likely to cause) disability. In most cases, this will be the date when you’ve sought medical help because the condition is so difficult to live with and have been told that it’s likely linked to your work.
Your employer then has to file what’s called a First Report of Injury with their insurer within 10 days. The insurance company investigates and is required to issue a Notice of Insurer’s Primary Liability Determination within 14 days if there’s any lost work time involved, accepting or denying the claim. Keep records of medical restrictions, treatments, and communications, and inform both the employer and insurer of changes in work ability.
Talk to a Saint Paul, MN Workers’ Comp Lawyer
Workers’ comp claims aren’t always easy or straightforward. Your lawyer can make sure everything is filed properly and on time, negotiate, bring appeals if you’re denied, and keep up the pressure on everyone all along the way towards resolution. Talk to us today at Frayne Injury Law, PLLC in South Saint Paul.
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