Many workers are prone to serious injuries and illnesses, especially those who work in the building and construction industries daily. However, office workers and others who perform most of their work indoors may also suffer serious injuries in the workplace, such as during a slip and fall accident that results from a premises owner’s negligence.
If you suffered injuries while working, you may recover benefits through the California Workers' Compensation System. You may also file a third-party personal injury claim or lawsuit against a negligent individual or entity who brought about your workplace accident or occurrence.
To maximize your chances of recovering favorable monetary benefits and damages, you want a skilled team of attorneys advocating for you and representing your legal interests during every stage of the proceedings.
The experienced California workers’ compensation lawyers at Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos understand the significant pain, suffering, and inconvenience often accompanying a workplace injury or illness.
In addition, you may need to attend medical appointments and miss work for a significant amount of time after your accident, losing considerable income. Our team can meet with you immediately to determine your eligibility for filing a workers' compensation claim and pursue the benefits and monetary damages you deserve.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with an experienced California workers’ compensation lawyer, please contact our office directly, and a team member will assist you.
- Why Select Us to Represent You in Your Case?
- How Much Are My California Workers' Comp Case and Potential Third-party Case Worth?
- Where do Workplace Accidents Occur in California?
- Types of Workplace Accidents and Occurrences in California
- Common Types of Workplace Injuries
- Eligibility for Filing a Workers' Comp Claim in California
- Fighting the Insurance Company after a Workplace Accident
- What to do after a Workplace Accident or Occurrence
- Speak With an Experienced California Workers' Compensation Lawyer as Soon as Possible
Why Select Us to Represent You in Your Case?
If you suffered an injury at your workplace, you want the best possible team of attorneys in your corner to advocate for you every step of the way.
The knowledgeable California workers’ compensation attorneys at Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos have the resources and experience to obtain the benefits you need as part of your workers' compensation claim. We can also pursue a third-party personal injury claim or lawsuit if a negligent individual or entity other than your employer caused your workplace accident.
Unlike many local workers’ compensation and personal injury law firms, we are not afraid to file a lawsuit on behalf of our clients and take their cases all the way to a civil jury trial, if necessary.
You can find some of our most recent client reviews on our website, and we can provide you with more upon request. We want you to be confident in your choice of an attorney. While our lawyers know we have the skill and experience to protect your rights, you must feel comfortable with your legal team.
During your initial consultation, we can answer any questions you have about our services or the claim process and address any concerns. We provide this meeting at no cost with no obligation to hire our firm.
We conveniently have offices in Hayward, San Mateo, and Santa Barbara to best serve injured workers in California. Let us pursue and recover the workers' compensation benefits and other monetary compensation you need and deserve following your work injury or illness. Reach out today for more information.
You can find some of our most recent client reviews on our website, and we can provide you with more upon request. We want you to be confident in your choice of an attorney. While our lawyers know we have the skill and experience to protect your rights, you must feel comfortable with your legal team.
During your initial consultation, we can answer any questions you have about our services or the claim process and address any concerns. We provide this meeting at no cost with no obligation to hire our firm.
We conveniently have offices in Hayward, San Mateo, and Santa Barbara to best serve injured workers in California. Let us pursue and recover the workers' compensation benefits and other monetary compensation you need and deserve following your work injury or illness. Reach out today for more information.
How Much Are My California Workers' Comp Case and Potential Third-party Case Worth?
The monetary benefits an individual may receive as part of their workers' compensation claim depend on many circumstances. Factors that may affect an individual's benefits include the nature and extent of their work-related injuries, their medical treatment, the cost of their medical treatment, whether they missed time from work, and whether they suffered a permanent injury in their workplace accident or occurrence.
First, injured workers may recover compensation for their medical expenses from their recent treatment. In addition, an injured worker may recover a portion of their lost income if they miss time from work after an accident.
In some situations, injured workers cannot return to their former jobs or occupations due to the extent of their work-related injury or illness. In those circumstances, a worker may receive vocational rehabilitation benefits. These benefits help place a worker in a new position with job duties they can physically perform.
An injured worker may also recover various permanency benefits.
One common permanency benefit is PPD or permanent partial disability benefits. To recover these benefits, a medical provider must physically examine you and determine, based on a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that you suffered a permanent injury on the job.
In that instance, you may recover benefits for your disability for a set time, depending on the extent of the limitations you have from your injuries.
Finally, surviving family members may recover various death benefits if an individual suffers fatal injuries in a workplace accident.
In addition to filing a claim for workers' compensation benefits, an injured worker may file a third-party claim or lawsuit in certain situations. For example, if a worker suffered an injury in a motor vehicle crash while driving a work vehicle, they may file a separate third-party claim against the negligent driver of that vehicle (or their motor vehicle insurance company).
To recover monetary damages as part of a third-party personal injury case, an injured worker must establish that the negligent third party owed them a legal duty of care they subsequently breached – or violated. The injured worker must also establish that as a direct result of this negligence, the accident and their injuries subsequently occurred.
As part of a personal injury claim or lawsuit against a third party, the injured worker may be eligible to recover monetary compensation for pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental distress, loss of the ability to use a specific body part (such as from a spinal cord injury or full/partial paralysis injury), loss of life enjoyment, loss of spousal companionship, permanent disfigurement, anticipated medical costs, and lifetime care costs.
Our experienced team of California workers' compensation attorneys can determine your eligibility for pursuing various benefits and damages. We can file the appropriate claim to pursue the monetary recovery you deserve for your workplace injury or illness.
Where do Workplace Accidents Occur in California?
Accidents, injuries, and illnesses can occur in virtually any workplace setting in California.
Some of the most common venues for workplace injuries include:
- Construction and building sites
- Office buildings
- Factories with heavy and dangerous machinery
- Schools
If you suffered a workplace injury or illness at one of these locations, you may be eligible to pursue monetary benefits through the California Division of Workers’ Compensation. Our skilled team of attorneys can determine your eligibility for filing a claim for workers' compensation benefits and pursue the full monetary benefits you deserve.
Types of Workplace Accidents and Occurrences in California
Various types of workplace occurrences can lead to an injury or illness while on the job.
Some of the most common occurrences that lead to a workers' compensation claim include:
- Slip and fall injuries at work
- Falls from a tall ladder or scaffolding on a job site
- Crush injuries from defective machinery or equipment that runs over a worker
- Motor vehicle accidents that involve work vehicles, such as on a construction or building site
- Explosions on a job site that cause eye injuries
- Exposure to harmful chemicals while at work
- Job-site exposure to asbestos
- Fires that break out on a job site
- Repetitive bodily movements, such as typing, can lead to various medical conditions, including carpal tunnel syndrome
If you suffered injuries in one of these workplace occurrences, our legal team can review your situation with you and determine your eligibility for filing a successful workers' compensation claim for benefits. We can handle every step of the claims-filing process, including gathering and submitting the necessary documents to your employer's insurance company.
Common Types of Workplace Injuries
The potential injuries or illnesses that an individual may experience on a job site are virtually limitless.
Some of the most common injuries/illnesses that may occur include:
- Soft tissue neck and back injuries
- Bone fractures
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from repetitive hand/wrist movement
- Traumatic head and brain injuries
- Vertebrae fractures and other serious spinal cord injuries
- Complete and incomplete paralysis injuries
- Asthma and other breathing difficulties that result from chronic exposure to harmful chemicals
- Various types of cancer due to toxic chemical exposure
- Open cuts and lacerations
- Burn injuries
If you suffered any of these job-related illnesses or injuries, always seek legal advice regarding your rights and options.
At Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos, our team of California workers’ compensation and California personal injury attorneys can navigate the entire claim process for you. Our legal team works to recover the full benefits you deserve, as well as third-party damages, depending on your situation.
Eligibility for Filing a Workers' Comp Claim in California
To be eligible to recover workers' compensation benefits in California, workers must ordinarily be W-2 employees, as opposed to independent contractors. Moreover, they must suffer their injury or illness while they are working at their jobs and during the course of their employment. Generally, this means the worker must suffer injury or illness while performing one or more job-related duties.
Also, in most instances, an individual may not recover workers' compensation benefits if they suffer an injury on their way to or from work (such as in a car crash on the way home).
Our legal team can carefully evaluate your circumstances, determine your eligibility for filing a workers' compensation claim, and begin pursuing the benefits you deserve right away.
Fighting the Insurance Company after a Workplace Accident
When pursuing your claim for workers' compensation benefits, our legal team will work primarily with your employer's insurance company.
However, insurance companies do not have an incentive to compensate you fairly for your workplace injury or illness. Rather, they have a strong incentive to do just the opposite.
An insurance company will do everything possible to undervalue your workers’ compensation case and offer you the smallest amount of benefits possible. They might even allege that you did not suffer your injury or illness while working at your job – or while performing a job-related duty.
Our legal team can aggressively fight for your legal interests to resolve your case favorably. However, when disputes arise throughout the process, we are not afraid to take your workers’ compensation case to a hearing for resolution if necessary.
Also, if you are pursuing a personal injury claim against a third party as part of your work injury case, we can aggressively negotiate with the at-fault party’s insurance company on your behalf.
If they refuse to offer you the full and fair monetary damages you deserve, we escalate the matter and seek the compensation you deserve through litigation in the California court system.
Our experienced legal team can handle all dealings with insurance company representatives on your behalf and advise you on important decisions throughout your case.
What to do after a Workplace Accident or Occurrence
Following a workplace accident or occurrence, there are several important steps that you should take.
First, complete your medical treatment regimen, attend all of your medical appointments, and refrain from discharging yourself from medical care. In addition, hold on to all medical records and bills you receive.
Once you retain our legal team to represent you in your case, we can forward those documents to your employer's insurance company.
You should also provide us with any injury photographs, photographs of the accident scene, police investigation reports, and other documents that may help your case.
Speak With an Experienced California Workers' Compensation Lawyer as Soon as Possible
You may receive benefits and other compensation if you suffered an injury or illness while performing a work-related duty. The skilled legal team at Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos can handle every step of your case and maximize the monetary benefits and damages you deserve for your workplace injury or illness.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a knowledgeable California workers’ compensation lawyer, please call us at (650) 345-8484 or contact us online.
GALINE, FRYE, FITTING & FRANGOS, LLP - SAN MATEO OFFICE
Address: 411 Borel Ave #500, San Mateo, CA 94402
Phone: (650) 419-0473
Fax: (805)-617-1365