Sometimes a claim for Worker’s Comp in Philadelphia is denied or cut short because the employer or insurance carrier disputes some aspect of the injury. There may be a disagreement as to whether the individual actually was hurt on the job or whether he was only pretending. Sometimes an insurance carrier decides that a person was injured but later stops paying benefits because the carrier believes the individual should be back on the job by now. A law firm such as Swartz Culleton, PC can assist clients in getting the workers compensation payments they are qualified for.
An injured person may have been evaluated as physically able to return to the job, but he may be having an overwhelmingly anxious reaction to the prospect. Perhaps he was involved in a traumatic experience at the workplace, such as a machinery accident in which another employee was killed. It can be difficult to convince an insurance carrier that this type of psychological trauma is debilitating. A worker’s comp attorney knows the documentation that a person needs and can petition for psychotherapy sessions to be paid for by the insurance carrier in addition to the physical treatment.
Anxiety, depression and other mental health issues that are related to an incident or ongoing situation in a workplace must be considered unusual for the type of job to qualify for workers compensation payments. Often times, people in occupations such as police officer and fire-fighter cannot successfully file for Worker’s Comp in Philadelphia if they are traumatized by a horrifying episode. If they believe that the episode was unusually traumatic even for someone in their occupation, they should consult a lawyer for assistance.
Unfortunately, these matters can be complex and take years to resolve. In 2013, for example, a case that went all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court resulted in an award for workers comp benefits for a police officer. He had struck and killed a mentally ill woman who walked in front of his police car on a highway. The court ruled that this could not be considered part of the normal course of police duty. Click here for more information.
