Preexisting injuries, second injuries
If a preexisting injury has been aggravated by your work, you are entitled to benefits but your claim must be handled very carefully. A construction worker’s knee injury from high school may be reinjured at work and require orthopedic surgery. An office worker with a history of depression may break down under the pressure of the workplace. A manual laborer with a lumbar disc injury may suffer a second back injury at a new job. Preexisting carpal tunnel syndrome may be aggravated by a repetitive stress injury in a new job.
When there is a history of previous injury to the same body part, a settlement for partial/total permanent disability benefits will be reduced by the percentage of the injury that is related to the first accident. If two or more injuries combine to result in total permanent disability, the New Jersey Second Injury Fund pays the portion of the total disability caused in a previous position.
If your employer does not carry workers’ compensation
In New Jersey it is a criminal offense to fail to carry workers’ compensation insurance. If you were injured and your employer is not insured, you can still receive income benefits and medical benefits under the Uninsured Employers’ Fund (UEF) established through New Jersey workers’ compensation law.
Contact a lawyer about a workplace injury claim.
At the Law Office of E. Gregory M. Cannarozzi, Counsellor at Law, L.L.C. in Oradell, New Jersey, our workers’ compensation staff is committed to providing clients with responsive and effective legal services. If you are recovering from a workplace injury such as a repetitive stress injury, injury from a slip and fall accident, back injury, brain injury, or neck injury, it is important to have a lawyer to review your claim in order to see that you are being treated fairly.
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