OVIEDO LAW GROUP ATTORNEYS HANDLE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION APPEALS FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EMPLOYEES
Determined advocate pursues the full benefits you are entitled to
Experience in Peace Officer Representation
Like other workers throughout California, law enforcement officers who are injured on the job are entitled to workers’ compensation to cover all medical expenses, a percentage of their lost earnings, and a range of other benefits. However, if you have a work-related injury or illness, you may have trouble accessing the full range of benefits you are entitled to receive. Conflicts often arise over treatment plans, readiness to return to work, disability ratings, and other issues that impact the quality of your care and your financial security. Fortunately, the Oviedo Law Group is prepared to help peace officers with their workers’ compensation claims in the Central and Nothern California. With more than 15 years of experience in this highly technical area of the law, I am fully prepared to manage your appeal to pursue the benefits you deserve.
Getting peace officers the workers’ compensation benefits they deserve
Benefits available under California’s workers’ compensation law include:
- Medical care — Workers’ compensation pays 100 percent of all reasonable and necessary medical treatment for a work-related injury or illness. This includes doctor visits, emergency room treatment, diagnostic testing, medicine, medical equipment, rehabilitation expenses and mileage reimbursement for travel to receive medical treatment.
- Temporary disability benefits — Theses benefits replace a percentage of your lost earnings while you cannot work.
- Permanent disability benefits — These payments cover you if you don’t recover fully from your injury or illness due to a permanent loss of physical or mental function.
- Supplemental job displacement benefits — This benefit consists of a voucher for job retraining if you are unable to return to the job you held prior to your injury.
- Death benefits — Death benefits are paid to a spouse, children or other dependents when a worker dies due to a work-related injury or disease.
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault insurance program, so workers are covered even if they were injured through their own negligence. However, insurance companies are always anxious to limit payouts, so workers can face many unexpected obstacles to their claim, such as:
- Denial of claim because injury is “not work related”
- Denial of treatment which is “not reasonable or necessary”
- Being cleared to return to work before the injury is fully healed
- Being denied permanent disability benefits or being given a low disability rating
- Being offered a low settlement for a permanent disability claim
In my practice, I routinely help clients overcome these obstacles, by reviewing their claim and assembling additional evidence of the injury, its cause, and the extent of the harm. I am adept at appealing claims at administrative hearings and in state court, and I do not rest until my client has obtained the best result possible under the facts of the case.
Special presumptions of on-duty injuries and illnesses for peace officers
Generally, under workers’ compensation, a worker must prove that a condition of work caused an injury or illness. However, the California Labor Code provides a number of presumptions, which means that law enforcement officers suffering from certain injuries or illnesses only have to prove exposure to risks and other factors, rather than direct causation. The covered conditions include:
- Cancer
- Heart trouble
- Hernia
- Lower back impairment
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
- Meningitis
- Pneumonia
- Tuberculosis
I help my workers’ compensation clients prove the elements required by statute so their condition can be presumed to be work-related for the purpose of workers’ comp benefits.
Contact a dedicated advocate for California peace officers in Fresno
The Oviedo Law Group provides aggressive representation for law enforcement officers appealing a denial of workers’ compensation benefits. To schedule a free consultation, call 559-226-6200 or contact my office online. My office is conveniently located at 1990 Shaw Avenue in Clovis.