If You Have a Heart Attack Could It Be Work Related If It Happens At Home?
The law in Illinois is that if your job causes, aggravates or accelerates a condition it should fall under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act (pdf). That's easy to determine if you lift up a box and feel a pop in your back or slip on a wet floor and hurt your shoulder or knee. But what happens if you have an injury that you notice away from the job?
Heart attacks quite often don't happen at the moment a triggering event occurs, but rather hours later. In other words, if you are working a 14 hour shift in extreme cold or doing a lot of heavy lifting, the strain on your heart may be taking place without you knowing it. You could work a hard day and have a heart attack that night in the privacy of your own home. Under Illinois law, that may be a work related injury. If something about your job was unusual (like extreme cold or heat, excessive lifting, very long hours) and it played a role in your heart attack then you should be able to secure work injury benefits.
When we handle these cases we are sure to take a complete look at the life of our client and talk to their cardiologist about the role that the job played in a heart attack. Even if you have other factors that could contribute to heart disease, if your job is a factor then you will likely win your case.
We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys. Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.
