Drug screens and Illinois work injuries
Any good Illinois workers' compensation attorney will tell you that the insurance company will do whatever they can to come up with a reason to deny your benefits. One of the common tactics is to give you a drug screen after you are hurt.
A drug screen is only relevant to a job injury if you are actually high on drugs when you get in to an accident. If you smoke pot on Saturday night and get in to an accident on Tuesday lifting boxes, the drug use has no meaning.
We recently got a call from a factory worker who has both carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel syndrome from working a repetitive duty job. He failed his drug screen and the insurance adjuster told him that he isn't eligible for benefits as a result. That is 100% false. Here is a guy that does the same thing every day using his hands and arms. Even if he snorted cocaine every night it wouldn't change the fact that for eight hours every day he did the same motions with his upper body.
This is just another myth that you should ignore. We of course don't encourage you to be high while working. But what you do in your free time away from the job shouldn't change your rights to benefits from a job injury.
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.
