I’d estimate that about 10 times a year someone calls me with a very similar sounding story.
The gist is that they got hurt at work, but their boss or supervisor tells them to tell the doctor that they got hurt at home. It usually comes with some sort of promise that “I’ll take care of your bills” or something like that.
It’s almost always b.s. and designed to screw you over.
Whether or not your case gets covered under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act depends on a lot of things. At the top of the list has to do with what you told your medical providers. If your history of how you were injured changes a lot or you say it didn’t happen at work, that will be held against you.
In the very least, you will be made to look like a liar on the witness stand and that will really impact your credibility.
We find that supervisors usually say this nonsense for two reasons: 1. They get a bonus if there are no work injuries. 2. They are an owner and worry about their insurance rates going up.
Whatever the reason is, their instruction isn’t them looking out for you. It’s them looking out for them and their best interests. When you have $30,000 in medical bills and no way to pay them, they won’t care about your problems at all because it’s your problem, not theirs, even if they created it.
The bottom line is that honesty is always the best policy and you should not let anyone persuade you to lie. If you do, you could ruin your case. That may not be a big deal if you have a minor injury. But if you have the type of case that is going to cause you to miss time from work or have significant medical bills, you could end up creating your own financial ruin.
Remember, bringing an Illinois workers’ compensation claim is not a lawsuit. You are not suing your company. You are making a claim for benefits that is no different than asking for health insurance or any other employee right. You aren’t going to get rich off of your case, but you could go bankrupt if you lie.
