There are lots of insurance company tricks out there as well as bad employers who will lie to you.
An example of this came up recently with a gentleman that I consulted with on an accident. He didn’t need the help of me or any lawyer in my network because fortunately his injuries were very minor. His normal job involves working on an assembly line. He took a break and went to the locker room to relax for ten minutes. As he got up, he stumbled on some loose carpet and reached out to catch his fall. In the process he cut his hand.
The good news is that it could have been much worse. As he was telling the story, I assumed that he was going to tell me that he tore his rotator cuff or hurt his back because we see that a lot when it comes to these types of accidents. So fortunately there wasn’t much of an injury. The bad news is that when he asked to go to the hospital they said no because he wasn’t hurt while working, as if that should matter when it comes to his health.
But the reality is that even though his job duties don’t involve being in the locker room, it’s reasonably expected that he will go in there so any accident that happens there is covered under workers’ compensation laws in Illinois.
I’ve seen similar nonsense with insurance companies telling workers that since they weren’t doing their normal job, they aren’t covered. That’s pure baloney. If your normal job is to sit behind a desk and the boss tells you to go make a delivery, well then you better do what the boss says or you’ll get fired. So if you get hurt while doing what the boss says to do, you receive Illinois workers’ compensation benefits.
The exception to this is if you are engaged in horseplay. For example, if your company has a golf cart at the warehouse and you go for a joy ride in it and crash, that wouldn’t be a work comp case that we could win for you. But if you are operating it normally and it’s for the benefit of your employer then any injury you get would be covered.
In this case, the break the worker took is for his benefit, but also for that of the employer as it allows him to work better when he returns to the line. He did end up going to the ER and just wants his bill paid. He hasn’t actually talked to the insurance company yet, so I’m optimistic that will happen.
But don’t let anyone tell you that you have no case or can’t make a case, especially when that result benefits them, not you. Talk to a lawyer. It’s free and will help you make an educated decision or in this case, figure out what you can do on your own to get the benefits you are entitled to.