We are work injury lawyers in Chicago who will talk to you for free about any Illinois workers’ compensation case. You can call, fill out our form or as many people do, start a live chat to speak with an attorney. A recent chatter asked the following question:
I work at a school and spend a lot of time entering information into a computer. For a couple of years I have struggled with problems with my wrist and just had test done to confirm that I need carpal tunnel surgery. Is this covered as workers comp?
There is no slam dunk answer to this question because when you have a repetitive activity injury, we are going to need to see your medical records. More likely than not though, he carpal tunnel is from typing all day for a couple of years. If the job contributed to her injury, she’d have a case.
To prove this we’d want to see her records. We may also want her to talk to her orthopedic doctor and give a very detailed description of her job duties to see if they think the job contributed to her getting injured. It’s important to know how many hours she types a day, the angle of her wrists, the force used, any other activities, etc.
One possible hiccup in this case could be that the problems have existed for years. If she received medical care years ago and didn’t tell her employer about it, she may have a notice issue under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. Under IL law, you have to tell your employer you suspect a work related injury within 45 days of when you knew or reasonably should have known you got hurt at work.
The counter argument to that defense would be two fold. First, it’s arguable that you don’t know it’s work related until a doctor says so. Second, if you are still doing the same activities, it’s arguable that your injury date is the last date you worked. The injury getting worse over time also plays a factor.
I’m not one of those lawyers who will tell you what you want to hear so you will go with our law firm. We tell you what needs to happen to win a case and sometimes that means that we need more information. I and any lawyers I work with would want to sign this case up as it does sound likely that it’s a good one, but we can’t say for sure without seeing the records. If you are diabetic, pregnant or obese the insurance company will use that information to fight your case as those are risk factors for carpal tunnel. That doesn’t mean you can’t win, it just means there will be a fight. Seeing your medical records helps us evaluate your chances of winning.
As always, if you want to know if you have a case or just have questions, you can contact us at any time.
