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I love Target. Especially compared to Walmart which I won’t set foot in due to how they treat their employees. Target just seems friendlier and from the hundreds of Target workers we’ve talked to about their work injuries, they seem to generally treat their employees better even if there’s room for improvement.
I was in a Target a few weeks ago when I saw a store employee fall really hard to the ground due to a liquid on the floor. Not being an ambulance chaser, I only offered them a hand back up, not a business card. I don’t know if they’ll have a back injury that needs treatment or not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.
The way my brain works, I began to immediately think of what they’ll have to deal with and look out for if they are hurt. Even if their boss is nice, there’s a lot to look out for because their boss, for the most part, will have nothing to do with the case.
Target is self insured which is legal speak for the fact that they pay work comp benefits out of their own pocket instead of through insurance. Big companies do that because even with all of the injuries it saves the money. Target hires the insurance company Sedgwick to process the claims though and they can be ruthless.
Fair or not, my perception of how Sedgwick treats Target employees is that the workers are lucky to have their jobs and probably not smart enough to push back because a lot of them don’t have a higher education. That’s gross and disrespectful and of course total bullshit. You don’t have to go to college to be smart or know your rights.
Sedgwick will push the boundaries when they can. It will likely start with them asking you to give a recorded statement about how you were hurt. Even if you have nothing to hide you shouldn’t do that as it’s designed to see if they can deny your case for any reason.
After that they’ll assign a nurse case manager to your case. While that is legal, what isn’t is that nurse talking directly to your doctor or trying to attend your appointments. They will interfere with your care when they can with a goal of reducing the medical costs on your case. They do that even when their actions can result in your injury getting worse.
And of course they love to send you to an IME who is a doctor of their choosing and will conduct surveillance on cases that drag on. Sedgwick has no relationship with you or assessment as to your value to Target like your boss might. They are there to save Target money which allows them to keep the valuable Target business. You should not trust them at all. They are not looking out for you.
Target workers of course often do high risk activities like lifting heavy boxes, driving forklifts, dealing with upset customers, working in the cold or even taking boxes outside when it can be icy. So we see a ton of different injuries from every way imaginable. This includes a lot of repetitive trauma injuries from doing the same activities over and over.
Know that even if you don’t have health insurance, you can still get 100% of your medical care covered for a work injury. You can also be paid for your time off of work and eventually get a settlement for the extent of your injury. The key for you is to do a few things:
- Report your injury to your boss or a supervisor ASAP and no later than 45 days from when it happened.
- Get to a doctor as soon as you can. Go to the ER if you don’t have a doctor or the wait is too long to see one. The longer you wait to get medical care, the harder it is to win a case.
- Listen to your doctor and cooperate with the treatment plan. Don’t miss appointments or physical therapy sessions. Follow their instructions if they give you work restrictions.
And while it’s easy to say, don’t stress. Illinois work comp laws protect workers. We’ve helped hundreds of Target employees and can help you. Please call us any time at 312-346-5578 to talk to a lawyer for free. We help everywhere in Illinois.
