- October 19, 2020
- Workers' Compensation
State-by-state, many people have heard about landmark cases of people getting workers compensation for passing out at work. The trouble is that workers compensation varies on a case-by-case and state by state basis. It is not enough to say that one person who fell at work eventually got compensation because they passed out. That does not mean that anyone who passes out at work is eligible for worker’s compensation.
To determine whether you can access workers compensation benefits as a result of passing out at work, you need a skilled workers compensation attorney. That attorney would then pick apart the case and determine not only why you passed out but if that reason for passing out could access worker’s compensation benefits for the injuries sustained from losing consciousness. They’ll also look at elements such as how your employer responded and how they assessed and treated the injury at the medical facility you want to.
Were You Injured from the Fall?
The big question is whether or not you have injuries because there will be no workers compensation benefits available if there is no injury. Many people fall or pass out and land in a way that results in nothing more than minor bruising that goes away over a couple of days. However, if you were injured, you may be entitled to workers compenstation for passing out at work.
Most injuries that happen from falling from a standing position include a fractured skull, concussions, possible brain trauma, and more serious injuries. While the first element in this issue is sorting out whether you experienced injuries from the fall, there’s another critical point to address. Your employer, and their worker’s compensation insurance provider, will want to know why you passed out. Unfortunately, this opens up an entire can of worms and usually result in the employee not getting benefits.
What Caused You to Pass Out?
One notable case that people love referring to is Sharon Clements from Connecticut. Clements worked for Aramark Corporation and became light-headed, then passed out. She hit her head on the ground and experienced a concussion and injury. Her employer argued that she passed out because of a pre-existing condition called cardiogenic syncope. Clements’ attorney argued that the foundation of employment is that the employer takes the employee as they are or “the employer of labor takes the workman as he finds him.” Thus she qualified for workers compensation for passing out.
This does not work in every state. It eventually worked for Clements in Connecticut. There is another situation in Oregon romantic style behind the wheel resulting in a car accident. His employer required him to seek out the reason of the fainting spell, and it required that the employee take multiple days off work as well as going through multiple diagnostic visits. Those diagnostic visits were under the workers compensation network. When doctors could not determine why he passed out, the employer denied the workers compensation for passing out at work because they couldn’t prove that it was a result of anything on the job.
Eventually the appeals court reversed the denial because the employer required medical services. If doctors can determine exactly why you passed out, then it may fall to whether or not your employer required you to seek medical attention. However, even in the event that she passed out because of a pre-existing condition or something out of your control, whether you can access compensation is up in the air.
Passing out can happen because of an irregular heartbeat, seizure, low blood sugar, anemia, blood pressure problems, and many other reasons besides. Any of these may entitle you to workers compensation for passing out, provided it happened on the job.
North Carolina Workers Compensation Attorneys Help with Benefits
After a knee injury at work, whether it was from a pre-existing condition or not, deserves medical attention. The question is whether your employer is going to cover the cost of that medical attention through workers compensation. There’s also the question of how the employer will handle the injuries and what should happen if you were forced to go to the workers compensation medical Network and now workers compensation will cover the damages and you’re left with extremely high medical bills that your medical insurance won’t cover either.
Complicated situations arise from workers compensation challenges when the employer and the employee aren’t sure how to handle the issue. North Carolina Workers Compensation Attorneys we help the victims of on-the-job injuries assess exactly how to move forward. Workers compensation requests don’t usually have a high rejection rate, but many victims struggle to get full compensation for the losses and damages they experienced. Find support through North Carolina Workers Compensation Attorneys.
