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Onsite work injury, need help.

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Manhochips

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington

On Sept. 19th 2008, I was injured at Lowes doing an overnight shift by a worker they had operating the forklifts. We were lifting drywall boards onto the forks, and afterwards when he tried to move the lift lower, he had pinned me against the wall and caused an injury to my abdominal area due to being pinned as well as materials being dragged down my stomache. I went to see a doctor right away as well as filing claims and such with L&I and the insurance companies that were under Lowes,(They went through an insurance company switch while being taken care of). I had found out after the injury that the worked operating the forklifts did not have legal full training for the forklifts nor did he have a license to operate one but instead was in the process to obtain one through work training.
Getting back up to date, I was released by my doctor 1-2 months ago with a permanently injured restriction of lifting more then 30lbs. This is comparing myself to pre-injury when I was moving 100-150lb metal work racks, pallets, 1-5 gallons of paint, and other tools sold by Lowes.
I feel pain whenever I lift anything that hits around the 30lb range and goes higher, which is very unsettling to me as I have always been a physical person. I am lost and unsure if I should file for lawsuit, how to file if I need to, and/or what Attorneys to contact as I have been told by a few already that there is not much I can do. Claim manager for my injury tried to tell me that a lawyer can't do anything for me anyways because of my situation of being injured and having to deal with L&I.

Thank you for any advice or help on this matter.
 


pattytx

Senior Member
Wrong. With that serious (it appears) an injury, a worker should always have his own attorney. I have had exactly one WC injury in my 30+ year career, a mere broken ankle, and there is no way I would have gone through the process without one.

Although Worker's Comp is normally the sole remedy for an on-the-job injury, if you can show that the employer was grossly negligent (and I would guess that allowing a worker to operate a forklift without the required training would be considered such) you may have additional remedies.

You haven't settled yet, have you? You've reached MMI?

Consult local counsel.
 
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Manhochips

Junior Member
Yes the Doctor said I have reached the limit of the medial side if thats what MMI means. As for consulting, i've tried but the few attorneys I talked to both said it not a case they would want to pick up and just to deal with L&I.
 

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