Is This a Workman's Comp Issue?

[Mathew]

New York State

For several weeks prior to my injury I have been working 12-14 hour days preparing for a conference that I was in charge of organizing. The day I was to leave, I injured myself moving luggage around for the trip, began to feel ill on the way to the airport and ended up having emergency surgery instead of making the conference. I would not have been lifting anything if I had not been going on a work trip, is this something potentially covered by Workman's Comp?

Thanks

Matt

 

[Zigner]

At home you injured yourself?

 

[Mathew]

New York State

For several weeks prior to my injury I have been working 12-14 hour days preparing for a conference that I was in charge of organizing. The day I was to leave, I injured myself moving luggage around for the trip, began to feel ill on the way to the airport and ended up having emergency surgery instead of making the conference. I would not have been lifting anything if I had not been going on a work trip, is this something potentially covered by Workman's Comp?

Thanks

Matt

Yes, moving and lugging my luggage down the stairs to the car service

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Nope, you have no WC case. You should have packed or carried your luggage properly.

 

[cbg]

In what state was this? Some states have looser requirements than others.

 

[Mathew]

In what state was this? Some states have looser requirements than others.

It was in New York

 

[cbg]

I don't know offhand about NY. Did you report it to your employer? What did they say?

 

[canhelp]

New York State

For several weeks prior to my injury I have been working 12-14 hour days preparing for a conference that I was in charge of organizing. The day I was to leave, I injured myself moving luggage around for the trip, began to feel ill on the way to the airport and ended up having emergency surgery instead of making the conference. I would not have been lifting anything if I had not been going on a work trip, is this something potentially covered by Workman's Comp?

Thanks

Matt

close call; not clear cut.
probably will have to litigate. depends on caselaw.
generally traveling for work brings you under special mission exceptions.
but if that's your primary job duties then it might not be considered an exception.
a lot of very specific facts and case law research have to be weighed.
you'll need the opinion of an experienced comp lawyer.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

How did you hurt yourself? What did you have surgery for? Have you ever injured this part of your body before? What proof do you have that this occurred as you say it did?

 

[canhelp]

How did you hurt yourself? What did you have surgery for? Have you ever injured this part of your body before? What proof do you have that this occurred as you say it did?

what??
he was an eye-witness to his own injury. barring any evidence to the contrary comp doesn't require more then that to make a claim. in NY comp once there is a claim the burden of proof falls to the defendent.
in comp witnesses are not required to establish a work injury.

 

[commentator]

It's certainly something to report to your employer. Regardless, there's no downside to filing it with your company, asking about it at the get go. And depending on the state, which I agree with cbg, I'm not real familiar with this particular one, but in some states I am familiar with this would definitely be a covered injury. I've seen people who hurt themselves taking their luggage out of overhead racks on the airline while they were flying for work be covered. Okay, yes, they should've packed lighter, shouldn't have grabbed the bag that way, it was their personal bag, but the idea was, they wouldn't have been doing this packing and traveling and lifting at all if they hadn't been required to so it by their work. And they were approved. Without a lengthy lawsuit.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

what??
he was an eye-witness to his own injury. barring any evidence to the contrary comp doesn't require more then that to make a claim. in NY comp once there is a claim the burden of proof falls to the defendent.
in comp witnesses are not required to establish a work injury.

That is for a judge to decide, if the employer denies the claim.

OP, You do need to file ASAP. NY is one of a few states that offer cash benefits for off the job injuries. Even if the company denies causality and the WC judge agrees, you can likely obtain cash assistance for up to 52 weeks. See CH 11. of the link I provided.

http://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/Employers/EmployerHandbook.pdf

 

[Mathew]

That is for a judge to decide, if the employer denies the claim.

OP, You do need to file ASAP. NY is one of a few states that offer cash benefits for off the job injuries. Even if the company denies causality and the WC judge agrees, you can likely obtain cash assistance for up to 52 weeks. See CH 11. of the link I provided.

http://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/Employers/EmployerHandbook.pdf

Thank you for your answers. The bag was not overloaded or packed any heavier than normal, the bag and carry on caused a problem for me this particular day that was totally unexpected. I did not have a prior injury that i knew of. Injury was a type of hernia that is potentially dangerous so I had to have an operation immediately.

I am not really after huge compensation, just help with the med bills at this early stage. It does sound complex and a prolonged court case is not that desirable, but I do feel
it is a work related injury and it should be covered. I don't know how they will react, but I will do as suggested and look into it.

They have not deny'd me at this point because I have not discussed with our HR guy. The injury was reported even before surgery, but they havn't provided paper work, I'll check in with him tomorrow and go from there.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

You are very welcome, glad I could help.

Let me also apologize for being wrong in my initial assessment. As you can see from the responses, no one was really aware that whether your work injury claim issue was real or contrived, you are definitely injured and should qualify for at least limited WC benefits according to NY law.