Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog

In a follow-up to the recent news about a crane operator who suffered severe injuries in a Boston on-the-job accident, it has now been reported by the Boston Herald that this worker has died from his injuries.

The investigation has revealed that workers were attempting to disable the crane when the victim was still on it.  There is still an ongoing investigation into the cause of this Boston workplace accident, and there are a great number of questions about what actually happened in that Boston construction accident. Continue reading

In Black v Dixie Consumer Products, an accident occurred that seriously injured a claimant.  The accident involved a large truck containing over 40,000 pounds of pulpboard.  Pulp and pulpboard are using in the making of paper and paper products.  The pulpboard was loaded onto the truck in huge rolls, and these rolls were separated by rubber mats that weigh ten pounds each.

Once he parked at the factory, driver was told by the forklift operated to enter the loading area by a way of a locked cage around the loading dock.  The reason there was a cage was to keep any pedestrians off the loading dock, because it was dangerous. Continue reading

In Smith v. Delaware North Cos., claimant was injured on the job when she slipped on the floor while she was working as a cook at Orioles Park at Camden Yards, which is the home of the Baltimore Orioles.  When she slipped and fell, she landed on her knee.  Her knee was hurting for a few weeks following her workplace slip-and-fall and was referred to a doctor to have an MRI performed.

When doctors took the MRI, they diagnosed her with a tear in the posterior horn of her medical meniscus.  This is one of the more common knee injuries and is often suffered by athletes in addition to tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).  They also determined that she had arthritis in her knee.  Arthritis is very common following injuries to the knee, because the lack of cartilage can result in bone-to-bone contact, which causes calcification and bone spurs to form, which causes bone pain. Continue reading

In Ex Parte Lincare Inc., a supervisor and an employee were both working for the same company.  In June 2016, employee submitted a letter of resignation to her supervisor.  She said the reason she resigned from the company was because her supervisor had created a hostile work environment. She also claimed she had previously told the company about her supervisor’s actions, and the company had not taken any steps to mediate the situation.

She then claimed that once she gave her letter of resignation to her supervisor, the supervisor physically assaulted her by choking her, breaking two fingers on one hand and her hurting her thumb and elbow on the opposite arm.  At this point, the police were called the job site. Continue reading

In Cornelison v. TIG Insurance, claimant injured his back in 1996, while he was shoveling dirt at work.  He underwent back surgery after his accident, but it did not help resolve his pain and medical conditions. He filed for workers’ compensation benefits, and the board determined he was permanently and totally disabled under a state law doctrine known as the odd-lot doctrine. His date of disability was 2001.

Claimant did not contest this PTD rating, and he also began to receive to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.  While it is okay for an injured worker to receive SSDI benefits in addition to his workers’ compensation benefits, he will be required to offset the payments by reimbursing the workers’ compensation insurance company, so as to avoid what is known as a double recovery. Continue reading