Legal Question in Workers Comp in California

Re: Back injury in 2003

I am sorry for your position. You need to hire an experienced WC attorney in your geographic area since you have not been able to get anywhere with the Comp. carrier. I do suspect that they must feel they have some medical basis to deny you any treatment, so you need someone to show how they are wrong. Even if you already received a PD award, you have 5 years to petition to reopen it for increased disability. You also can get back TD benefits and perhaps a 10% penalty for delay in paying benefits. You may qualify for vocational rehabilitation. Unfortunately, you can not file a civil suit against them. But get an attorney right now; since you are so afraid, make sure it is an attorney who is not so overwhelmed with cases that they will not talk to you after the first interview. Often, attorneys who get the bulk of their cases from unions have WC factories in which they do not speak with their clients. You have the right to change attorneys when ever you want and technically there should be no increase in overall attorney fees, but attorneys are leery of representing clients who change legal counsel without obvious good cause.

Good luck.