Legal Question in Workers Comp in California
if an injury is caused by work (carpal tunnel) what is "the date of the accident" if it started years ago and the injury has gotten worse over time and now is more serious
2 Answers from Attorneys
This type of injury is called cumulative trauma meaning that there is no specific date of injury and the date of injury is a range of two dates normally from the date when pain starts until it gets worst (before your last day of work). Feel free to call us at 213.388.7070 for a free consultation.
BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL!!!! If you tell everybody you KNEW this was a Work Injury 2 years back but you just waited around, YOUR CLAIM COULD BE DENIED for failure to report within one year of knowledge of occupational injury.
BE SAFE: USE DATE OF INJURY AS JANUARY 2011 TO JANUARY 2012 CT (continuous trauma). This tells the Workers Comp adjuster -- and the Comp JUDGE -- the repetition over the past year is was really injured you and left you partially disabled.