Legal Question in Personal Injury in Florida

Not so simple (like many aspects of law). Two years from the date of injury or when a reasonable person (objective standard) would have realized that their medical problem was work-related. But, after authorized medical/hospital benefits or indemnity checks are provided, the worker gets 1 year from the date of the last treatment by an authorized doctor. I've been helping injured workers for 36 years and I know from experience that some injured workers worry over small details like the Statute of Limitations (S/L) but ignore the bigger issues in the case. For example, trusting the employer and their carrier, the adjuster and the nurse case manager assigned to you is like letting the fox watch the henhouse! They may act like your buddy and you may be afraid to "rock the baby carriage" but that is exactly what they want, and which is the worst thing you can do. I've spoken to at least 100 injured workers who were sent back to light duty or sedentary duty for the same employer and they failed to get lawyer advice until months later when they got terminated or fired. The problem is widespread because the law is written to favor workers who cannot work (they have big cases), and disfavors workers who can return to any work even if unskilled sedentary work (they have little cases). So, the goal of the insurance company from the first day of the injury is to hand-pick the doctors who will treat you but who really are insurance doctors who get most of their patients from insurance companies, and get the doctors to return you to work ASAP and then the carrier tells your employer to make up a job sitting on a chair if necessary just to prove that you are not disabled. Then, months later, when the coast is clear, they terminated you which they have every right to do. Many workers wait until this point to see a lawyer and I've given them the same speech: "I'm a lawyer, not a magician! How can I make a decent case when you went back and worked which proves that you are not disabled? It's black and white....a man is either disabled or not. If he works, even sitting on a chair doing nothing....he is not disabled! Like a woman is either pregnant or not...she can't be half-pregnant! And, an injured worker can't be half-disabled! By going back to the sit-down job, you ruined any chance of making a decent claim. Sure, they'll offer you something to settle...maybe $10,000...maybe a little more. But, your case was worth over $200,000 and by sitting in that made up job, it cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars!"

Please don't wait to get good legal advice from a lawyer who does nothing but handling cases for injured workers. The good ones handle only injured workers and nothing else...they don't represent insurance companies or employers...just workers. If they are board-certfied in workers comp law by the Florida Bar, that's even better. Good luck,

Robert Shapiro

Miami

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