Legal Question in Workers Comp in Florida

They can and will, but your course of action is to see an attorney who does workers compensation in your area. If you need help in locating one, email me and I will give you a name.

Good luck!

Perhaps your question should be "can they get away with this?". After more than 30 years handling cases in Florida for people just like you, I almost hate to say that your situation is typical of how workers get treated when they have a work injury. As long as you didn't lie on your written application or pre-employment physical checklist about the previous knee problems, they must accept the accident as compensable. You didn't state how long you have worked there, but it is also possible that your "pre-existing" knee problems were work-related knee problems caused by "cumulative trauma disorders" which we also see quite a bit in workers compensation. Even if you worked somewhere else when the problems began in your knee, you can still file against your present employer a work comp claim for repetitive trivial trauma for all of your knee problems. Of course, if you simply fight their denial of this accident, they will have their doctors say that whatever you did to the knee was "idiopathic" and unrelated to swiveling in the chair, and that this incident is not the "major contributing cause" of your need for treatment, disability, etc. Trusting your employer and their work comp carrier is like letting the wolf watch the chickens. Unless you get a very good lawyer, you may find yourself with no work comp claim AND no job since they will look to get rid of you in the coming weeks/months. You may be the best employee and get along great with everyone, but I've seen this change in hundreds of other clients who found themselves out the door. YOu need the best claimant lawyer in your area/region. In this regard, forget Perry and go for Tallahassee: look for board certified workers comp claimant lawyerse (that means they don't represent insurance companies) and find someone you can relate to. Here's a few names to call but I don't know these people other than I see their names as board certified workers' comp lawyers in Tallahassee:

Anderson & Hart P A

1584 Metropolitan Blvd

Tallahassee, Florida 32308

850.8943000

Arthur C Beal, Jr.

1695-5 Metropolitan Circle

PO Box 14509

Tallahassee, Florida 32317

850-422-2325

Maureen Proctor

229 Pinewood Dr

Tallahassee, Florida 32303

850-422-0880

Hope this helps you get started. I'm sure all of them offer FREE consultations either over the phone or in person. Don't delay in getting advice as to your options. If you need to speak to me again, feel free to email me at [email protected]

Sincerely,

Bob Shapiro