Is Age a Factor in a Workers’ Comp Case?
Your age can be a source of complications in your workers’ compensation case because your employer may argue that your pain is age-related instead of accident-related, and you and your employer may disagree about your prospects of finding new employment at your age.
In employment law, age is a protected characteristic. This means that if you are at least 40, your employer cannot use your age as a reason not to hire you or not to give you a pay raise. Despite this, your age can affect your workers’ compensation case. For example, your medical history before the work accident is relevant to your workers’ comp claim, and the older you are, the longer your medical history. Another way in which an injured worker’s age can affect workers’ comp cases is the issue of vocational rehabilitation. The younger you are, the more future earning potential you have in an employment role unrelated to your previous job. An Omaha workers’ compensation lawyer can help you if you are physically, but not financially, ready for retirement, and your employer expects you to bounce back from a work injury the way that someone half your age would do.
Another Candle on the Birthday Cake, Another Pre-Existing Medical Condition
According to workers’ compensation law, your employer must pay for all medical treatment arising from an accidental injury that you suffered at work while performing your job duties. Disputes over workers’ compensation claims can arise when injured workers suffer chronic pain and other symptoms that linger after the treatment for the acute injury has finished. Employers are likely to argue that your pain is due to anything else in your medical history besides the work accident. The older you are, the more opportunities you have had to accumulate sources of chronic pain. Your employer might say that your pain is from a sports injury in your 20s that acts up every now and then instead of this year’s work accident. Your employer might even say that your knee hurts simply because you are old.
Contact Andres Law Offices, PC LLO, in Omaha About Getting Fair Treatment in Your Workers’ Compensation Case
An Omaha workers’ compensation lawyer can help you challenge unfair assumptions made by workers’ compensation doctors. Contact Andres Law Offices, PC LLO in Omaha, Nebraska, about your case.