Talking About Personal Injury Cases

Posted on: 29 April 2019

When you work as a security guard, you accept that there are risks involved with your line of work. You also know, however, that with the right training, and by carefully following protocol, you should complete every shift without getting hurt. If you get injured during a security shift, you may file a workers' compensation claim — only to have your security company attempt to skirt responsibility so that it doesn't have to pay you. Here are some arguments that you can expect from the company, and that you'll need to prepare for with your workers' compensation attorney.

You Didn't Follow Protocol

One of the ways that the security company will assign blame to you, rather than to accept it, is to suggest that you didn't follow protocol. The company's attorneys will argue that if you had proceeded as you'd been instructed, you wouldn't have been injured. You can refute such a claim by going over your training manuals and identifying exactly how your actions were in alignment with protocol. Documenting things precisely in your case report will help to strengthen the points that you make in this regard.

You Were Under The Influence

Your security company may even use the dirty tactic of suggesting that you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and that this affected your ability to perform your job correctly. Blood tests that can reveal the presence of alcohol or drugs are common after workplace injuries, so you can use these results to refute such a claim. If you don't have blood drawn after your injury, you might wish to speak to a workers' comp attorney right away — as he or she may recommend that you promptly visit a clinic to have blood taken.

You Have A Track Record Of Being Unsafe

In some scenarios, your security company might allege that you have a long history of unsafe behavior on the job, and that your injury is just another event in a significant string of careless action. Such a statement may come as a surprise to you if it's untrue, but this is fortunately easy to refute. Your workers' compensation attorney will request a copy of your employee file, which should contain any disciplinary notes from your tenure with the company. If such notes aren't present, this accusation will carry little weight. By being ready to handle each of these statements made against you, you and your attorney can solidify the legitimacy of your workers' comp claim.

For more information, you will want to contact Neifert Byrne & Ozga.