An Oregon Logger’s Victory, 40 Years Overdue
It was 1960 when our client, then an 18-year-old logger in Canby, was crushed by a tree. The injuries were devastating to the young man just starting out: The impact fractured his spine and hips.
By the time he came to us, in 2012, his injuries were arthritic. He needed bilateral hip replacements and back surgery. Although he had been on SSDI for about 25 years, he had not received several other large benefits he was entitled to all along. He didn’t know he could get them, and the insurance company certainly didn’t draw his attention to them. (They never do.)
Within a short period of time, we won him his medical benefits, permanent partial-disability benefits, and time loss benefits going back over 40 years. The tax-free payoffs allowed him to get his surgeries, secure his home, buy a vehicle, and greatly improve his quality of life.
The Point: Benefits are for life. It’s never too late to claim what you’re owed.
Don’t Settle Without Us
Our client injured her knee on the job, and then was fired. Fearing she would end up homeless without work, she settled with her former employer for an inappropriate amount—without consulting a lawyer first. She came to us after that settlement, when her injury became worse and she required more medical treatment.
This is the kind of story we hear all too often. The good news is, we were able to help our client win more medical benefits. But she would have been entitled to time loss benefits (wage substitute) and vocational retraining, too, if only she had not settled with her employer before coming to us.
The Point: Don’t settle for what they want to give. Talk to us first.
Age Discrimination? Claim Denied? It’s Not Over.
Our 66-year-old client injured her shoulder on the job at the Oregon Dept. of Corrections. The insurance company denied her claim. They asserted that her injury was the result of a degenerative condition in her shoulder, due to her age.
We deal with this kind of age-based tactic a lot, and when we do, our job is to prove that the injury is more than 50% work-related.
We fought the denial and won, but the DOC refused to pay the year and half of time loss she was owed while unable to work. So we fought again, and won her full time loss benefits.
The Point: We don’t stop until you get everything you’re entitled to.