What are my rights if I injured my back at work but my bossrefuses tofile a claim?
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What are my rights if I injured my back at work but my bossrefuses tofile a claim?
At the time I hurt my back I was on light duty due to a broke ankle. However my boss would still ask me to do heavy lifting. On this particular day I was moving a 50” plasma TV and I felt a pain in my back. I went to the restroom and had a burning sensation when I urinated; I thought it was just a kidney stone or infection. After a few hours of worsening pain my boss let me to go to the doctor. The doctor ruled out anything to do with my kidneys and told me I had pulled a muscle in my back. The next day I asked him if we needed to file a claim. He said that we would if it was not better in few days. Over those next few days he acted as if I had not hurt back at all. In fact he asked me to lift objects that weighed more than 50 pounds. I again told him my back was not getting any better and thought a claim should be filed; he still refused. I went back to the doctor she put me on light duty to try to prevent any more damage from being done. After my light duty time was up my boss had me back doing the same things. A day or so later I had to go back to the doctor. She X-rayed my back to find that I have a ruptured disk and that I need to go see a surgeon. I informed my boss of this and told him a claim had to be filed; he again refused.
Asked on July 17, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Mississippi
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You have a right to file a claim for Worker's Compensation regardless of whether your employer wants to or is willing to do so, as long as you were injured at work in a job covered by Worker's Compensation. (E.g. if you were an indendent contractor, you might not be covered.) If this wasn't the case, after all, employers could prevent any workers from ever filing for Worker's Compensation. You can try contacting the Mississippi Worker's Compensation Commission (MWCC), at the web address I will copy below; however, since applying for benefits like this can be technical, you would b best served to retain an attorney to help you--the lawyer can also look into whether there are another claims that you may be able to assert against your employer. Good luck, and here's the MWCC's web address: http://www.mwcc.state.ms.us/
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