Sustaining damage to your brain can feel incredibly disempowering, possibly forcing you to manage painful headaches, relearn tasks you could do before, and spend time in the hospital instead of with loved ones. If your work environment caused or contributed to your condition, you may be entitled to benefits under South Carolina’s workers’ compensation system. Depending on your situation, you may be able to receive these regardless of whether something your employer did (or did not do) caused your accident.
By partnering with a Columbia brain injury attorney at Williams & Roche, LLC, you get the benefit of a battle-tested team that understands what it takes to get you the support you need during this time. Our South Carolina advocates have been in this arena for half a century, serving on all sides of the aisle — insurance companies, Workers’ Compensation Commission, and now injured workers — giving them an invaluable perspective. They use their diverse background to develop responsive and decisive case strategies to help maximize the odds for their clients.
What Are the Different Types of Brain Injuries?
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, traumatic brain injuries can cause extensive damage to the cerebral tissue and related structures in the brain. Penetrating (e.g., open) injuries are those where an object breaks through the skull and hits the brain. These types of wounds may come up in serious auto accidents, mechanical equipment failures, and falls from tall heights.
Closed head wounds are where the person may or may not have hit their head, and there is no penetrating wound. Whiplash and concussions are types of closed head wounds that may occur in a work-related crash where the head jostles around violently in the collision. The competing forces in the accident may cause the brain to hit the inside of the skull in different places, resulting in a concussion.
What Are the Symptoms of Brain Injury?
As described by the Mayo Clinic, traumatic brain injury symptoms can range from mild headaches and sleep disturbances to amnesia, loss of consciousness, and seizures. The type of symptoms the person experiences depends on the location of the injury and its severity.
For example, someone with damage to their speech and language centers of the brain may have difficulty talking or understanding words. In contrast, someone who has a mild concussion that involves swelling in their occipital lobe — the place where the brain processes vision — may have difficulty with seeing or interpreting visual information about the world around them.
How Do Brain Injuries in the Workplace Occur?
Many different contexts may give rise to an injury to the brain, such as a job-related truck accident or a serious fall. Additionally, someone may hit their head during a slip and fall, such as if a coworker spills coffee on the marble floor. Occupational exposure to chemicals — such as noxious gas — can prevent someone from getting enough oxygen to their brain. If this happens, they may experience temporary or permanent brain damage.
South Carolina Law and Case Law for Brain Trauma Workers’ Compensation
South Carolina law allows workers to collect benefits if their traumatic brain injury occurred at work and they are a qualifying employee. For people to count it as an on-the-job condition, the brain injury should have happened while the person was performing work for the company or traveling to and from job sites. For example, if a construction worker gets into a crash while they are driving from one construction site to another, they may be eligible for benefits even though they were not on the physical site at the time.
The benefits someone can receive depend on a host of factors, including the type and severity of their losses. For example, South Carolina law may allow someone with a total disability to receive 66 and two-thirds of their average weekly wages for up to 500 weeks. That said, there may be exceptions that allow the injured worker to receive a higher amount of benefits or for longer.
Receiving Workers’ Compensation for a Brain Injury in Columbia, South Carolina
The law gives employees a set amount of time to request compensation for their losses.
Typically, someone should notify their employer within 90 days of when they get hurt or realize their condition is connected to work. On top of this, the person should submit the necessary paperwork to the Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of the incident.
A traumatic brain injury workers’ comp lawyer may be an excellent resource for those who are injured and have questions about their rights. A dedicated attorney can thoroughly investigate the situation and figure out what might be the most effective angle to seek benefits.
Proving a Brain Injury Occurred Can Be Difficult
Unfortunately, it can sometimes be challenging for workers to prove they experienced a brain injury, especially if the damage caused a mild concussion or did not penetrate the skull. To help build up the evidence needed to combat this, the person can take written notes about their pain levels and changes in function since the incident. For example, if they usually had a very good memory and it suddenly became unreliable, this is something to note in a symptom log.
The person can also call on medical records and eyewitness testimony to help prove their case to the Workers’ Compensation Commission. Teaming up with steadfast Columbia brain injury lawyers may be useful to help the person gather the evidence and legal arguments needed to prove their injury is related to their employment.
Contact a Columbia Brain Injury Attorney at Williams & Roche, LLC
Brain injuries can seriously disrupt your life and shatter your sense of self and purpose, especially if the losses are severe or long-lasting. You may be entitled to fault-free benefits if you can establish that you were on the clock when the incident occurred and are unable to work because of the incident.
Our South Carolina workers’ compensation law firm stands by those in professions such as the construction, delivery, manufacturing, and automotive sectors. Contact a Columbia brain injury attorney at Williams & Roche, LLC by calling 803.784.0503 to schedule an initial, no-obligation consultation. We welcome the chance to talk with you about your situation and determine how we may be able to help.
