Psychiatric Injuries

Workers may suffer mental disorders and psychiatric injuries in the workplace as a result of bullying or verbal abuse or depression caused by other workplace injuries. It’s well established that mental disorders and psychiatric injuries resulting from physical trauma, workplace injuries or intentional infliction of emotional distress qualify for workers’ compensation under the Massachusetts workers’ compensation system. Some work-related workplace injuries and psychiatric injuries may cause total disability.

Injured on the Job? Contact Our Workplace Accident Lawyers

If you are suffering from a work-related psychiatric injury or psychiatric disability, you should talk to an experienced Massachusetts workers’ compensation attorney about the benefits you are entitled to receive, including lost wages, medical expenses and vocational rehabilitation costs.

For a free case evaluation of your workers’ compensation claim, please contact us online or call us toll free at 800-367-0871. The experienced workers’ compensation attorneys at Kantrovitz & Associates, P.C., have more than 20 years of experience fighting for the rights of individuals injured in the course of their employment.

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the workplace injury lawyers at Kantrovitz & Associates, P.C. help injured workers across Massachusetts, including but not limited to Boston, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Plymouth or Merrimack River. We also represent Rhode Island and New Hampshire residents whose injuries occurred in Massachusetts or who were hired in Massachusetts but who were injured out of state.

Psychiatric Injuries as a Workplace Injury

In any office, factory or workplace, there is a certain amount of stress. Normal work-related stress or depression caused by a demotion or failure to get a promotion does not qualify as a compensable workplace injury. But intentional infliction of emotional distress — such as bullying by a boss, supervisor or co-workers — can lead to a compensable psychiatric injury.

A 2007 survey by Zogby International and the Workplace Bullying Institute found that 37 percent of employees have experienced workplace bullying and that three fourths of workplace bullies are supervisors. Frequent aggressive or abusive conduct by a manager or supervisor toward an employee can cause the employee to suffer psychiatric injuries and entitle a worker to worker’s compensation. Employers who condone or encourage a workplace atmosphere of aggressive treatment of workers by supervisors or verbal abuse of workers may be held responsible for psychiatric injuries to workers.

A workplace injury also can cause anxiety and depression and qualify as a compensable psychiatric injury under the Massachusetts’ workers’ compensation system.

State and municipal workers in protective services occupations, such as correctional officers, jailers and heath care workers in psychiatric hospitals, may be targets of physical assaults and attacks that can cause psychiatric injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

But Massachusetts workers’ compensation law is complex, and psychiatric injury compensation claims are challenging. If a worker had a pre-existing psychiatric condition, the law requires that the workplace injury be a predominant cause of the psychiatric injury to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits in Massachusetts. An experienced workers’ compensation lawyer must provide medical evidence showing a strong causal connection between the employee’s physical workplace injury and the subsequent psychiatric injury.

What Workers’ Compensation Disability Benefits Are Available?

A psychiatric injury can sideline a worker temporarily or leave an employee totally incapacitated and unable to return to work. You may be eligible for temporary total disability, partial disability or permanent and total disability benefits as a result of a workplace psychiatric injury. Employee’s workers’ compensation benefits are determined by several factors, including average weekly wage and degree of incapacity from a workplace injury. A knowledgeable Massachusetts workers’ compensation attorney at Kantrovitz & Associates, P.C., can review your workplace injury and advise you about which benefits you are entitled to collect.

Why You Need a Workers’ Compensation Attorney

The Massachusetts workers’ compensation system is set up to ensure that employers have insurance to cover employees who are injured or disabled by workplace injuries, including psychiatric injuries. All employees have legal rights to workers’ compensation for work-related psychiatric injuries. But all too often employees have trouble getting their claim for workers’ compensation paid after a psychiatric injury. The insurance company may dispute your psychiatric injury was a workplace injury or deny that a physical trauma in the workplace led to a psychiatric injury.

At the hearing to decide your workers’ compensation claim, the insurance company will have legal representation trying to deny or minimize your workplace injuries. It’s important that you be represented, too. You should have a knowledgeable workers’ compensation lawyer standing up for your legal rights and benefits.

Contact Our Workplace Injury Lawyers Today

While many Massachusetts lawyers practice in a number of different areas of the law, the workplace injury lawyers at Kantrovitz & Associates, P.C., concentrate exclusively in the area of workers’ compensation. Our experienced workers’ compensation attorneys have more than 20 years of experience in all types of workplace injury cases — and we can help you.

We believe in a hands-on approach, providing individual attention to each and every client. We do not pass off cases to other Massachusetts law firms or to junior associates. A client will have the same attorney handling his or her claim from start to conclusion.

Our workplace accident attorneys believe strongly that all clients should be well educated with respect to the laws and that they should be active participants in all facets of their workers’ compensation claim. We are ready to answer workplace injury questions from workers across Massachusetts, including but not limited to Boston, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Plymouth or Merrimack River. We also represent Rhode Island and New Hampshire residents whose injuries occurred in Massachusetts or who were hired in Massachusetts but who were injured out of state.

For a free, no-obligation evaluation of your workers’ compensation claim, please contact us online. The workers’ compensation lawyers at Kantrovitz & Associates are here to help victims of workplace injuries. You may also call us toll free at 800-367-0871.