Kentucky Workers' Compensation - Know Your Rights - Due to the numerous complaints from flight attendants experiencing denied Worker's Compensation benefits, early termination of benefits,  denial of proper medical care and abuse of the regulations governing Worker's Compensation by the third party administrator, Acordia, we felt it necessary to begin a page with Worker's Compensation information.  It is still under development but eventually we hope to have links to other pages of information to assist you with your on the job injury.   If you have been injured on the job you have the right to choose your own doctor. If a company supervisor or nurse suggests you can get in quicker if you go to urgent care or to this nice doctor they know,  just say NO!  Take charge of your care, choose your own doctor. Keep records!  Try not to use the telephone to communicate with Acordia (3rd party administrator) or Dauria, (Company nurse).  Email and fax offer better documentation of your claim.  If you are forced to use the phone document date, time, person's name (have them spell it), title, etc.  Document the call verbatim if possible.  If you call Acordia, document the date and time of the call and document the date and time you receive a return call.  You should expect timely communications.

If you are currently being treated and receive a letter requiring you to attend an IME (Independent Medical Examination) you are required to attend the appointment but beware.  The purpose of this visit is to prematurely cease your worker's compensation benefits.  Your benefits will be terminated after this visit, (many employers utilize doctors who are much more interested in maintaining a good continuing relationship with the employer than with accurately diagnosing the employee).  You will be told there is no appeal process and the IME findings are final.  This just simply is not true.  Contact the Local Union office for more information about your rights.

This website will eventually include information for JFK and GSO bases also.  If you are based in these states, your rights are different.  Please call the office before you become a victim of the current system.

 

Workers' Compensation Litigation

While most injured workers recover quickly, and beyond making the initial injury report to qualify for benefits have no real awareness of the workers' compensation system, those more seriously injured may have difficulty with their employer or with the compensation system. Those workers may benefit from consulting with lawyers. Workers' compensation litigation is generally considered to be simpler than traditional injury litigation, as it takes place in an administrative setting and may involve relaxed evidentiary rules. Attorney fees are ordinarily limited by statute.

Workers typically need to hire a workers comp lawyer when they are refused benefits to which they are entitled, are told that they can return to work before they are actually medically able, or are denied extended or permanent disability despite significant disabling injury. If your employer sends you to a doctor who declares that you are able to return to work even though you don't believe you are yet able, or tries to get you to return to work to a special job created to accommodate your injury, you should consider speaking to a comp lawyer right away.

The reason is this: while a typical injured employee does not know the law, a typical employer is very much aware of how the compensation system works, and how to terminate an employee's benefits. An injured worker who returns to work in a specially created position may well find that, two weeks later, the position is eliminated and he is laid off - but is no longer eligible for workers comp. Similarly, many employers utilize doctors who are much more interested in maintaining a good continuing relationship with the employer than with accurately diagnosing the employee - too many declarations of continuing disability will likely cause the employer to send injured employees to a different doctor. A lawyer can help you protect your rights when one of these "hired gun" doctors tries to block you from getting necessary treatment, cut off your benefits or send you back to work too early.

It is beneficial to go to a lawyer who handles a lot of workers' compensation cases. Typically, those lawyers will know the administrative judges or hearing officers who preside over comp hearings, and may also know the doctors and defense lawyers who are trying to block your claim. Using an attorney who knows the ins and outs of the system can help ensure that you collect the benefits that are due or, if you are so inclined, get a maximum pay-off to settle your compensation claim.