When an employee sustains an on-the-job injury, the employee isn’t typically allowed to file a lawsuit against his or her employer. Instead, the employee makes a workers’ comp claim, often with the help of a New York workers’ compensation law firm. Provided the workers’ comp insurer accepts that the injury is actually work-related, the victim then receives benefits through workers’ compensation. These benefits can include things like medical bill payments, as well as permanent disability benefits if the injury prevents ongoing work or reduces working potential.
Unfortunately, some injured victims claim they are being treated unfairly within the workers’ compensation system. The group of victims making this particular claim are women, and they allege they are disadvantaged by the workers’ comp system which values men’s injuries more highly than the injuries that women workers sustain. The accusations the women are making are troubling, because if the claim that women receive less compensation is true, this could mean that injured women aren’t getting the benefits they deserve to care for themselves after a work injury.
How Does Workers’ Compensation Disadvantage Women?
Recently, the New Yorker wrote about a class action cause filed by women claiming they are being discriminated against within the workers’ compensation system. The New Yorker article indicated that the women are suing in California but that their complaints may be reflective of widespread problems throughout the workers’ compensation system as a whole in states throughout the United States. New York Magazine noted that the New York stat workers’ compensation guide does not make any mention of gender, so it is difficult to know if women are being treated the same or differently as compared with men.
There are a few problems which may be resulting in women being disadvantaged. One of the issues is that women are outright being told that certain types of injuries they sustain are worth less for women than if men sustained the same injury. The injuries, in particular, include carpal tunnel as well as various other overexertion or repetitive stress conditions that affect the body.
Women are viewed as more susceptible to injuries like carpal tunnel as a result of their age and their gender. Since women are more likely to get carpal tunnel and related problems as compared with men, they may get lower payouts since it is unclear exactly what extent of their injuries was caused by job duties.
Another issue that can affect women’s ability to recover full workers’ compensation benefits is the fact that many of the doctors who evaluate disability levels for workers’ comp cases are men and not women. In some specialty fields, less than three percent of the doctors who conduct workers’ compensation exams are men. The primarily male doctors who see women may end up undervaluing the extent of damage a woman has endured, which results in a lower value being placed on injuries.
You need to make sure you are getting the full extent of deserved benefits. A workers’ compensation law firm helps both men and women to understand what they are entitled to after a work injury. Contact an attorney at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff when you are hurt to get help fighting for fair compensation.
