If you are injured at work, in the course and scope of your employment, then yes, you probably qualify for workers' compensation benefits.

However, there are exceptions. For example, if you were intoxicated when you were injured and the injury occurred as a result of your intoxication you are not entitled to benefits through workers' compensation. If your employer requests a drug screen from you after you are injured (which they have the right to do) and you refuse, you cannot collect benefits.  Likewise, if your injury is caused by horseplay, you would then too be denied benefits.

Employers do have the right to opt out of the workers' compensation system in Oklahoma, but that requires the company to be pretty big with a lot of money. An injured worker can still seek compensation for their work injuries but not through the Workers' Compensation Commission and workers' compensation laws would not apply. Instead, the injured worker would have to bring negligence cause of action against the employer in district court. It's potentially more money but much more difficult because the injured worker must show that the employer's negligence was responsible for the injury. The worker must prove fault in this scenario.

Sometimes, the worker is entitled to benefits but the employer didn't have workers' compensation insurance at the time of the injury. These are really bad situations. It's very unfortunate for the injured worker. If the employer doesn't have anything there isn't much the worker can do.  

See Work Injury Checklist.

See Workers' Compensation Benefits.

You have 30 days to report the injury to your employer and you have 1 year from the date of your injury to file a claim with the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Commission.

Yes, if you are off work because of your work injury, you are entitled to wage replacement called TTD (Temporary Total Disability). This is usually paid with a weekly check equal to 70% of your average weekly wage.

If your doctor has you on restrictions that your employer is unable to accommodate, you are considered TTD. You would receive TTD checks until your doctor releases you back to work, or your employer offers you a position that does accommodate your restrictions.

Your employer knows they can't terminate you for getting injured and collecting workers' compensation. That would be a retaliatory discharge and it is against the law.

Although employers aren't supposed to fire you for filing a comp claim, they often do. Some attorneys will tell you if that happens you can file a wrongful termination lawsuit, which is true. But you should know how difficult a wrongful termination is to prove. Some attorneys do not explain this to you because they do not want you to be deterred from filing a workers' compensation claim. They just want your business and probably don't care too much about whether you get fired or not.

Most employers are not dumb enough to fire you and admit your comp claim was the reason. They will fire you for a legitimate infraction but one they never would have noticed prior to your injury. That way their defense to a wrongful termination lawsuit is solid (because you were one minute late twice in a row, for example). You, the employee, would have to prove your employer wouldn't have terminated you for the infraction and the actual reason was for filing the workers' compensation claim.

But not every scenario is that difficult. If you think you have a wrongful termination suit, it is worth looking into and consulting with an attorney.

Call me to get a specific dollar amount range I believe will be likely given your particular injury and circumstances. 

While you are off work due to your injury you will receive TTD which is 70% of your average weekly wage, not to exceed $1,083.46 a week.  So if you made $1,000 a week, while you are off work workers' compensation will pay you $700 a week. If you made $10,000 a week you will get $1,083.46 a week while you are off work.

In addition to the TTD and 100% of your medical treatment you receive, you will also probably be entitled to PPD (permanent partial disability). This is an amount of money intended to compensate you for the things you could do before your injury but cannot do now. Your PPD rate is the same as your TTD rate, only your PPD rate cannot exceed $360. PPD is usually received at the end of your claim after you have been released from medical treatment at maximum medical improvement. 

There are 2 different ways that usually determine the amount of PPD you will receive. First, is settlement. You and the insurance carrier agree on a lump sum amount. Second, you petition the Commission for a trial date, have a trial, and the Administrative Law Judge will decide how much PPD you receive.

Please refer to the Commission's website under PPD Benefit Chart. 

The length of your case depends on a variety of factors, including the complexity and the other party involved. But mostly it depends on your medical treatment and the progress of your recovery.

The point of your medical treatment is to restore you as close as possible back to the way you were before the injury. Your doctor may try a course of physical therapy and a round of injections, then decide your best option is surgery. A workers' compensation claim can take anywhere from a couple of months to several years.

Call me to get a more specific forecast for your claim.

Medical records if possible. If not, a thorough list of doctors, hospitals, and emergency care you have treated with for your injury and their contact information. If you are unable to bring this information with you, don't stress. We can still have our consultation.

Bring any other relevant information such as your employer's contact information and more importantly, your employer's workers' compensation carrier's contact information and their claim number if possible.

When you file a workers' compensation claim, unless your employer doesn't have workers' compensation insurance, the claim is really against your employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier.  That is who actually pays for your work comp benefits. Your only remedy for a work place injury is through workers' compensation UNLESS your injury was due to your employer's gross negligence, or  the injury was intentional.

If you were injured by a third party while you were in the course and scope of your employment, then you could have a negligence claim against the third party in district court and a work comp claim against your employers' carrier. 

Yes. Unfortunately though, this usually ends badly for the injured worker. Any benefits you are owed would have to come out of the employer's pocket. If the employer doesn't have any money or files for bankruptcy, there usually isn't much to pay the injured employee. 

You would definitely be entitled to vocational rehabilitation to be trained to do another kind of work. If you were not retrainable for any kind of work you might be entitled to Permanent Total Disability benefits.

You do have the right to a change of physician by filing a CC-Form-A.

Check out "Steps to take after a car wreck" in the Personal Injury section of this site.

If you were injured due to someone else's negligence, you probably do.

Yes. Oklahoma applies modified comparative negligence in personal injury claims. So you can be 30% at fault and any award for damages you receive will be reduced proportionally. You are barred from recovering anything at all if your negligence is 51% or more.

The statute of limitations in Oklahoma to bring a suit for negligence is two years. So it is crucial that you contact an attorney as soon after your injury as possible.

Obviously, I need details of what happened to you before answering this one.  However, the primary factors that determine what a claim is worth are the incurred costs i.e. medical treatment, lost wages, property damage, etc. If your injury was minor, your claim may be worth a little more than the total of those costs. Severe injuries can be worth 4 or 5 times the total costs amount because there is usually additional compensation awarded for pain and suffering.

Once your attorney files the petition (lawsuit) in district court, the defendant will be served with that lawsuit. Then you wait for the defendant to file a response to your lawsuit.

The defendant will probably admit one or two things in your petition but for the most part, deny responsibility. At that point your attorney will go to work contacting witnesses, putting medical records together for evidence and prepare and answer discovery. Your attorney may want to file pre-trial motions, for example to get a ruling from the court to exclude certain evidence from the trial.

At some point either you or the other side may submit a settlement proposal. The vast majority of personal injury cases end in settlement rather than going all the way to trial. You will either agree on a settlement amount or go to trial.

It depends. Not every personal injury claim is going to include a lot of compensation for pain and suffering. The amount you receive for it is proportional to the severity of your injuries and how permanent they are. If you got a bruise and saw the doctor one time and got better in a week or two with no residual problems, you probably will not receive any compensation for pain and suffering. On the other hand, if you sustained injuries that require extensive medical treatment, including surgeries and lose partial use of your arm, you are going to be entitled to significant pain and suffering.

Again, every case is different and a lot really depends on how long your medical treatment will take. Some cases are over in a couple of months while others last years.