New Jersey police officers awarded workers’ comp benefits

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Three Paterson policemen were awarded $71,000 in workers' compensation after the Paterson City Council recently approved the three settlements. All of the injuries occurred while the police officers were on duty. One of the police officers was awarded $40,230 due to injuries sustained to his shoulder and knee after being struck by a motor vehicle. Another received a settlement of $16,253 for injuries to his he received to his ankle while attempting to arrest a suspect. The final officer received $15,450 for injuries to his neck and back received while struck by a motor vehicle at an intersection. Too often employers will question whether the injury was work-related and often not take the employee at their word. Yet workers injured at their place of employment should be compensated by their employer if an injury or illness occurred on the job. This is why Workers' Compensation laws were put into place. It's not always easy to make determinations as to whether injuries are related to work. Often workers are injured on the job, but their symptoms do not immediately appear until later on. Also, often injuries that occurred on the job are aggravated when that worker is performing routine tasks at home. Nevertheless, it would be unjust to deprive an employee of his disability benefits pursuant to workers' compensation under such a situation. Because such claims can be so complex, it is important that an injured worker consult with an attorney that is experienced in the workers' compensation area to insure that his or her claims are handled fairly. Americans spend an extremely high number of hours at work, and an extremely high percentage of injuries received in the United States come about at work because of workplace accidents. This is especially true in an occupation such as fire fighter or police officer where these individuals often place themselves in danger in order to keep others safe. Source: The Alternative Press, "City Cops Get $71,000 in Worker's Comp Cases," by Joe Malinconico, Oct. 18, 2012

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