Stress and work, these two things seem as inseparable as peanut butter and jelly. Seriously, for many workers in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California, their job causes a tremendous amount of stress. And there are many factors that contribute to that stress.
What many of these workers do not realize, however, is that they may be eligible to receive workers compensation benefits for their stress or stress-related injury at work.
Needless to say, your employer will not be exactly thrilled when he or she receives your workers compensation claim citing “stress or mental injury.” So be warned: if you truly want to recover compensation for your stress at work, you will have to go to hell and back and jump through countless bureaucratic and legal hurdles to succeed.
Or you can simply hire a Los Angeles stress-related injury attorney from the Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach who will do it all for you while you focus on your recovery. To give you a better understanding of how stress-related workers compensation claims work in California, let’s review the most common reasons why your stress-based workers compensation claim can get dismissed by the Judge at the workers comp hearing.
As with any other injury that makes you eligible to file a workers compensation claim, you will have to prove that your stress or mental injuries are job-related or were caused by certain conditions in the workplace.
Many employers in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California can easily escape liability by arguing that their employee’s stress-related injury was caused by factors in their personal life and/or away from work. In most cases, proving that your stress was caused by factors at work is something only an experienced stress-related injury attorney in Los Angeles can do.
Being harassed or discriminated against in the workplace can qualify as a work-related factor that caused stress. Generally, you have to prove that a toxic or hostile work environment was responsible for your stress and mental injuries. As a matter of fact, you do not have to prove that your stress was solely caused by work factors.
Our best workers compensation lawyers in California explain that, according to state laws, you only have to demonstrate proof that job-related factors or conditions were the predominant cause of your stress (meaning: at least 51 percent).
Being stressed out when you are the new guy or girl in the office is a normal thing – ask any psychologist. Unless, of course, you are being harassed or discriminated against since your very first day at work. Otherwise, California laws make you eligible to receive workers compensation benefits only if you have worked for the employer for at least six months.
And it makes sense considering that stress generally develops over time. And proving that your stress was predominantly caused by factors or conditions in the workplace may be tough if you have not worked for the employer long enough.
“If your employer is aware of your past psychiatric injury or that you have been coping with stress for a while, it may be quite difficult to obtain workers compensation benefits,” warns our Los Angeles workers compensation lawyer.
Unless you develop a strong legal case and have medical documents to prove that your current stress or mental injuries have been predominantly caused by your job and has nothing to do with your past psychiatric injury or mental trauma, your employer may succeed in his or her efforts to invalidate your claim by pointing out that you struggled with stress in the past.
Get a free consultation from our experienced lawyers at the Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach. Find out your best legal option to obtain workers comp for a stress-related injury. Call at 818-609-7005 or complete this contact form.
