From time to time over the years, people have asked me if I see a lot of people faking injuries or taking advantage of the system.
I occasionally do come across these people and I avoid representing them. The vast majority of my clients are hard-working people who have been cheated from the benefits they should be provided pursuant to our Industrial Insurance Act based on premiums paid into the system by both employers and employees. I want to share a case on point. Right now, my associate is meeting with a Client whose benefits were abruptly terminated a number of years ago after an adverse defense medical examination. While we have been fighting through the slow moving legal process, the Client became homeless and turned to street drugs to self-medicate. Despite some serious preexisting health problems, he was a successful union laborer before losing his only career to a significant injury. A jury recently found that he should be provided with ALL back time loss benefits and a pension going forward. Before he could accept these benefits, we had to help him get an ID (not necessarily easy for someone who has been homeless for over 4 years). Now that he has an ID, our associate will take him to the bank to open a new account so that he can apply for stable housing and get access to the medical treatment he needs. Today, he walked into our office soaking wet, filthy, and tired. His life is about to change for the better.
Most, if not all, of the credit for this case outcome goes to our new associate who took this very challenging case with its prejudicial facts to a jury just one month after starting with us. However, this is why we do this work at Foster Law, PC and we are all proud of what we collectively accomplished for this formerly hardworking man who was cheated by the system for years.