State & Municipal Workers

Many state and municipal workers in Massachusetts have demanding jobs that often put them in harm’s way, exposing them to workplace injury accidents and making them a target of violent acts. Municipal firefighters may suffer an incapacitating injury or a heart attack from overexertion when responding to an emergency. Police officers, correctional officers and protective service workers may be injured in a workplace assault or violent act as they try to do their difficult jobs. Highway workers may be struck by a vehicle or piece of heavy equipment at a road construction work zone. Public health and hospital workers may develop a serious illness such as hepatitis from caring for sick patients.

If you or a loved one is a state or municipal worker who has suffered a work-related injury, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits including lost wages, medical treatment expenses and vocational rehabilitation costs as a result of a workplace accident.

State and Municipal workers may also be entitled to file an application for Accidental Disability Retirement Benefits through the Massachusetts State Retirement Board, if the  result of the injury is a determination that the worker is rendered permanently disabled from performing the essential functions of their employment. State and Municipal workers awarded Accidental Disability Retirement Benefits can receive 72% of their pre-injury earning, among other benefits.

Kantrovitz & Associates, P.C. is a workers’ compensation law firm with more than 20 years experience fighting for the rights of individuals injured in the course of their employment.

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, we help injured workers across Massachusetts, including but not limited to Boston, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Plymouth and Merrimack River. We also represent Rhode Island and New Hampshire residents whose injuries occurred in Massachusetts or who were hired in Massachusetts but who were injured out of state.

For a free, no obligation evaluation of your workplace injury or illness, please complete our online contact form or call us toll free at 800-367-0871.

State and municipal workers comprise more than 10 percent of workers in Massachusetts, or about 363,000 workers. State and municipal workers had 12,600 workplace injuries and illnesses in 2008, according to the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety. Nine of every 10 cases involved workplace injuries. Local government workers accounted for the vast majority of public sector workplace injuries and illnesses.

• Falls— State and municipal maintenance workers may suffer a workplace injury from a fall from a ladder, scaffolding or roof.
• Overexertion—Many state and municipal workers suffer strains, sprains and tears from a workplace incident such as lifting a heavy load, causing them to miss weeks of work.
• Repetitive Motion Injuries—Government workplace activities such as typing, word processing, data entry and clerical work can cause carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries that may develop gradually rather than from one incident or accident.
• Traffic Accidents—State and municipal workers may suffer a serious injury in an auto accident or truck accident on the job.
• Hit By Vehicle—Highway workers and construction workers at a road construction site may be hit by a vehicle while patching a pothole or suffer a traumatic injury by being hit or crushed by a piece of heavy equipment. Police officers directing traffic may be struck by a vehicle.
• Assaults—Protective services workers including jailers, guards, correctional officers, police, mental health counselors and workers in psychiatric hospitals are subject to workplace assaults and violent attacks by the people they are attending.

If you are a state and municipal workers who has been injured on the job, you may have a right to collect accidental disability retirement benefits in addition to workers’ compensation. As a public sector worker, you contribute to the Massachusetts’ public pension fund rather than the federal social security system. If you suffer an incapacitating injury or illness and are no longer able to perform your job, you may be entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits that amount to 72 percent of your pre-injury wages. You will have to provide medical evidence to a review board of your disabling condition.

Some municipal workers who are injured by a violent act by an inmate or patient are entitled to receive accidental disability retirement equal to 100 percent of their pre-injury wages. We represent prison guards, jailers and health care workers injured by assaults by inmates and psychiatric patients. A knowledgeable workplace injuries attorney can review your workplace injury and advise you about which benefits you may collect.

The Massachusetts’ workers’ compensation system is designed to ensure that state and municipal workers who are injured on the job or suffer work-related illnesses receive payment for lost wages, medical treatment and rehabilitation. All state and municipal employees have legal rights to workers’ compensation for work-related injuries. However, obtaining full workers’ compensation benefits is often more challenging than public employees anticipate. A workers’ compensation claims administrator may deny your injury was caused by a workplace accident.

At the hearing to decide your workers’ compensation claim, the government employer’s claims administrator will have a lawyer arguing on the state’s behalf to minimize or deny your benefits. That’s why you need an experienced workers’ compensation attorney standing up for the benefits that you’ve earned from years of public service.

While many Massachusetts lawyers practice in a number of different areas of the law, our firm concentrates exclusively in the area of workers’ compensation. Our firm believes in a proactive educational approach to the law. Each client is an active participant in all facets of their case.

Our workplace injury lawyers do not pass off cases to other Massachusetts law firms or to junior associates. A client will have the same attorney handling his or her claim from start to conclusion.

We are here to help state and municipal employees trying to recover from workplace injuries and illnesses.  Our workers’ compensation attorneys handle claims for Massachusetts workers who were injured in Massachusetts or while working out of state. We also represent Rhode Island and New Hampshire residents whose injuries occurred in Massachusetts or who were hired in Massachusetts but injured out of state.

For a free, no obligation evaluation of your workers’ compensation claim, please contact us online or call us toll free at 800-367-0871.

Remember that if you hire a workers’ compensation attorney because you have been denied benefits, Massachusetts’ workers’ compensation law states that the workers’ compensation insurer will pay the majority of your attorneys’ fees.