WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BENEFITS

CHICAGO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW FIRM FOR CTA WORKERS Transportation can be a hazardous industry in which to work. If you are concerned about recovering workers’ compensation benefits as an injured employee of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), you should call the seasoned Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. For more than sixty years, we’ve fought for full and fair compensation for workers. Several of us have been recognized as Super Lawyers and received other prestigious honors. As an employee of CTA, you deserve to have a knowledgeable attorney by your side when you go up against your large employer for benefits.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR INJURED CTA WORKERS Work injuries and occupational diseases can severely disrupt your life, resulting in negative impacts on both your finances and your long-term health. In Illinois, most employers are required to obtain workers’ compensation insurance. However, CTA is self-insured; this means it pays its own employees workers’ compensation claims for benefits. You should be aware that CTA does not purchase insurance from an outside insurance company, instead it is self-insured and handles all its own claims for injuries through the claims examiners it employs. These examiners, like private insurers, look for ways to deny claims, even when an employee has serious injuries.

Benefits to which you may be entitled as an injured CTA worker include:

• Medical benefits that address reasonable and necessary medical care,
• Temporary total or partial disability benefits,
• Permanent total or partial disability benefits,
• Vocational rehabilitation benefits.

Surviving family members who were CTA workers that died as the result of work-related injuries may be able to recover death benefits. For example, if your spouse was a CTA bus operator who died as the result of a drunk truck driver, you may be able to obtain death benefits. You can seek funeral and burial costs, and 2/3 of your spouse’s average weekly wage in the 52 weeks before the fatality from CTA. Our lawyers only have 3 years from a CTA worker’s death or the last benefit payment to the worker, whichever is later, to pursue death benefits.

Workers’ compensation benefits are not taxable under state or federal law.

MEDICAL BENEFITS FOR CTA WORKERS When you have a work-related injury, CTA is required to pay for all medical care that’s reasonably necessary to relieve or cure you from the effects of your injury. Medical benefits can include emergency care, first aid, Dr. visits, surgery, physical therapy, chiropractic care, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment. The extent and severity of your injuries will determine what is reasonable and necessary.

Often CTA workers must obtain prior authorization from CTA to obtain certain types of more expensive treatments. For example, if you suffered complex fractures in a CTA train accident, and require surgery, you and your doctor will need to get pre-authorization and approval for this procedure from CTA. If CTA does not believe you reasonably need the surgery, it may deny the authorization or it may ask to undergo an independent medical examination (IME) with a doctor of its choosing.

DISABILITY BENEFITS Wage replacement occurs through disability benefits. Only a portion of your wages, two-thirds of your average weekly wage, will be replaced through these benefits. Our lawyers can seek permanent total, permanent partial, temporary partial, and temporary total disability benefits on your behalf.

THIRD-PARTY LAWSUIT If you were injured by a third party, other than CTA, you may be able to pursue damages in a third-party lawsuit. These are frequently pursued under a theory of negligence. To recover damages in that case, we would need to prove the defendant: (1) owed you a duty to use reasonable care, (2) breached this duty, (3) thereby causing your injuries, and (4) you suffered actual damages, as a result.

HIRE A CHICAGO LAW FIRM FOR CTA WORKERS’ CLAIMS Chicago transportation accidents can result in devastating and even fatal injuries to workers. Our workers’ compensation attorneys represent CTA workers in Champaign, Rockford, Quincy, and Aurora, as well as Sangamon, Winnebago, Kane, Cook, and Adams Counties. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.