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Portland, Maine Workers’ Compensation Lawyers

Maine Lawyers Skilled In Workers’ Compensation Cases

If you have experienced an injury or illness at work in Maine, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. For over two decades, the Portland workers’ compensation attorneys of the Maine Employee Rights Group have helped injured workers statewide get the benefits they deserve.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Workers’ compensation benefits can include wage replacement, payment of medical bills, payment for vocational rehabilitation, and, in some cases, payment of schedule benefits for a specific loss. Nearly all Maine employers, both public and private, are required to obtain workers’ compensation coverage. There are narrow exceptions for certain types of agricultural workers, charities and non-profit organizations, domestic servants, and those employed by family members.

Workers’ compensation wage replacement benefits are paid at two-thirds of your gross average weekly wage, subject to a maximum rate. Benefits should continue for as long as you lose time from work and are unable to earn your pre-injury wage. You may receive partial or total benefits, depending on the extent of your incapacity. Since the Workers’ Compensation Act was amended in 2020, in partial incapacity cases, entitlement to wage replacement benefits ends after 624 weeks (12 years). You may be entitled to benefits beyond that time if your injury is totally medically disabling.

Employers are required to pay medical bills that are reasonable and proper and related to the work injury. This may include hospital and surgery, doctor visits, diagnostic testing, physical therapy, medications, and durable medical equipment.

Vocational rehabilitation is available under the Workers’ Compensation Act for employees who lack transferable skills and need help in order to replace their pre-injury wage. Plans must be approved by the Workers’ Compensation Board and are typically limited to one year of services. While you are participating in a Board-approved vocational rehabilitation plan, the insurance company may not reduce or suspend your workers’ compensation benefits.

An employer that does not comply with the legal obligation to obtain workers’ compensation coverage may still be liable in the event of an injury and may be ordered to pay a civil penalty of up to $10,000 or 108 percent of the premium that it should have paid during the period of noncompliance, whichever is larger, to the Employment Rehabilitation Fund.

How to Pursue a Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits

First, notify your employer of your illness or injury within 60 days. The 60 days begin to run from the date you knew or should have known that your injury resulted from work. Tell your employer if you need medical treatment or time off from work due to your injury. Your employer must report your claim to its insurer, which has 14 days to accept or deny. If the insurer accepts your claim, you will receive a Memorandum of Payment explaining your benefits. If the insurer denies your claim, you will receive a Notice of Controversy explaining the denial. This is where a skilled workers’ compensation lawyer can help.

Serving Injured Workers Throughout Maine

Workplace injuries can be career-ending and life-altering. Obtaining workers’ compensation benefits alleviates the financial burden as you begin the healing process. The workers’ compensation lawyers at the Maine Employee Rights Group represent injured workers statewide from Portland to Bangor, Lewiston to Machias. If you have a workers’ compensation dispute, call 207.874.0905 or fill out our online contact form to request a consultation.

Case Examples

Maine Employee Rights Group represented a 48-year-old millwright with shoulder injuries from overuse. The insurer denied the claim, arguing that our client failed to notify the employer of the injury within 60 days and had preexisting arthritis. We obtained text messages from our client to the employer proving that notice was timely. Then, we obtained an opinion from our client’s surgeon that repetitive reaching and working with arms overhead aggravated the arthritis in a significant manner, causing our client to need total shoulder replacement. The administrative law judge found the opinion from our client’s surgeon to be more credible than the opinion from the insurance medical examiner and ordered the employer to pay total incapacity benefits and to cover total shoulder replacement. The case ultimately settled, and our client was able to draw his pension and social security disability benefits.

Maine Employee Rights Group represented a 50-year-old construction worker with a traumatic brain injury after a fall from height. Our client had migraines, double vision, difficulty thinking and concentrating, depression, and anxiety. The insurer paid benefits initially but sought to terminate based on a neuropsychologist’s opinion that our client was exaggerating his symptoms. We obtained a persuasive rebuttal from our client’s neurologist, which the judge adopted in a decision reinstating total incapacity benefits. The case ultimately settled for a substantial amount, and our client was awarded Social Security disability benefits.

Maine Employee Rights Group represented a 40-year-old telecommunications worker who fell 25 feet from a cherry picker to the ground when his harness was not properly fastened. The client suffered severe injuries to his neck, back, pelvis, and leg, requiring hospitalizations, multiple surgeries, extensive rehabilitation, and home modifications. We worked with the insurer to ensure that medical treatments were promptly authorized and convinced them to pay an hourly wage to our client’s wife, who had to take leave from her job to care for him. The case resulted in a substantial settlement with a separate medical account to pay for future medical treatment.

Maine Employee Rights Group represented a 42-year-old machinist who hurt his back lifting heavy equipment at work. During a routine diagnostic test, a doctor mistakenly injected dye into the client’s spine, compounding the injury and rendering our client permanently and totally disabled. We helped our client obtain top-notch medical malpractice counsel for a suit against the doctor. In the workers’ compensation case, we convinced the insurer to pay for specialist treatment in Boston, including all travel expenses. The case resulted in a substantial settlement with a separate account to pay for future medical treatment. Together with medical malpractice counsel, we convinced the insurer to reduce its lien on the medical malpractice settlement, maximizing the monetary recovery for our client.

Maine Employee Rights Group represented a 32-year-old occupational therapist who injured her back while working with therapy patients. While painful, our client’s back injury was not severe, and she only required a few weeks off work to recover. Her employer initially granted her Family Medical Leave, but while she was out, they then decided to fill her position and told her she would have to reapply for a new position when one became available. The case went to mediation, where we negotiated a resolution requiring the employer to reinstate our client to her former position with backpay and pay our attorneys’ fees. The client is back at work, doing well.

Maine Employee Rights Group represented a 25-year-old roofer who fell and fractured his femur and his skull. Our client’s injuries required hospitalization, multiple surgeries, and rehabilitation. The employer tried to claim he was not an employee, but an independent contractor not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. There was a multi-day hearing just on that issue. We presented evidence that our client was, in fact, an employee because he did not have the essential right to control the means and progress of the work, was paid by the hour, did not have a substantial investment in the tools or equipment being used for the job, and did not have a contract. The administrative law judge found our client more credible than the employer and awarded total incapacity benefits retroactively to the date of injury and payment of all medical bills. The case ultimately settled, and our client used some of the settlement money to obtain an associate’s degree.

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Maine Employment Lawyer Blog - Workers’ Compensation

Thank you for your efforts and hard work in resolving my case. Your leadership and initiatives were outstanding. I felt truly represented, respected and was treated with honesty and integrity. We are grateful for a positive result and grateful for the excellent teamwork!

L.D., Portland.

Thank you for all your help on [AW's] case. Without you, nothing would have come from it. We will be sending people your way. We hope that we will not need your help again, but if we do you will be hearing from us.

J.W., East Machias.

We appreciate everything you have done for us. You made this whole process much easier on [P.C.] and me. Words cannot express our gratitude.

K.C., Sanford.

I want to thank you and your staff for all you and they did. The professional and compassionate way my case was handled is greatly appreciated. It was a pleasure to do business with your firm and if the need ever arises I will be back in touch. Thank you again.

M.H., Bangor.

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