In Illinois, Workers' Compensation is available to cover a wide variety of work-related injuries. But what if the work-related accident resulted in the re-injury of an old condition? Would a pre-existing condition or injury mean that a worker can't get the compensation they deserve simply because they had been injured before? The answer is No. If you are injured on the job, that injury is considered a new accident, even if you had a pre-existing condition. Eligibility for Workers' Compensation doesn't end there. Workers can also receive compensation for conditions which are the result of a repeated work-related activity such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Any job or work-related injury is seen as distinct, so it isn't necessary to prove that a prior injury didn't have an impact on the worker's current condition. From shoveling snow to playing high school football, everyday activities often leave lasting injuries. Even after surgery or other forms of treatment a later sprain, strain or fracture at work can re-injure an old wound. So does that old injury work as a get out of jail free card for an employer looking to avoid paying Workers' Compensation benefits? No, it does not. Illinois law recognizes that workers deserve to be compensated for their injuries and shouldn't be forced to pay their own medical expenses simply because the accident aggravated an old injury. The worker only needs to be able to establish that some aspect of their employment establish a connection - whether it be repetitive trauma or a single, identifiable incident - aggravated or accelerated the pre-existing condition.
But what if the old injury was one for which Worker's Compensation was received? Can the same person receive Workers' Compensation again for the re-injury? The answer is usually yes. The new accident is still a new incident for which Workers' Compensation is available. So a work related re-injury would be its own new Workers' Compensation claim. Workers who repeat the same task frequently are often injured and re-injured in similar ways. The worker has the same rights to compensation for the re-injury that they received for the original injury.
In fact, many of our clients have a medical condition that wasn't even the result of a single injury. Conditions such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome often arise when a worker repeats the same task frequently. There's no single accident or injury that causes this type of condition like there would be for a sprain or a strain, but the law still recognizes it as an injury deserving of Workers' Compensation Benefits. Illinois law doesn't always require a single event or injury to be proved in order to collect Workers' Compensation Benefits, only that the injury suffered was the result of a work-related activity.
If you have been injured at work, re-injured at work, or developed a work related condition such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, contact us today, and get one of our skilled attorneys on your side to fight to ensure that you get the compensation you deserve.
