Are You a Home Depot Employee Hurt at Work?
Our Work Injury Lawyers Help Home Depot Employees Win Their Claims and Negotiate Lump Sum Settlements
The Home Depot, Inc., is America’s largest home improvement retailer, with over $150 billion in total sales. (Lowe’s is the second biggest hardware store in the country and a major competitor).
Home Depot employs approximately 418,000 associates nationally to operate more than 2,000 stores with more than 240 million square feet of space and roughly 90 supply chain facilities (warehouses and distribution centers) covering more than 100 million square feet. This statistic makes The Home Depot number six on the list of United States-based largest private employers.
You have likely reached this article because you are a Home Depot employee hurt at work. Unfortunately, work accidents are a significant risk when working for a company whose stores stock 30,000 to 40,000 items yearly, many of which are heavy, awkward to lift, or kept at heights.
But you do not have to handle the legal, physical, mental, and financial consequences of a Home Depot workplace accident alone. We can help.
Call us at (804) 251-1620 or (757) 810-5614 if you are a Home Depot employee injured at one of the company’s 50 stores in Virginia or 41 stores in Maryland.
Our personal injury law firm helps Home Depot employees recover benefits and negotiate workers compensation settlements. And we know the steps to take to speed up when workers comp will offer to settle.
Let’s start on the path to recovery.
What to Know if You Get Hurt at Work at Home Depot
Keep reading for answers to common questions about Home Depot workers compensation claims and settlements.
What are Your Workers Comp Rights as an Injured Home Depot Employee?
Workers compensation is a no-fault system in most states, including Virginia and Maryland. This means you are eligible for workers comp benefits even if your negligence contributed to the occupational injury or illness at Home Depot.
Despite this relaxed burden of proof, you still must prove the following elements to get workers compensation through Home Depot or its insurer:
- You gave written notice of the industrial accident and injury within 30 days of the incident (here is a sample work injury report to use as a template)
- You filed a claim for benefits within the applicable statute of limitations (two years from the accident date, in most cases)
- You were injured while working as a Home Depot employee. Workers compensation laws do not cover independent contractors.
- You suffered a structural change in the body due to a specific incident (acute trauma). Diagnostic imaging (X-rays, CT scans, MRI) objectively proves some injuries (broken bones/fractures, herniated discs, and torn ACLs. menisci, and rotator cuffs). However, you can also establish a structural change if you suffer a strain, sprain, bruise, cut, swelling, or concussion (imaging does not show all traumatic brain injury types).
- The workplace accident happened when performing a work-related task.
- A specific risk of the employment caused the harm. For example, you can receive workers comp payments and medical treatment if a customer assaults you because they are upset Home Depot is out of stock for the product they want. However, you do not get benefits if a neighbor comes to work to harm you while you are on the clock (the law considers this a personal assault for which you can file a civil complaint alleging an intentional tort, but not a workers comp issue).
These are the threshold elements to prove a compensable injury by accident while working at Home Depot (or elsewhere).
Work Comp Benefits Available for Home Depot Associates
A Home Depot work accident may result in recovering these benefits:
- Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits when your authorized treating physician signs a report disabling you from all work due to occupational injuries.
- Temporary partial disability payments if you return to work (at Home Depot or some other company) but earn less because of medical restrictions from the incident.
- Permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits for permanent impairment resulting from amputation, loss of use, or scarring/disfigurement of the injured body parts.
- Vocational training if you must change career paths due to your restrictions. This includes job coaching, resume writing, and other rehabilitation.
- And more
But remember, you may have to offer evidence to prove entitlement to these specific benefits (having a compensable accident is not enough).
For example, Home Depot pays many associates hourly.
Suppose you suffer cervical spine and back injuries when lifting a heavy plant into a customer’s car, requiring spinal fusion and prolonged physical therapy.
You will likely have a total disability from work for a period, followed by permanent restrictions after the spinal fusion.
Home Depot may offer light duty, such as a modified cashier position that allows you to sit (sedentary exertional level). However, you may get fewer hours or receive less money. Or the temporary modified assignment may end after 60 to 90 days.
In this situation, you must market your residual work capacity (look for other jobs) to make up the difference in pay. If your efforts are sufficient, you can receive temporary partial disability benefits to cover the wage difference.
Common Work-Related Accidents and Injuries by Job at Home Depot
Home Depot employs people in many positions, including:
- Cashiers: As a cashier, you risk suffering injuries to your hands, fingers, and wrists when handling objects.
- Freight team associates and stockers: A freight team associate or stocker may work overnight stocking merchandise on the shelves. In these positions, you may have to climb ladders and lift heavy objects, putting you at risk for harm.
- Lot associates: Home Depot lot associates help maintain the carts and load items for customers. In this job, you risk suffering injury in a slip and fall accident in the parking lot (especially during the winter) or getting hurt in a work-related car crash where you are a struck pedestrian.
- Sales associates: Sales associates at The Home Depot often greet customers, mix paint, make copies of keys, arrange displays, offer information about products, and demonstrate product features. Moving displays and operating machinery can lead to severe injuries.
In addition, Home Depot employees are at risk of suffering burn injuries (from chemicals, for example) or accidents involving machinery and equipment (such as forklifts and pallet jacks).
No matter your Home Depot job, our law firm can help you evaluate your legal options and prosecute a workers comp claim.
Common Defenses Raised in Workers Comp Claims Involving Home Depot and Other Employers with Physically Demanding Jobs
Here are the three defenses that Home Depot may raise if you seek benefits for a work injury.
First, Home Depot may allege that you violated an employee protection safety rule, which caused the accident.
Many big-box stores have written policies addressing safety for employees and customers.
If it is possible to escape liability because you did not follow the safety rules strictly, employers will raise this defense.
Second, Home Depot may deny parts of your claim if you have a preexisting condition such as arthritis or degenerative disc disease (spinal stenosis).
The employer’s attorney will argue that the incident temporarily exacerbated or aggravated the underlying condition but that you have now healed and returned to your baseline physical condition.
You can overcome this defense by obtaining your medical reports, a narrative report from the orthopedic doctor concerning legal and medical causation, and testifying about how your condition and abilities changed after the workplace incident.
Third, Home Depot may find a way to terminate you “for cause” if it offers light duty after a workplace injury. For example, it may allege that you showed up late too often or made too many mistakes.
Home Depot may file a pleading known as an employer’s application for a hearing to suspend or terminate benefits, depending on when the termination happens.
If the Workers Compensation Commission agrees that the termination was “for cause” – an elusive question to answer under the case law – your right to wage loss payments may be limited.
What Insurance Company Provides Workers Compensation Coverage to Home Depot?
Safety National Casualty Corp provides workers compensation insurance coverage to Home Depot in Virginia as of August 2023.
In past claims, however, New Hampshire Insurance Company and Helmsman Management Services (a Liberty Mutual subsidiary) have served as claims administrators for Home Depot.
What Attorneys Defend Home Depot Work Comp Claims?
The Home Depot often hires attorneys to defend claims filed by injured employees.
For example, in Virginia, multiple attorneys with the insurance defense law firm of Kalbaugh Pfund Messersmith (KMP Law) handle Home Depot workers comp claims.
These Home Depot lawyers have experience and knowledge that you do not have.
And this is one reason why we recommend hiring a workers comp lawyer for Home Depot employees.
Our lawyers know KPM Law and can help you work toward a successful resolution of the workers comp claim.
Will Home Depot Settle Workers Compensation Cases?
Yes.
In our experience, Home Depot will negotiate workers compensation settlements, with a resolution possible before or after an evidentiary hearing before a deputy commissioner (similar to a trial in criminal or civil court).
Indeed, we have negotiated a settlement with Home Depot after the judge ruled in the employee’s favor following a workers compensation hearing.
What is the Average Home Depot Workers Comp Settlement?
Several factors influence the settlement range for a particular case:
- Severity of injuries
- Likelihood of permanent disability
- Physical requirements of the pre-injury job
- Medical care required (conservative treatment vs. surgery)
- Pre-injury wages
- Facts uncovered in pretrial discovery
Evaluate these items, develop the evidence to strengthen your case, and submit a well-written settlement demand letter to scare the insurance adjuster into increasing claim reserves and the Home Depot settlement offer.
Top-Rated Workers Comp Lawyers for Hurt Home Depot Employees
Taking on the company you work for in a legal dispute can be overwhelming, especially a business the size of Home Depot. You are just one person going up against a company with more money, attorneys, and resources than you.
But, hiring a work injury attorney with experience dealing with Home Depot’s defense lawyers and work comp adjusters can level the playing field, improving your chances of receiving fair treatment. Every dollar counts when you need to care for yourself and your family.
Contact us today for a free consultation about your Home Depot work accident. We get results for Home Depot employees hurt at stores in Virginia or Maryland and distribution centers in Winchester, Sparrows Point, Baltimore, Hagerstown, Gaithersburg, and Hillcrest Heights.
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