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.
Keep reading for answers to common questions about Home Depot workers compensation claims and settlements.
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:
These are the threshold elements to prove a compensable injury by accident while working at Home Depot (or elsewhere).
A Home Depot work accident may result in recovering these benefits:
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.
Home Depot employs people in many positions, including:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Several factors influence the settlement range for a particular case:
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.
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.