Which Glendale jobs lead to workers’ comp claims?
Glendale’s work injuries come mostly from its hospitals, studios, shops, auto dealerships and construction sites. As a workers’ comp lawyer in Glendale, this firm sees each of those workplaces produce its own recognizable pattern of injury.
- Hospitals and clinics Nurses, aides and orderlies at Adventist Health Glendale, Glendale Memorial Hospital and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital lift and turn patients. Over the years, many develop back and shoulder injuries. Needlestick injuries and assaults by patients also occur.
- Animation, visual effects and studio work The animation campuses on the city’s west side employ artists and engineers who spend long days at tablets and keyboards. Carpal tunnel, tendinitis and neck strain are typical cumulative injuries.
- Retail and restaurants The Galleria, the Americana at Brand and the restaurants along Brand Boulevard employ stock clerks, cooks and servers. They face falls, burns, cuts and lifting injuries.
- Dealership service bays Technicians at the dealerships on South Brand lift tires and parts, work under vehicles and handle solvents all day.
- Home care Caregivers who work in private homes across the city transfer patients without hospital lifting equipment, often alone.
Whatever the job, the benefits are the same statewide: medical treatment, temporary disability pay while you cannot work, and compensation for any lasting impairment. Our guide to California workers’ compensation sets out each benefit and who pays it.
What if you were hurt on a downtown Glendale building site?
A construction worker hurt on a Glendale site usually claims workers’ compensation from their own employer. That holds even when a general contractor runs the site. Downtown Glendale has seen years of mid-rise apartment and mixed-use building, and those projects bring falls from scaffolding, struck-by injuries and heavy-lifting strains.
Big sites often have several employers working side by side: a framing subcontractor, an electrical contractor, a crane operator. If a worker from another company caused the injury, you may also have a negligence claim against that company. The construction injuries page explains how the two claims fit together.
Day laborers and workers paid in cash still have rights. If the employer failed to carry insurance, California’s Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund can step in. Those cases, however, take extra steps.
How do you report a work injury to a Glendale employer?
A Glendale workers’ comp claim starts with notice. First, tell your supervisor or employer, preferably in writing. Labor Code § 5400 sets a 30-day window for that notice. Your employer then has one working day to give you the DWC-1 claim form under Labor Code § 5401.
- Tell your employer A short written message with the date, the task and the body part is enough. Keep a copy.
- Complete the DWC-1 Fill in the employee section, sign it, and return it to the employer. The claim formally begins on that date.
- The insurer decides The claims administrator has up to 90 days to accept or deny. If it does neither, the law presumes the injury is compensable.
- File with the WCAB if needed An Application for Adjudication of Claim opens a case at the Appeals Board. Under Labor Code § 5405, the general deadline is one year from the injury.
Supervisors at larger Glendale employers often route the paperwork through human resources or an outside administrator. Smaller employers, such as family restaurants and home care agencies, sometimes do not know the process at all. In that case, our workers’ comp claim-filing guide walks through each form.
Which WCAB office hears Glendale workers’ comp cases?
A Glendale claim goes to one of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board’s district offices in Los Angeles County. For many Glendale workers, that means Van Nuys or downtown Los Angeles; the Division of Workers’ Compensation lists every DWC district office location. Venue rules in the Labor Code decide the office. They look at factors such as where you live, where the injury happened and where the employer does business.
Hearings there are mostly short conferences before a workers’ compensation judge. Typical examples are a mandatory settlement conference, a status conference, or a priority conference over medical treatment. A Glendale workers’ comp lawyer appears for most of them on your behalf. You attend the trial, if the case gets that far, and any conference the judge asks you to join.
Van Nuys is roughly twenty minutes from the Glendale office by the 134 and the 101 in light traffic. Downtown Los Angeles is about the same by the 5 or the 2. Hearing mornings start early, so allow extra time for the freeways.
Does immigration status or language affect a Glendale claim?
Immigration status does not affect your right to workers’ compensation in California. Labor Code § 1171.5 protects workers’ remedies regardless of status, and insurers cannot deny medical care on that ground.
Language, on the other hand, shapes a claim in practical ways. Doctors’ reports, QME interviews and deposition questions all rely on what you said, and a workers’ comp lawyer in Glendale reads them with that in mind. A misunderstanding about how an injury happened can follow a case for months. Glendale has large Armenian-, Spanish- and Russian-speaking communities, and this office works in all three plus English. If you were looking for an Armenian workers’ comp lawyer, the consultation and the calls that follow can all be in Armenian, so you can explain the job in your own words. The law also entitles you to a certified interpreter at hearings, medical-legal evaluations and depositions, generally at the insurer’s expense.
Fear of retaliation keeps many workers from reporting at all. Yet Labor Code § 132a makes it unlawful for an employer to punish a worker for filing a claim. If you have already lost the job, our article on being fired while on workers’ comp explains what that section covers.
What happens when the insurer disputes your doctor?
When the insurer and the worker disagree about the medical facts, a Qualified Medical Evaluator usually decides them. The Division of Workers’ Compensation issues a panel of three QMEs. Then you or your lawyer take part in selecting one under Labor Code §§ 4060–4062.2.
Panel doctors in the Glendale area have offices across the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena and central Los Angeles, and the evaluation can take half a day. The QME evaluation process page explains what happens in the exam room.
Sometimes a Glendale driver, delivery company or property owner caused the injury. That is when a work injury lawyer in Glendale looks beyond the employer. In that situation, a third-party claim against an outside party can run alongside the comp case. For local road and premises claims, see the Glendale personal injury page.
What does a Glendale workers’ comp lawyer cost?
You pay nothing up front. A workers’ compensation judge at the WCAB approves the attorney’s fee, typically around 15%, and it comes out of the award at the end of the case. The fees and consultations page explains the fee in more detail. The same terms apply in every one of the cities the firm serves, from Simi Valley to Pomona.
Before hiring a workers’ compensation attorney in Glendale, most people want to talk the case through. The first consultation is free and takes about thirty minutes. You can come to 300 W Glenoaks Blvd, with parking at the building, or talk by phone or video. Call or book online and ask for Veronica.