Employers are not required to pay workers’ compensation if one of their employees suffers an injury during their free time, but that doesn’t mean injuries that occur off the clock will never play a role in a workers’ compensation claim. In Minnesota, workers’ compensation does offer protections to workers who re-injure or aggravate a previous injury, even if that original injury was not work related. We take a closer look at these protections in this blog.
Coverage For Pre-Existing Conditions
Under Minnesota law, a person can receive workers’ compensation if their work injury is a substantial contributing factor to their current condition. If an old injury rears its ugly head and causes problems at a current job, it may be compensable. That’s because employers in Minnesota assume the risk that an employee’s non-work related pre-existing condition may be aggravated by work activity.
The precedent was set back in 1974 in the case of Vanda v. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. In that case, the court ruled:
“When the usual tasks ordinary to an employee’s work substantially aggravate, accelerate, or combine with a pre-existing disease or latest condition to produce a disability, the entire disability is compensable, no apportionment being made on the basis of relative causal contribution of the pre-existing condition and the work activities.”
Judge Considerations
A workers’ compensation judge will consider several factors while determining whether the aggravation of a pre-existing condition is temporary or permanent. Those factors include:
- The nature and severity of the pre-existing condition and the extent of restrictions and disability resulting therefrom;
- The nature of the symptoms and the extent of medical treatment before the moment of aggravation;
- The nature and severity of the aggravating incident and the extent of the restrictions and disability resulting therefrom;
- The nature of the symptoms and the extent of medical treatment after the moment of aggravation;
- The nature and extent of the employee’s work duties and non-work activities during the relevant time period.
- Expert medical opinions on the matter.
All of these factors play a role in whether or not you receive compensation for a work injury aggravation and how much compensation you deserve. Because there are a lot of detailed factors involved, it is almost always in your best interest to hire a workers’ compensation firm to develop your case and present it on your behalf.
This is especially true when you consider that a lot of insurance companies will try to deny your claim on the assertion that the injury was not work-related. Even if you know your aggravation happened at work, it can be tough to know how to best prove your case. We know how to do this, and we’ve done it for many past clients. To learn more about how we can help you get compensation for an aggravation of a previous injury, reach out to Hey Workers today.
