When you think of a work injury, you probably think of the most common type of injury where an acute trauma occurs to an employee that causes injury during the course of employment. However, there are a number of different types of injuries that you can be compensated for. Gillette injuries are one such injury. In short, Gillette injuries are injuries that result when work duties aggravate a pre-existing condition, even if that pre-existing injury was not work related. We’ll explain more in detail below.
The History of the Gillette Injury
Before we go further into the Gillette injury, we’ll explain how it became a compensable option under Minnesota law. The injury stems from the 1960 case involving Gillette v. Harold Inc. In that case, Gillette was a full-time salesperson at a downtown Minneapolis department store. Gillette developed a non-work-related medical condition in her left big toe, and had it addressed surgically. Gillette’s work duties required her to work long days on her feet.
Over the years, Gillette began to develop pain and stiffness in her big toe, and she filed an injury claim for partial disability suggesting that her work duties had caused incremental acceleration or aggravation of an old injury. The court looked at the case and ruled that when everyday work duties negatively affect a pre-existing medical condition, even if it occurs slowly over time, the resulting medical problem is a work-related personal injury that is compensable under Minnesota injury law. In their ruling, the court’s majority opinion stated that not all people hired at any point in time are in perfect physical condition, and therefore pre-existing medical issues should be compensable if job duties aggravate the problem.
Proving Gillette Injuries
If you’re experiencing pain or you aggravated an old injury during the course of employment, even if the original condition being aggravated didn’t occur at work, you’ll want to reach out to Hey Workers because Gillette injuries are difficult to prove on your own. You’ll want an experienced professional in your corner when it comes to analyzing the medical reports and constructing a narrative that proves your pain has been brought on by your work duties.
The Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals defined a Gillette injury as one that “did not arise from a single traumatic event, but from the effect of repetitive minute trauma,” so if you’ve been bending, walking, lifting or hauling for years and you believe it’s contributed to the acceleration of a previous condition, contact our team today. We can connect you with doctors and lawyers who can prove your work duties have contributed to the aggravation of a previous injury and get you the compensation you deserve. If we’re describing your injury, or you’re just wondering if your symptoms might be compensable, contact us today at 844-HEY-WORK (844-439-9675).
