Hurt at work in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, or anywhere else on the Southside? Virginia workers’ comp can pay for your medical treatment and part of your lost wages, but only if your accident meets the legal test and your claim is filed on time. Pathfinder Injury Law handles only Virginia workers’ compensation claims, only for injured workers.
We do not have an office in Norfolk. You can meet with us by phone or video, or at our Richmond office by appointment. Your first consultation is free. Call 804-505-0633 or use the form on this page.
What Are the First Rules for a Workers’ Comp Claim in Hampton Roads?
A Virginia workers’ comp claim from anywhere in Hampton Roads follows the same rules as a claim from anywhere else in the state. The first few rules decide whether you get anything at all:
- Who is covered: Virtually all employers with three or more employees regularly in service in Virginia are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Being called an independent contractor doesn’t always settle it. What matters most is whether the company has the right to control how the work is done.
- What you have to show: that your injury arose out of and in the course of your employment, and that it was caused by an identifiable incident at a reasonably definite time that produced a sudden mechanical or structural change to your body.
- Notice: give your employer written notice of the accident within 30 days, although exceptions exist (Va. Code § 65.2-600).
- Filing: Your claim must be on file with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission within two years of your date of accident, although exceptions apply. File it even if the insurance company is already paying you (Va. Code § 65.2-601).
- Fault: it doesn’t matter whether your employer caused the accident. Your own conduct can matter, for example willful misconduct or willfully breaking a known safety rule.
Here’s how to file a workers’ comp claim, step by step.
What Jobs and Injuries Are Common in Norfolk?
Government employs more people in the city than any other sector, and health care is the largest private industry, according to the state’s Virginia Works community profile. The U.S. Department of Defense tops the state’s list of the largest employers. Others on that list include:
- Health care: Sentara Healthcare, Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, and Lake Taylor Hospital
- The port and shipping: Virginia International Terminals, CMA CGM America, and Maersk Line Limited
- Ship repair: Colonna’s Shipyard and Marine Hydraulics International
- Public employers: the city government, the public schools, Old Dominion University, and Norfolk State University
- Stores and delivery: Walmart, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, and Federal Express
Jobs like these produce sudden injuries, for example:
- Falls from ladders, scaffolds, and gangways
- Hands and arms caught or crushed in machinery or between heavy loads
- Cuts and burns from tools, welding, and cutting torches
- Forklift and truck accidents in yards, docks, and warehouses
- Nurses and aides hurt lifting or moving a patient
- Slips and falls on wet floors in hospitals, stores, and kitchens
- Back, shoulder, and knee injuries from a specific lift or fall
- Crashes while driving for work
Some of these claims are easier to prove than others. A cut or a fall from a ladder happens at one moment and usually leaves a record the same day. A back injury from lifting is easier for an insurance company to dispute: it may say the injury came on gradually instead of from one identifiable incident, or that the problem is degenerative. Write down what you were lifting, when it happened, and who you told.
If another driver hits you while you are driving for work, you may also have a separate injury claim against that driver. More on construction accidents, car accidents at work, and back injuries at work.
Pathfinder Injury Law focuses only on Virginia state workers’ compensation. If you’re a federal employee, a railroad worker, or a shipyard or port worker, or if you were hurt in another state, your claim may fall under a different system. Give us a call anyway. We’ll help you figure out where your claim belongs, and if it isn’t one we handle, we’ll point you to a lawyer who does.
Can I Choose My Own Workers’ Comp Doctor?
Usually not at first. Your employer must offer a panel of at least three doctors, and you choose one (Va. Code § 65.2-603). If your claim is denied, you can generally choose your own doctor instead.
Tell every doctor, nurse, or clinic that your injury happened at work. Keep the panel list your employer gave you, and bring it when we meet.
Where Are Hampton Roads Workers’ Comp Disputes Decided?
The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission decides disputes over workers’ comp claims that the parties don’t settle (Va. Code § 65.2-700). It has a regional office in Virginia Beach at 281 Independence Blvd., Suite 310, and lists that office as both a hearing location and a mediation location. It also lists hearing locations at 22 Lincoln St. in Hampton and at the Williamsburg/James City County Courthouse (Commission locations).
The Commission’s locations page does not say which cases are heard where. Its rules also provide for hearings by video over Webex (16VAC30-50-30). You can ask the Commission for a hearing no matter what the insurance company decides. The insurance company will have a lawyer at that hearing. Here’s what to do if your claim is denied.
What Does Workers’ Comp Pay?
- Wage checks while you can’t work: If a doctor says you cannot return to work at all for a temporary period because of your injuries, you may receive two-thirds of your pre-injury average weekly wage, up to a maximum weekly compensation rate.
- Wage checks on light duty at lower pay: two-thirds of the difference between what you earned before and what you earn now, up to the weekly maximum.
- Medical treatment: the insurance company is required to pay for treatment that is reasonable, necessary, and causally related to the accident. That doesn’t mean it will.
- Permanent partial disability: a set number of weeks of pay for a permanent loss of use of certain body parts, based on a doctor’s rating (Va. Code § 65.2-503).
- Death benefits: These benefits can pay for a limited amount of funeral expenses, medical bills incurred before the death, and lost wages for certain periods of time for certain survivors or dependents who meet statutory criteria.
Workers’ comp does not pay for pain and suffering. More on what workers’ comp covers in Virginia.
What Should I Bring to a Consultation?
Bring what you have. Nothing here is required to call us, and you can send it to us if we meet by phone or video.
- Medical records, work notes, and visit summaries
- Medical bills
- Anything from your employer: the accident report, the list of doctors you were given, emails or texts about the injury
- Letters or emails from the insurance company
- Anything from the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
Do You Take Cases From Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth?
Yes. We take cases from across the Southside, including Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Suffolk, and from the Peninsula. See our pages for Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, and Newport News.
Talk to a Workers’ Comp Lawyer About Your Hampton Roads Claim
Pathfinder Injury Law handles only Virginia workers’ compensation claims. Call 804-505-0633 or fill out the form on this page.
