Compensation for Hand + Wrist Injuries at Work in Boston

Many people use their hands to earn a living. Potentially the most obvious professions attached to that statement would be various kinds of construction workers and tradespeople like welders, carpenters, machinists, and other similar professions. However, the reality is that many, many professions rely on the use of their hands to get the job done. For example, tailors, concert pianists, and personal trainers all rely on their hands to earn a living. Even professions like typists and office workers rely on their hands, and an injury to a hand can be seriously debilitating to many jobs or make it outright impossible to work.

If you suffered a hand or wrist injury at work, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Our lawyers can work with you to find the best route forward to help you recover both physically and financially from a work-related hand or wrist injury.

For help with your case, call the Law Office of John J. Sheehan at (617) 925-6407 and speak with our Boston work injury lawyers.

Hand and Wrist Injuries We Can Represent You for in Boston

Your hands and wrists can be injured in a lot of different ways at work. Some prospective plaintiffs may wonder whether their particular injury will be covered. The reality is that the type of injury tends to matter less than how the injury took place. However, the type of injury you sustained is very important to things like damages when filing your work injury lawsuit. Below, we will go over some of the hand/wrist injuries our Cambridge work injury lawyers can represent you for.

Broken Hand or Wrist

More than half of the bones in your body are located in your hands and feet. Hands are incredibly anatomically complex because they are by and large how we interact with and manipulate the world. Because there are so many complex bones in hands and wrist, fractures and breaks in that area can be incredibly serious. It is not uncommon for fractures in the hand or wrist to require extensive surgery. Moreover, there is no guarantee that your full range dexterity and motion will return after you have finished treatment.

Bruises

Bruises and swelling may seem like minor injuries, but they can be quite serious, especially if they compromise your ability to work and earn income. Even though the injury itself may not be as a serious as others, you can still file a lawsuit for these kinds of injuries if you suffer damages in other ways. For example, suppose you are a guitarist for a house band and your hand gets caught under a piece of gig equipment, causing a bruise that makes it hard to perform. During recovery, you may not be able to work or earn income.

Nerve Damage

Nerve damage can happen in the hands and wrists even if there are no obvious injuries apparent. Moreover, nerve damage in the hands may prevent you from doing certain jobs that require fine motor control or care.

Amputation

As grim as it may be to talk about, people can lose their hands and fingers in the workplace. Getting limbs caught in heavy machinery or crushed under something weighty can render a hand so destroyed that the only option for medical professionals is to amputate. Alternatively, some professions may provide a greater risk of traumatic amputation. For example, a factory worker may get their hand caught in a defective machine, which rips it away from their arm.

Workers Compensation in Hand/Wrist work Injury Lawsuits

Many work injuries will be covered by workers compensation. Indeed, that is a useful solution for many work injury victims. However, Workers’ Compensation will not cover everything. For example, intentional injuries will not be covered. Additionally, you cannot obtain compensation for pain and suffering under this system. You will have to go to court to get damages for that.

Damages in a Boston Hand or Wrist Work Injury Lawsuit

If you are successful in your lawsuit, you can be awarded. Damages are the court’s way of getting plaintiffs as close to where they were as possible prior to getting injured. Naturally, the more serious your injuries, the greater your damages will be. However, “injury” does not just include physical injuries. We will go into what you can get as damages in a work injury lawsuit for an injured hand or wrist below.

Physical Injuries

You can, of course, get damages for your physical injuries. These damages will be based on the cost of the medical care you received as well as what you needed to do to recover. Of course, less serious injuries will likely have less damages in this area. Someone who hand their hand violently amputated will likely be able to get more in damages for physical injuries than someone who suffered nerve damage.

However, circumstances may change this. For example, suppose the victim with nerve damage was a painter by trade and their income has been compromised. Their damages for mere nerve injuries may be greater for that reason.

Intangible Injuries

By intangible injuries, we mean things like pain, suffering, and mental distress. “Pain” does not necessarily have a price tag. Only you know how much your hand or wrist injury hurt. Accordingly, the amount in damages you get for these kinds of injuries will vary wildly from plaintiff to plaintiff, depending on your unique situation.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are a special kind of damages that are only awarded when a defendant has acted especially badly. If you are going to ask for these kinds of damages, you and our lawyers need to have a compelling argument for them.

Speak to Our Boston Work Injury Lawyers Today About Your Case

The Law Office of John J. Sheehan’s Framingham work injury lawyers can be reached at (617) 925-6407 for free case reviews.