Reno Repetitive Stress Injury Claims

There Is No Moment, So There Is Nothing to Point At

A crush injury has a date, a machine and three people who saw it. A shoulder that gave out after nine years of overhead work has none of that. The file opens with no incident report and no witness, and an insurer can fill that space with anything: your age, your weight, a weekend hobby, an old injury from a different job.

None of those are automatically wrong, and that is the point worth understanding. They are assertions sitting in a gap. The claim is won by filling the gap with specifics about what the work actually required, not by insisting the pain is real.

Numbers About Your Shift Beat Adjectives About Your Pain

The difference between a denied gradual claim and an accepted one is usually the level of detail in the description of the job.

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I was very happy with the service provided by the Law Office of Erik Severino. Everything went smooth, they walked me through what I needed to do, answered all my questions, and responded back quickly. The price was reasonable and flat rate. I chose them because of the excellent reviews, and would highly recommend them.

Are Seasonal And Part-Time Workers Covered For Strain Injuries?

They are. In Nevada, workers' comp covers part-time and seasonal workers as well as full-timers from the first day on the job, and there's no minimum number of hours you have to work to be covered. That matters up north, where peak-season hiring at the I-80 and USA Parkway distribution centers and winter jobs in the Tahoe ski season put people on repetitive work for a few months at a time.

A short job is judged by the same standard as a long one. Nevada covers repetitive-strain conditions under its occupational disease chapter, and NRS 617.358 requires proof by a preponderance of the evidence that the condition arose out of the work, which means more likely than not. If you came in through a staffing agency, our Sparks workers comp page covers the question of whose insurance owns the claim.

When Does The Deadline Start On A Repetitive Stress Claim In Nevada?

It generally starts when you actually know you're disabled by the condition and that the work caused it, which is how Nevada counts the clock for repetitive-strain conditions and other job-caused illnesses. From that point, written notice to your employer is due within 7 days under NRS 617.342, and the claim itself is due to the insurer within 90 days under NRS 617.344.

Say a picker at a distribution center off USA Parkway starts losing feeling in her right hand in February and keeps working through it. In April a doctor connects the numbness to eight years of scanning and packing and takes her off the line. Under those statutes her 7-day and 90-day clocks would generally run from April, when she knew about the disability and its link to the job, not from the first numb shift in February.

An insurer can still argue she knew sooner, so the dates in the medical chart matter. The safer course is to report as soon as a doctor makes the connection and keep a copy of the written notice with its date. The notice doesn't need medical language: name the job, the motion, how long you've done it, the doctor who connected it, and the date. Our Reno workers comp lawyer page walks through the rest of the northern claim, from that first notice to a Carson City hearing, and if reporting it puts your hours at risk, see what to do if you're punished for filing.

Waiting Until You Cannot Work Is the Expensive Choice

Gradual injuries get worse, and a claim opened while you can still do the job is easier to prove and worth more than one opened after the damage is permanent. Our rating and settlement page explains where that value eventually gets decided.

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Due to time constraint, there was only a small window to file out case. Erik was very helpful and got everything perfectly timed and solved. He was very attentive and easy to work with. Thumbs up. If ever we need a lawyer in this matter, we would for sure go to him again. Thanks Erik.