Founded in 1890, the Brillion Iron Works plant closing in November 2016 is putting out of work over 300 men and women. Brillion Iron Works is a foundry and manufacturer of farm implements located in Brillion, Wisconsin, which was acquired by Metaldyne Performance Group last month. Attempts will be made to relocate workers to other plants in the Midwest.
What about Brillion employees working with back pain or work restrictions? In addition, many employees self limit but continue working to earn a living. If I am working with a bad back what are my options when a plant closes and I lose my job?
Apart from other programs, there may be workers compensation benefits available to Brillion employees who have work-related injuries. Foundry work can be very physical. It is common for workers with back injuries to continue working and doing a good job as long as they can. But if the employer shuts down and the employee needs medical treatment or cannot find another job in part because of a work-related condition such as a back injury, there may be workers compensation benefits to help cover that situation.
Workers compensation back injuries occur in single traumatic accidents all the time. But more likely they happen over the course of many years, from job duties involving repetitive bending, lifting, twisting and turning. Physical job duties add up over time and take a toll on a working man or woman’s back. What doctors call degenerative changes can definitely be due to job duties in part. Even if no workers compensation claim has ever been filed, a man or woman with a back or neck condition related to their job has a possible claim. Proving a back injury is in part caused by job duties is more convincing if there has been documented back pain and medical treatment over a period of time. Some workers have had a prior history of back surgery, discectomy, laminectomy, foraminotomy or fusion, and perhaps physical therapy or pain injections.
People who work with degenerative disc disease, bulging discs or herniated discs in the lumbar spine or cervical spine may not be able to find a new job they can do. Before quitting or formally retiring, a worker with a bad back or back pain is well advised to speak with an experienced workers compensation attorney to find out the options available.
McCormick Law Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin represents injured workers with serious neck and back injuries caused by job duties over time. When a plant closing happens, its good to know a man or woman with a back injury from the job can get compensation, but he or she has to know how to get it.
