A claimant who is a Food Services Coordinator in Upstate New York injured his back, neck and shoulder while lifting frozen turkeys at work. The New York State Workers’ Compensation law requires an injured worker to give notice to their supervisor within 30 days of their workplace accident or within 2 years if they have suffered an occupational disease. The notice can be in writing or orally, but must give enough information for the employer to properly investigate the accident. In this case, the claimant did not give notice to the proper person at work and failed to provide enough information.
The claimant retained FOA to represent him in his Workers’ Compensation claim. Although the claimant did not give the appropriate timely notice, the Board did determine, based upon our arguments, that the filing of the Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits (C3 form) within 64 days did not prejudice the employer from investigating the claim. The case was, therefore established and claimant is now entitled to medical and monetary benefits.