If you hit your head on the job, you may be dealing with more than a bump.
Head and brain injuries are often underestimated in the workers’ compensation system. Moreover, both by insurance adjusters and, at first, by the workers who suffer them.
Symptoms can take days to surface. A Staten Island head injury workers’ compensation lawyer can explain your options and protect your rights.
At The Law Offices of Frank J. Dito, Jr., we’ve spent years representing injured workers across Staten Island and New York City. Your job is to heal. Our job is to fight — for the medical care, wage benefits, and long-term disability compensation a head injury claim deserves.
Call 718.701.2776 for a free, no-obligation consultation. You pay no legal fee unless we recover money for you.
Common Causes of Workplace Head Injuries in Staten Island
Staten Island’s mix of construction sites and warehouses creates real risk for head trauma on the job.
Additionally, Staten Island head injury workers’ compensation lawyer notes it includes distribution centers and marine terminal and ferry operations.
Falls from ladders, scaffolding, or roofs on residential and commercial construction jobs. Falling tools, debris, or inventory in warehouses and big-box retail stockrooms. Being struck by forklifts, pallet jacks, or other equipment in logistics and distribution work. Slip-and-fall accidents on wet floors, ice, or uneven walking surfaces. Assaults or combative-patient incidents for home health aides, nurses, and nursing home staff. Motor vehicle collisions for delivery drivers, home health workers, and other employees who drive as part of their job. Machinery malfunctions and struck-by accidents in industrial and manufacturing settings.
Types of Head Injuries We Handle
Not every head injury looks the same on paper, and insurance companies know that “mild” sounding diagnoses are easier to dispute. We build claims around the full picture of the injury, including:
Concussions and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Post-concussion syndrome, where symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and cognitive fog persist for weeks or months. Moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, including diffuse axonal injury and coup-contrecoup injury. Skull fractures. Second impact syndrome, when a worker returns to duty and sustains a second head injury before fully healing from the first. Cognitive and emotional after-effects — memory problems, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and depression — that can be just as disabling as the physical injury.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Head Injuries in New York
New York’s workers’ compensation system provides several categories of benefits, and head injuries frequently qualify for more than one:
Medical treatment. Reasonable and necessary medical care related to your injury, including emergency treatment, neurologist and neuropsychologist evaluations, imaging, and ongoing therapy, with no arbitrary cap on treatment as long as it remains authorized and related to the injury.
Temporary disability benefits. If your injury keeps you out of work for more than seven days, you’re generally entitled to weekly wage-replacement benefits calculated at two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to the state’s maximum weekly benefit (adjusted every July 1).
Permanent partial disability (non-schedule award). This is the category most head and brain injuries fall into. Unlike an arm, leg, or eye, the brain isn’t on New York’s “schedule” of body parts with a fixed award. Instead, brain injuries are evaluated under the non-schedule framework, where your award is tied to your loss of wage-earning capacity as determined by a Workers’ Compensation Law Judge, with the number of weeks of benefits capped on a sliding scale — from roughly 225 weeks for a minimal loss of earning capacity up to 525 weeks for a severe loss (95% or greater).
Permanent total disability. If your head injury leaves you unable to work in any capacity, you may be entitled to lifetime weekly benefits with no cap on duration.
Death benefits. If a workplace head injury results in a fatality, surviving spouses, children, or other dependents may be entitled to weekly death benefits and funeral expense reimbursement.
Why Insurance Companies Fight Brain Injury Claims
Head and brain injuries are frequently disputed because the damage isn’t always visible on a standard scan and symptoms can be delayed or inconsistent day to day. Common insurance company tactics include:
Sending you to an “independent medical examination” (IME) with a doctor who minimizes your diagnosis. Arguing your symptoms are pre-existing or unrelated to the workplace incident. Classifying a moderate or severe TBI as a minor concussion to reduce the value of the claim. Pressuring you to return to work before you’ve been cleared by your own treating physician.
This is exactly why documentation matters so much in a head injury case — and why claims backed by a neurologist or neuropsychologist’s objective testing (attention, memory, processing speed, executive function) tend to fare far better than claims relying on symptom descriptions alone.
Steps to Take After a Workplace Head Injury
Get medical attention immediately, even if symptoms seem mild — some of the most serious complications of a head injury appear hours or days later. Tell your doctor explicitly that the injury happened at work. Notify your employer of the injury within 30 days — missing this window can jeopardize your claim. Make sure your doctor’s initial report (Form C-4) is filed with the Workers’ Compensation Board promptly. File your own claim (Form C-3) with the Workers’ Compensation Board — you generally have up to two years from the date of accident to do so, but earlier is always better. Keep a symptom journal, since cognitive and mood symptoms often fluctuate and are easy to forget by the time of a hearing. Talk to a workers’ compensation attorney before attending an insurance company’s independent medical exam.
How Our Staten Island Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Help
Head and brain injury claims are among the most heavily litigated in the workers’ compensation system, and having the right medical and legal strategy from the start makes a real difference. We help injured workers by:
Coordinating with neurologists and neuropsychologists to build medical evidence that accurately reflects the severity of the injury. Challenging low-ball IME reports and pushing back on insurance company doctors. Fighting classification disputes to make sure your permanent disability rating reflects your true loss of earning capacity. Representing you at Workers’ Compensation Board hearings, including at the Staten Island hearing location at 60 Bay Street. Identifying and pursuing third-party personal injury claims alongside your workers’ comp case when someone other than your employer (a contractor, property owner, or driver, for example) contributed to your injury. Handling appeals when a claim is wrongfully denied or underpaid.
We work on a contingency basis — you pay no legal fee unless we recover money for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a concussion covered by workers’ compensation in New York? Yes. A concussion sustained while performing your job duties is a covered injury under New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law, provided it’s properly reported and documented. Even “mild” concussions can qualify for medical benefits and, if you miss work, wage-replacement benefits.
What if my employer says my head injury isn’t work-related? Your employer’s opinion doesn’t decide your claim — the Workers’ Compensation Board does. If your employer or their insurance carrier disputes that your injury is work-related, you have the right to contest that determination at a hearing, and an attorney can help you gather the medical and witness evidence needed to prove your case.
Can I get workers’ compensation and also sue someone for my head injury? In most cases you cannot sue your employer directly, since workers’ comp is generally your exclusive remedy against them. However, if a third party — such as a general contractor, a property owner, a driver, or an equipment manufacturer — contributed to your accident, you may be able to pursue a separate personal injury claim against that party in addition to your workers’ comp benefits.
How much is my head injury workers’ compensation claim worth? It depends on the severity of the injury, your average weekly wage, whether the injury results in permanent partial or permanent total disability, and how well the medical evidence documents your loss of function. Because brain injuries are evaluated on a non-schedule basis tied to loss of earning capacity rather than a fixed award, the range in outcomes is wide — which is exactly why strong medical documentation and skilled legal representation matter so much.
What if I had a prior head injury or pre-existing condition? A prior injury doesn’t automatically disqualify your claim. New York law allows compensation for the aggravation or worsening of a pre-existing condition due to a workplace incident, though insurance companies often use prior history to argue the current injury isn’t work-related — another reason to have an attorney review your case early.
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation head injury claim? You’re not required to have one, but head and brain injury claims are among the most frequently disputed and undervalued claims in the system. An attorney can help make sure your injury is classified correctly, your medical evidence is strong enough to withstand an IME challenge, and you’re not pressured into returning to work or settling before you understand the full value of your claim.
Talk to a Staten Island Head Injury Attorney Today
A head injury can affect your memory, your mood, your ability to work, and your relationships — long after any visible symptoms fade. Don’t let an insurance company decide what your injury is worth.
Call The Law Offices of Frank J. Dito, Jr. at 718.701.2776 (toll-free: 800.310.5520) for a free consultation. We’re available 24/7, and you pay nothing unless we win your case.