You’d think that by now, at least in the United States, horrible working conditions would no longer exist-but some workers must endure abusive bosses, harassment on the job, inhumane hours and illegally low wages. Sadly, many of these mistreated workers do not know that they have legal recourse. They don’t realize they can hire a Workers’ Compensation lawyer to help them file a Workers’ Compensation claim and, if it ends up going to trial, help them win their Work Comp case.
Some of the nation’s biggest employers are party to such workplace abuses. According to a recent editorial in The New York Times, Wal-Mart reported that it has suspended operations at C.J. Seafood, one of its suppliers, for blatant labor law violations. Workers said the company forced them to work up to 24-hour days and 80-hour weeks, at wages far below minimum, and that sometimes they were locked in the plant, peeling crayfish until their hands felt numb.
In Oklahoma, the Tulsa Workers’ Compensation lawyers at the Law Offices of Jeff Martin hope any employee who is being mistreated will contact the firm for reliable advice about their rights. Workman’s Compensation exists to help abused workers, whether they are overworked, underpaid, harassed or otherwise experiencing on-the-job trauma or poor working conditions.
The reported abuses at C. J.’s Seafood are part of a larger story. The National Guestworker Alliance, the advocacy group pressuring Wal-Mart, said that in examining other Wal-Mart food vendors it found that 12 of 18 had received 622 federal citations since the 1980s for conditions that threatened workers’ safety and health.
It’s a lesson to all underpaid, overworked, harassed and mistreated employees that they can take action if they are in a dangerous or abusive job. Workplace injuries are not always typical traumatic injuries such as construction site back injuries, toxic fume injuries from workplace chemicals exposure or repetitive motion injuries, like carpal tunnel syndrome. Job-related emotional trauma can also be a reason to file a Worker’s Comp claim that can yield compensation for lost wages and medical bills relating to healing and recovery.
