A line cook at a Ninth Avenue restaurant slipped on a grease-slicked kitchen floor during a Saturday dinner service and landed hard on his right shoulder and lower back. He reported it to a shift manager verbally, went home, and returned to work the following week because he could not afford to miss shifts. When the shoulder failed three weeks later and he finally sought treatment, the carrier denied the claim outright — arguing there was no timely written notice and no documented causal relationship between the fall and the torn rotator cuff now showing on MRI.
Our office took the case at the denial stage. We obtained the restaurant's scheduling and POS records to establish he was working that shift, located two coworkers who had seen the fall and cleaned the floor afterward, and secured a treating orthopedist's narrative tying the tear directly to the mechanism of injury. At the hearing we cross-examined the carrier's independent medical examiner on his failure to review the MRI before opining that the tear was degenerative.
The Law Judge established the claim, awarded retroactive lost-wage benefits from the date he stopped working, and authorized the surgery the carrier had refused. Separately, we identified a third-party claim against the equipment maintenance contractor responsible for the fryer that had been leaking onto the floor.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Not always at the start, but acceptance is not the finish line. Carriers routinely dispute the degree of disability, the need for surgery, and the permanency award later in the case. If your benefits are reduced, your treatment is denied, or a hearing is scheduled on permanency, that is the point to bring in counsel.
Nothing up front. Attorney fees in New York workers' compensation cases are contingent and must be approved by the Workers' Compensation Board, then paid out of the benefits recovered. You are never billed hourly and you do not pay a fee if no additional benefits are obtained on your behalf.
Give your employer written notice within 30 days of the accident and file a C-3 with the Board within two years. Missing the 30-day notice does not automatically end your claim, but it hands the carrier an argument. Report it in writing the same day whenever possible.
Retaliation for filing a claim is illegal under Section 120 of the New York Workers' Compensation Law. An employer who fires, demotes, or cuts the hours of a worker for claiming benefits can be ordered to pay lost wages and a penalty. Document the timing of any adverse action carefully.
No. New York workers' compensation benefits are available to injured workers regardless of immigration status, and that has been settled law for years. Undocumented workers in Hell's Kitchen restaurants, hotels, and construction sites are entitled to medical treatment and wage replacement on the same terms as anyone else.
| Claim Stage | What Happens | When a Lawyer Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Notice and C-3 filing | Written notice to employer within 30 days; C-3 filed with the Board within two years | Low — unless notice was late or the employer disputes the accident |
| Carrier response | Insurer accepts, or files a denial contesting accident, notice, or causal relationship | High — a denial should not be answered without counsel |
| Independent medical exam | Carrier's doctor examines you and reports on disability and causation | High — IME findings drive benefit reductions and treatment denials |
| Permanency and settlement | Board classifies loss of wage-earning capacity; Section 32 settlement may be offered | Critical — this stage sets the final dollar value of the claim |