Recession brings new challenges for injured workers, attorney says

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4056

By Barb Kucera, Workday editor
23 May 2009

BRAINERD - The current economic crisis poses special challenges for injured workers, who may feel reluctant to report injuries they’ve incurred on the job, a noted workers’ compensation attorney says.

“There’s a lot of fear in the workplace,” said Bonnie Peterson, an attorney with the law firm of Sieben Grose Von Holtum & Carey. Given the current atmosphere of layoffs and cutbacks, workers who have been injured may fear losing their job and feel pressure to ignore the problem. That would be a mistake, she said.

Peterson addressed participants at the Minnesota Union Women’s Leadership Retreat held April 22-24 and sat down for an interview with Workday Minnesota.

She is in a unique position to discuss the status of injured workers, having been on all sides of the issue – first as a claims adjuster and attorney with an insurance company, then a workers’ compensation judge and now a lawyer advocating for workers.

And she herself is an injured worker.

Several years ago, in her role as a workers’ compensation judge, she hurt her back in a car accident while driving to Bemidji to hear a case. When she filed a claim, she experienced some of the frustration and delays facing other injured workers.

“It’s something I empathize with, especially after I had my own injury,” she said.


Bonnie Peterson addressed participants in the Minnesota Union Women's Leadership Retreat.

FULL story at link.