 By Erin Tucker
A work-related injury can have long-lasting, effects on your health and livelihood. If you've been injured on the job, it's essential that you know your legal rights so that you don't risk losing access to the workers' compensation you are legitimately and legally entitled to. Regardless of the industry, your employer may be reluctant to compensate you if you've been injured at work. Without the aid of an experienced attorney, it can be difficult to obtain full compensation. Here are some important things to know.
At Tucker Law, we are committed to helping you navigate this process. We'll guide you through step by step to help you get the compensation you deserve. Call us if you need us.
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 By Erin Tucker
If you've been injured, or if you've lost a loved one due to someone else's negligence, at Tucker Law we know there is no amount of money that can return things to the way they were before the accident. But that doesn't mean that a financial settlement is irrelevant. It's money that can be put toward lost wages, medical bills, car repairs or funeral expenses. Our entire staff at Tucker Law is committed to helping you receive the compensation you deserve for your injuries. We have more than 30 years of experience successfully handling personal injury cases including:
By Erin Tucker It seems counterintuitive, but in spite of the coronavirus lockdown and curtailed driving as people work from home and travel less, during the first nine months of 2020 US traffic accident deaths rose 4.6%. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, during the first three months of 2020, deaths increased only 0.6%. In the second quarter they actually dropped by 1.1%, but in July, August and September the number of automotive deaths jumped 13.1%. The result is that in the first three quarters of last year, an estimated 28,190 people have been killed. Indications are that although fewer people were driving, with relatively light traffic, those who were on the road tended to drive faster and take more risks. Executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, Jonathan Adkins’ guess is that as the months passed and traffic began to return to more normal levels, speeders didn’t slow down. Lack of law enforcement was a big factor, he said. "We are hearing from many states that traffic stops have declined during COVID-19. Drivers feel like they can speed and get away with it."  Recent reports from metropolitan areas show a 22% increase in vehicle speeds over pre-pandemic numbers. Another study found that 65% of drivers treated at trauma centers who had been hurt in serious vehicular accidents had drugs or alcohol in their systems, compared to 50.6% before the pandemic. The NHTSA also said fewer people are wearing seat belts.
Once again we (and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) are reminding you to wear your seat belts . . . and slow down! Don’t drive if you have drugs or alcohol in your system, and make sure your children are buckled into appropriately-sized child safety seats. As always, if you need us, we’re here.  By Rob Tucker
There’s snow on the ground, but it won’t be long before the school year comes to an end, and high school seniors graduate. Some of you may remember that I enjoy serving on the Rotary Club of Des Moines scholarship committee each year. I want to make sure you are aware of the application deadline for that scholarship as well as several others available in Iowa. Regardless of the sponsor, most of these opportunities require that a FAFSA — Free Application for Federal Student Aid — be submitted. Here's the link to the FAFSA form. All Iowa Opportunity Scholarship — Deadline: Monday March 1, 2021 The amount of the AIOS adjusts each year. For reference, the maximum value for the 2020-21 school year was $4,644. Applicants must have graduated from an Iowa high school or completed a high school equivalency diploma and must attend an eligible Iowa college or university. Visit website to apply Guardian Scholars Foundation — Deadline: Monday March 1, 2021 In partnership with the Iowa Department of Human Services, this scholarship provides up to $8000 yearly for students who spent time in Iowa foster care between the ages of 14 and 18 to help them attend an Iowa college or university. The number of scholarships varies from year to year depending on available funds. Visit website to apply Iowa Tuition Grant — Deadline: July 1, 2021 The amount adjusts each year. For reference the maximum award in 2020-21 school year was $6,200. To quality, the student must be an Iowa resident, enroll in an Iowa college or university and submit the FAFSA form. Visit website to apply Prairie Meadows Scholarships — Deadline: Monday, March 1, 2021 Two $2,500 scholarships are awarded to a graduating high school senior at every participating high school in Polk County. Visit website to apply Rotary Club of Des Moines — Deadline: Friday, March 5, 2021 An $8,000 scholarship ($2000 per year for four years) is awarded to one recipient from each of the six Des Moines high schools: East, Hoover, Lincoln, North, Roosevelt and Scavo. Visit website to apply In addition to these scholarships, all colleges and universities have their own scholarship programs. A FAFSA application form will be required.  By Kelly Sargent
Ah, the Holidays . . . a chance to overeat, usually several times, and enjoy a little time off from work. When we think of winter holidays, most of us think of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the winter solstice and New Year’s. However, there are so many other winter celebrations, festivals and traditions you’ve most likely never heard of. Check these out. Hiding Brooms On Christmas Eve in Norway people hide their brooms before they go to bed so that witches and other evil spirits won’t have anything to zoom around on to disturb innocent sleepers. Throwing Shoes In the Czech Republic and Slovenia, a single woman who wants to find out if she’ll be getting married in the coming year stands with her back to her house on Christmas Eve and tosses a shoe over her shoulder at the house. It’s bad news if it lands with the heel toward the house and toe pointing away; she’ll stay single another year. Wearing Bear Suits Carolers don bear costumes and dance on New Year’s Eve in Romania to drive away evil spirits. That’s dancing bear, not dancing bare — although who knows, maybe there’s a festival somewhere for that too. Plunging in Icy Water Polar bear plunges are held in January in many parts of the US and Canada. Frequently hosted to benefit a charity or bring awareness to a cause, participants jump into a lake or river in often sub-zero temperatures wearing nothing but an ordinary swim suit. Eating Grapes As the clock strikes midnight on New Years Eve, people in many Spanish-speaking countries eat 12 grapes, one to bring good luck to each month of the coming year. Smashing Plates In Denmark smashing a plate against a friend’s door is supposed to bring good luck to your friend in the year ahead. The bigger the pile of shattered dishes on the welcome mat, the luckier the recipient will be next year. Throwing Water In Cuba and other Latin American countries, throwing a bucket of water out your door or window signifies a fresh start. Extra points if someone who slighted you in the last year is standing below. (Just kidding about the extra points.) Choosing Underwear In many Latin American countries, the underwear you choose to wear on New Year’s Eve will influence the upcoming year. Yellow is thought to bring good fortune, red brings good luck in love and black is bad luck. Rendezvousing Held in February, the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous Winter Festival, also known as Fur Rondy or just Rondy, bills itself as the largest winter festival in North America. Events include a snow sculpture competition, figure skating show, dog sled races, a beard and mustache competition, the annual Frostbite Footrace, an outhouse race and the World Championship of ice bowling. What’s not to love? Speaking of unusual competitions, since all of us are cooped up indoors for a while longer, here’s an entertainment recommendation from Paul and me. If you happen to subscribe to Netflix, check out We Are the Champions. Narrated by Rainn Wilson from The Office, it’s a six-episode, reality TV show that takes you to a different strange competition each episode. From chasing cheese to dancing with dogs, we give it an H+ for hilarious. You’re welcome.  By Rob Tucker
In 2017 the Iowa Legislature changed Iowa's Workers’ Compensation laws. One of the significant changes was the classification of a shoulder as a "scheduled" body part instead of “body-as-a-whole”. If that elicits a “huh?” and a blank stare on your part, I don’t blame you, but bear with me because it was a meaningful change. (Click here for an earlier article with a more in-depth explanation of the 2017 changes.) If a body part is scheduled, it means it’s on a list with a maximum amount of compensation that can be awarded in the event of an on-the-job injury to that particular body part . . . whereas body-as-a-whole injuries aren’t subject to a pre-set limit. The problem was that the legislature didn’t specifically define “shoulder." At first glance it might seem obvious what a shoulder is, but it’s more complicated than that. In one of the first shoulder cases evaluated by the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commission interpreting the new statute (Chavez v. MS Technology, LLC), my daughter Erin Tucker argued that the legislature’s ambiguity in drafting the new statute meant that rotator cuff injuries should not be limited because they do not fall within the general and previously-understood definition of shoulder: the joint between the arm and the trunk of the body. The Deputy Workers’ Compensation Commissioner agreed and held that the injured worker was not limited to the scheduled amount of benefits because her injury was to her body as a whole, and only an injury to the shoulder joint itself would be governed by the scheduled, and much more limited, amount of benefits. It was the first case deciding this issue in favor of the injured worker. As expected, the insurance company appealed this finding. The Iowa Association of Business and Industry filed a brief in support of the insurance company’s position. On September 30, 2020 the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner, Joseph Cortese, reversed the lower judge’s decision and concluded that the injury was, in fact, a “shoulder” injury, limiting the worker to far less benefits; subsequent cases have gone the same way. This issue is expected to come before the Iowa Supreme Court in the near future. In the meantime, it's an area of contention that your attorney needs to be thoroughly familiar with. The reality is that shoulder injuries are currently awarded fewer benefits than before the law change, but carefully-crafted arguments taking into account the new law’s ambiguities can result in maximizing the amount injured workers recover.  Looking out at our backyard and garage on October 19. By Kelly Sargent
Well, we did it again; we made national news for awful weather. In Ankeny, where Rob, Erin and I live, we had a blizzard that dumped 8 inches of snow on us October 19, and just eight miles north of us Polk City got 9.2 inches. ABC, The Washington Post, Forbes, Fox News and others all covered it. My husband Paul, who is a bit of a weather geek, knew that colder weather was expected, so he hurried to get the grass mowed, the leaves picked up and the gutters cleaned while it was still reasonably comfortable to work outside. But nobody expected snow, for goodness sake . . . and so much of it! Although the official start of winter isn’t until December 21, given what we’ve already experienced, perhaps we should share this list of cold-weather-driving and driving-in-snow tips from AAA with you now, just in case. With coronavirus, a derecho and an mid-October blizzard, apparently we need to be prepared for anything. Cold Weather Driving Tips
Tips for Driving in the Snow
 By Erin Tucker My goodness, the number of coronavirus cases keeps going up and up! We don’t want you to end up a statistic, so take every precaution you can. According to the CDC, the three basics remain: wear a mask, stay six feet apart when you're with anyone but your live-in family and wash your hands thoroughly and often. Speaking of precautions, sometimes no matter how careful you are, injurious things happen that aren’t your fault. Because that’s true, in spite of the pandemic, we’re still helping people receive just compensation who have been hurt or unfairly treated. We’ve successfully resolved on-the-job injury cases such as
And bad faith insurance cases such as
We're here to help you through good times and bad . . . coronavirus or not.
 By Kelly Sargent
Having left a $4 billion path of destruction in Iowa alone, the storm on August 10 was one for the books. Like many of you, nobody here at Tucker Law had heard of a derecho . . . that is until we were almost blown away by one. Although we're hoping you escaped damage, some of you may still be in the process of trying to find a tree service, roofer or contractor to help you put things to rights. Here are a few tips and red flags from Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to keep in mind when you consider hiring someone to do the work. Be wary of storm chasers. Be suspicious of tree removal, cleanup and home repair workers who show up at your door unbidden. They might be storm chasers — individuals who are constantly on the move from one disaster to another. Some of them might be trustworthy, but the problem is they're transient. You're likely to be unable to reach them if the work turns out to be unsatisfactory . . . if their 'fix' needs a fix. Do your homework before doing your home work. Research reputable, local businesses before you contact them. Even if it's not a long-established business, a local company will be much more motivated to do what you've hired them to do to protect their reputation because they live here. Check out whoever you're considering. Ask for and check local references before you sign a contract give anyone any money. You can check on complaints through Attorney General Miller's office and with the Better Business Bureau and check to see whether whoever it is you're considering has been sued by customers through Iowa Courts Online. You can also check on a contractor’s registration and bonding at the Iowa Division of Labor website. Ask for a copy of the contractor's liability insurance certificate. Make sure you have verifiable contact information. Get the company's address, phone number and email. Contractors who don’t provide a local phone number and a local physical address (not a post office box) are probably not local. Check the numbers by calling. It's also not a bad idea to write down the license plate number and vehicle description, or take a picture of the vehicle and plate, and keep the information for your records just in case. Getting several written estimates. The cost of work can vary considerably from company to company, so get more than one estimate, Compare and choose the best one for you which may mean taking more than just the price into account, factors such as availability, materials and guarantees. Get a contract in writing. Before work begins, get a written contract and don’t forget to read it — detailing the price, payment terms, exact scope of the work, brand and/or specifications of the materials to be used, who is responsible for permits, start and completion dates and remedies if the contractor fails to meet deadlines. For example, the contract could be nullified if the contractor doesn't start on time. Understand your insurance. If you’re filing an insurance claim to cover the costs of damages, negotiate the details with your insurance company directly and not through a contractor. Understand what your insurance provider will cover before you sign a contract. Explore financing options. It’s usually safer and a better deal to get financing through your local bank or credit union rather than a contractor. Know your right to cancel. If you sign a contract somewhere other than the contractor's regular place of business, such as at your home, you have three business days to cancel the contract without penalty. Avoid paying large sums or the entire job up front. If you need to make a partial advance payment for materials, make your check out to the supplier and the contractor. Insist on a "mechanic's lien waiver" in case the contractor fails to pay others for materials or labor. As always, we're just a phone call away. Let us know if we can help. By Kelly Sargent I'm an National Public Radio fan; one of the podcasts I listen to on a regular basis is Science Friday. When I popped in my earbuds Friday night, August 21, I was surprised to hear the derecho in Iowa featured and Iowa Public Radio reporter Kate Payne being interviewed about it. Kate describes the ways that victims of the derecho in Iowa, might be suffering more than past hurricane survivors, and having spent time in Florida covering hurricanes, she has a basis for comparison. I've attached a link to the podcast. It's worth a listen. Dealing with the Aftermath of Iowa's Devastating Derecho  |
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Note:This Blog is made available by the publisher for educational and entertainment purposes only, as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the Blog/Web Site publisher. The Blog/Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state. |
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