Workers' Compensation

October 2, 2025

How to Get Medical Treatment Approved Using Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Insurance

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When you’ve been injured at work in Massachusetts, one of the biggest concerns is making sure you get the medical treatment you need. Workers’ compensation insurance is designed to cover reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to your injury. But the process isn’t always straightforward—insurance companies often delay or deny approvals, leaving injured workers frustrated.

If you’re wondering how to get your treatment authorized, this guide breaks down the steps and explains what you can do to protect your rights.

Understanding Your Rights to Medical Treatment in Massachusetts

Under Massachusetts workers’ compensation law (M.G.L. c. 152), injured employees are entitled to:

Payment of medical bills for treatment that is reasonable, necessary, and related to the work injury.
Coverage for doctor visits, surgery, physical therapy, prescriptions, and diagnostic tests.
Reimbursement for travel expenses to and from medical appointments.

September 10, 2025

Injured on a Prevailing Wage Construction Job in Massachusetts? You May Be Entitled to Enhanced Workers’ Compensation Benefits

by Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC

kin-li-vWqpKioWYmk-unsplash-scaled At Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC, we’ve represented injured Massachusetts workers for decades — including hundreds of construction workers from Boston, Quincy, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, Milton, Braintree, Plymouth, Taunton, and Bridgewater.

If you were hurt while working on a prevailing wage construction site, you may be entitled to substantially higher workers’ compensation benefits than most injured workers realize.

Here’s what you need to know — and how we can help ensure you’re not leaving money on the table.

June 30, 2021

Slip, Trips and Falls on Walking Surfaces

by Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC

Walking-Working Surface Safety Regulations

Generally, employers are required to keep all walking-working surfaces safe for employees, visitors, and patrons. There is a specific OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulation which addresses this safety issue:

29 CFR 1910.22(a)(3): Walking-working surfaces are maintained free of hazards such as sharp or protruding objects, loose boards, corrosion, leaks, spills, snow, and ice.

December 2, 2020

Fall Protection in the Construction Industry: The “6-Foot Rule”

by Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC

joshua-mancini-6fegAz1Us5U-unsplash-scaled In the construction industry, there is a general rule of thumb often referred to as the “6-foot rule.” The “6-foot rule” typically is applied to major commercial construction projects, as well as smaller residential construction projects, amongst others. Essentially, the 6-foot rule requires employers to implement the use of fall protection when construction workers are working at heights of 6 feet or greater above a lower level.

At the Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC, our attorneys have fought hard and successfully represented injured construction workers who were injured due to a “6-foot rule” safety violation. Recently, Attorneys Jeremy M. Carroll and Brendan G. Carney obtained a jury verdict in the amount of $925,000 for an injured construction worker who fell 10 feet because there was no fall protection.

November 5, 2020

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issues opinion expanding Massachusetts’ jurisdiction over Workers’ Compensation Claims

by Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC

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On October 29, 2020, The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its ruling in Mark Mendes’s Case, No. SJC-12857, which held that the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents has subject matter jurisdiction over a claim involving an interstate truck driver based on his employment having “sufficient significant contacts” with Massachusetts. This opinion expands Massachusetts’ jurisdiction over workers’ compensation claims, where in the past they were limited to circumstances where:

The employee was employed by a Massachusetts employer; or
The employee was injured while working in Massachusetts; or
The employment contract was executed in Massachusetts.

October 23, 2020

Do I Have To Pay A Personal Injury Attorney?

by Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC

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No. Typically, you do not pay a personal injury or a workers’ compensation attorney out-of-pocket. At the Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC, we focus on personal injury and workers’ compensation cases which operate on what is called a “contingency” fee. A “contingency fee” means that we only get paid if we get you compensation, which typically occurs through either a negotiated settlement, mediation, arbitration, or a jury trial verdict.

Why Not?

The reason for a “contingency fee” is to be able to provide legal representation to injured workers and injured people from all levels of income. If personal injury or workers’ compensation attorneys required clients to pay attorney fees out-of-pocket, only wealthy people would be able to afford an attorney when they are hurt. Injured workers and people from all income levels deserve an attorney to fight for them and to represent them for injuries that never should have occurred. Here at the Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC, we take pride in fighting for injured workers and people who are injured needlessly due to safety violations which occur in construction sites, motor vehicle collisions, and many other types of dangerous situations.

October 13, 2020

Workers’ Compensation Settlement includes Insurer’s Payment for Service Dog

by Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC

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Recently, Brendan G. Carney of Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC was able to successfully negotiate a lump sum settlement of a Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation claim in the amount of $825,000.00. This settlement was reached on behalf of our client, a forty one year old woman who was working as a bank branch manager when she was involved in a motor vehicle accident while traveling from an offsite bank meeting back to her regular bank office. The employee suffered a life-altering spinal cord injury that would render her permanently and totally disabled. In addition to the lump sum settlement, Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC was able to obtain an additional $218,000.00 in permanent loss of function benefits. The employee had received weekly benefits for over three years prior to the settlement. The total recovery for the employee exceeded $1,200,000.00. Continue reading

September 16, 2020

Forklift Injuries

by Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC

Injured by a Forklift?

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Forklift, or Powered Industrial Truck (“P.I.T.”), injuries are very common in the construction industry for both drivers and nearby workers. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an estimated 85 deaths result each year as a result of forklift operation accidents, as well as almost 35,000 serious injuries and almost 62,000 non-serious injuries per year. In the U.S., 1 in every 6 workplace deaths occur in forklift related incidents.

With roughly 856,000 total forklifts in the United States, this means that approximately 1 in 9 forklifts will be involved in an accident that results in injury or death. Further, the Industrial Truck Association estimates the average use for the life of a forklift or P.I.T. is approximately 8 years. Taking this factor into consideration, a fair projection calculates that almost 90% of forklifts will be involved in an incident that results in a worker getting injured over the course of the lifetime of the forklift. At the Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC, we have skilled and dedicated attorneys who are experienced representing people with personal injury and workers’ compensation claims resulting from forklift accidents.

September 10, 2020

Factors to Consider in Deciding to Settle A Workers’ Comp Claim

by Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC

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Massachusetts’ workers who have suffered serious work related injuries and occupational diseases must often times make the important decision as to whether or not to accept an offer a lump sum settlement of their workers’ compensation claim. Typically when an injured worker is either at or near maximum medical improvement, their employer’s workers’ compensation insurer will contact the injured worker or their attorney to discuss the possibility of settling the claim. There are many important factors to consider when determining if a settlement is in the best interest of the injured worker. Before addressing those important issues, first I want to define some important terms: Continue reading

February 11, 2019

Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation -Do’s and Don’ts for Injured Workers

by Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC

Do’s:

Always report your Injury. This sounds basic but it does not always happen and can create big problems down the road. Report your injury to your foreman, steward, business agent, general contractor, supervisor or H.R. professional immediately, regardless of whether or not you think it is only a minor injury and you can continue working. Often times injured workers do not report their injuries immediately, because they think that it is not a serious injury and they should “be fine by tomorrow.” If your injury turns out to be more serious than initially thought, the failure to immediately report is likely to lead to the worker’s compensation insurer denying the claim.

Take photographs of the dangerous condition or defective equipment that caused your injury. Use your cellphone to take photographs that can later help prove you were injured on the job and may also be evidence for a third-party negligence claim. It is important to document that dangerous condition that caused the injury.