Workers' Compensation Lawyer
in Fort Wayne, IN
A workplace accident can change everything in a single shift. One moment you're on the job at a warehouse off Adams Center Road or a construction site near I-69, and the next you're facing missed paychecks, mounting medical bills, and an adjuster focused on closing your claim. Our Fort Wayne workers' compensation lawyers help injured workers pursue every benefit Indiana law allows.
Honors & Memberships
Real Results for Injured Workers in Northeast Indiana
How Theisen Hubley Law Helps Fort Wayne Workers' Comp Clients
Theisen Hubley Law has represented injured workers across Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana since 2001. The workers' compensation process can feel like a second job: forms, deadlines, employer-directed doctors, and a carrier that has every reason to pay you as little as possible.
We handle every part of your claim, from filing the Application for Adjustment of Claim to challenging unfair Permanent Partial Impairment (PPI) ratings and presenting your case at a Single Hearing Member proceeding. If a third party also contributed to your injury, we evaluate a separate personal injury claim alongside your workers' comp case. Our goal is straightforward: full medical treatment, accurate wage benefits, and a fair impairment rating.
Types of Workers' Compensation Cases We Handle in Fort Wayne
Workplace injuries happen across every industry in Allen County. Our Fort Wayne workers' compensation attorneys have represented clients in a wide range of claims, including:
Workplace Injuries
From sudden accidents to injuries that develop over time, we handle the full range of on-the-job harm covered under Indiana workers' compensation. This includes claim denials, disputed medical benefits, permanent disability claims, and retaliation for filing a workers' comp claim.
Manufacturing and Factory Injuries
Fort Wayne's manufacturing base means exposure to heavy machinery, conveyor systems, and presses. We have represented clients with serious injuries from machine entanglements, crushing accidents, and equipment failures.
Construction Site Accidents
Falls from heights, scaffolding collapses, electrocutions, and struck-by injuries are common on Northeast Indiana construction sites. These cases often involve overlapping liability between general contractors, subcontractors, and equipment manufacturers, meaning a workers' comp claim and a third-party personal injury claim may both be available.
Warehouse and Distribution Injuries
Forklift accidents, falling product, repetitive lifting injuries, and slip-and-fall incidents are routine in warehouse settings. Even seemingly minor strains can develop into long-term back, shoulder, or knee conditions that affect your ability to work.
Slip, Trip, and Fall on the Job
A workplace slip-and-fall can cause severe injuries to the lumbar spine, hips, and head. These cases often combine a workers' comp claim with a third-party liability claim when a property owner, cleaning contractor, or outside party contributed to the unsafe condition.
Repetitive Stress and Occupational Injuries
Carpal tunnel syndrome, rotator cuff tears, tendonitis, and herniated discs from repetitive motion or heavy lifting are covered under Indiana workers' compensation. Carriers often try to label these "pre-existing" — and that's where having an attorney matters.
On-the-Job Vehicle Accidents
Delivery drivers, sales representatives, and service technicians can be injured in a crash during the course of employment. These cases may support both a workers' comp claim and a separate personal injury claim against the at-fault driver.
Occupational Disease and Exposure Claims
Long-term exposure to chemicals, dust, asbestos, or repetitive trauma can lead to claims under the Indiana Occupational Diseases Act. These cases require careful documentation and often expert medical testimony.
Catastrophic and Fatal Workplace Injuries
When a worker suffers a TBI, spinal cord injury, amputation, or loss of life on the job, the stakes for the family are enormous. Indiana provides specific death benefits for surviving dependents, and we help families pursue every form of recovery available.
Hurt on the Job
in Fort Wayne?
You don't need to know the system or have your forms in order before reaching out. Share what happened, and we'll walk you through whether you have a claim and what comes next.
Workers' Compensation Benefits You May Be Entitled to in Indiana
Indiana workers' comp is a no-fault system, so you don't have to prove your employer did anything wrong. What you must prove is that your injury "arose out of and in the course of" your employment. Indiana law then provides several categories of benefits:
- Medical benefits: The carrier must cover all reasonable and necessary treatment, including doctor visits, hospital care, surgery, prescriptions, physical therapy, and assistive devices. Indiana generally lets the carrier direct your care, but you have rights when that care falls short.
- Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits: Typically two-thirds of your average weekly wage (subject to statutory caps) until you reach Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) or are released to work.
- Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) benefits: Bridges the gap between pre-injury wages and current earnings if you return to work at reduced capacity.
- Permanent Partial Impairment (PPI) benefits: At MMI, your treating physician assigns a PPI rating that drives a substantial portion of your settlement. Employer-selected physicians often rate too low, and an independent medical examination can change the outcome.
- Permanent Total Disability (PTD) benefits: Long-term wage replacement when a work injury permanently prevents any gainful employment.
- Death benefits: A portion of the worker's average weekly wage and reasonable burial expenses for surviving dependents.
- Vocational rehabilitation: Training for new work suited to your restrictions when you cannot return to your former position.
Steps to Take After a Workplace Injury in Fort Wayne
What you do in the first hours and days after a work injury can significantly affect your claim. Here is what we recommend:
Get Medical Attention Immediately
Tell the provider how the injury happened and that it occurred at work; that single notation in your intake paperwork links your treatment to your claim from day one. If your employer directs you to a specific clinic, go (Indiana lets the carrier choose your initial physician), but never delay emergency care to wait for authorization.
Report the Injury in Writing Within 30 Days
Indiana's 30-day notice rule is strict, and verbal reports to a foreman or coworker often disappear when a claim is later contested. Send a written report to your supervisor or HR, keep a copy with the date, and save the email or text you used to send it.
Document the Scene and Identify Witnesses
Photograph any machine, tool, or unsafe condition involved the same day, since employers routinely repair or reset equipment after an incident. Get personal phone numbers of anyone who saw the injury, because workplaces have turnover and witnesses become hard to locate.
Verify the First Report of Injury (Form 34401)
This is the document your employer files with the carrier and the Indiana Workers' Compensation Board. Read it carefully: incorrect dates, downplayed mechanisms of injury, or missing details get used against you later. If something is wrong, flag it in writing immediately.
Follow Every Restriction and Appointment, and Keep Your Own File
Missed appointments and ignored work restrictions are the two most common reasons carriers cut off TTD benefits, and surveillance is routine in Indiana work comp cases. Save every off-work slip, medical bill, mileage log, and letter from the adjuster, since this documentation often fills gaps in the official record at hearing.
Be Careful with Recorded Statements and Settlement Paperwork
Adjusters use recorded statements to find inconsistencies, and nurse case managers work for the carrier, not for you. The same caution applies to settlement releases, Section 15 agreements, and broad medical authorizations, which can close your claim permanently or expose unrelated medical history.
Contact Theisen Hubley Law
A free consultation costs nothing, and the sooner we get involved, the more we can do to preserve evidence, protect your benefits, and challenge a low PPI rating before it becomes the basis of your settlement.
Indiana Workers' Compensation Laws You Should Know
Knowing the rules that govern your claim is one of the most important things you can do after a workplace injury.
Reporting Deadline (30 Days)
Indiana law requires you to notify your employer of a work injury within 30 days. Written notice is best; oral notice can also satisfy the requirement in many cases. Delaying notice gives the carrier grounds to argue your injury isn't work-related.
Statute of Limitations (Two Years)
You generally have two years from the date of injury to file a formal Application for Adjustment of Claim with the Indiana Workers' Compensation Board. For occupational diseases, the clock may start when you knew or should have known the condition was work-related.
The Exclusive Remedy Rule
Under Indiana Code 22-3-2-6, workers' compensation is usually the exclusive remedy against your employer for an on-the-job injury, meaning you generally cannot sue your employer directly. However, you may have a separate claim against a third party — a negligent driver, property owner, equipment manufacturer, or subcontractor — and that claim is not limited by the workers' comp system.
Employer's Right to Direct Medical Care
Indiana gives the employer and its carrier the right to choose your treating physician, and going outside the authorized network without permission can result in unpaid bills. Limited circumstances allow a change of physician, and we help clients navigate this when the assigned doctor isn't providing appropriate care.
Independent Medical Examination
Both you and the carrier have the right to request an independent medical examination. When the carrier's doctor underrates your impairment or releases you back to work prematurely, an IME from a qualified physician can shift the outcome.
Light Duty and Return to Work
If your treating physician releases you to "light duty," your employer can require you to attempt that work, and refusing without medical justification can put your benefits at risk. We help clients respond carefully when light duty offers are unreasonable or inconsistent with their restrictions.
Why Choose Theisen Hubley Law
for Your Workers’ Comp Case
What Our Clients Say
Meet the Attorneys Behind Your Workers' Comp Case
Workers' compensation claims turn on knowing the system, the carriers, and the Indiana Workers' Compensation Board. Our attorneys bring decades of local experience and personally handle the work that drives your outcome, from medical disputes to PPI challenges to settlement negotiations.
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John C. Theisen
Attorney -
Nathaniel O. Hubley
Attorney -
Christina R. Hubley
Attorney
We Serve Injured Workers Across Allen County and Northeast Indiana
Our office is located in downtown Fort Wayne, and we offer virtual meetings for clients whose injuries make travel difficult.
We represent injured workers throughout:
- Allen County
- Kosciusko County
- Wabash County
- Adams County
- LaGrange County
- Wells County
- DeKalb County
- Noble County
- Whitley County
- Huntington County
- Steuben County
Theisen Hubley Law
Get in Touch with Our Fort Wayne Workers' Comp Team
The workers' compensation process is rarely as straightforward as it should be. Tell us what happened, when it occurred, and what your employer or carrier has said so far. We will review the facts and explain whether you may have a claim worth pursuing.
Answers to Our Clients’ Common Questions
Common reasons include disputes over whether the injury arose out of employment, late reporting, pre-existing condition claims, and independent contractor classification disputes. A denial is not the end. You can file an Application for Adjustment of Claim, request a hearing before a Single Hearing Member, and appeal to the Full Workers' Compensation Board if needed.
Yes. Workers' comp bars you from suing your employer but not a negligent third party, such as a driver who hit you on the clock, a subcontractor, an equipment manufacturer, or a property owner. Third-party claims can recover pain and suffering and full lost earnings, which comp does not cover. The carrier holds a subrogation lien, so the two cases must be coordinated.
Indiana law prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise their rights under the Workers' Compensation Act. If you were terminated, demoted, or harassed after filing, you may have a separate retaliation claim.
You have the right to a second opinion through an independent medical examination. Returning to work against your true medical needs can worsen your injury and undermine your claim. Talk to us before complying with a premature release.
It depends on the nature and permanence of your injury, your average weekly wage, your PPI rating, future medical needs, and whether a third-party claim is also available. We give every client a clear assessment during a free consultation.
Possibly. Just because your employer calls you a "contractor" doesn't necessarily make it so under Indiana law. We review the actual working relationship — control, equipment, payment structure — to determine whether you may have been misclassified and still qualify for benefits.