If you’ve been injured working for a Texas Non-Subscriber, don’t make the mistake of thinking that you don’t need to seek legal advice until your treatment or benefits are denied. Time is not your friend. Some Texas Non-Subscriber employers provide wage and health benefits right until after the statute of limitations for the injury expires and you know longer have a right to file a lawsuit against them. They figure that if they keep you happy, by providing benefits, you won’t have any reason to think that you should sue your employer for injuries and limitations that you may still have. Once the statute of limitations expires, you are then forever barred from filing any claim related to your injury. So how long do you have to file a lawsuit against a Texas Non-Subscriber? It depends. We’ve seen Arbitration agreements that use that Texas 2-year limitations period and we’ve seen it changed to 1-year from the date of the incident.
You should be aware of if you work for a Texas Non-subscriber is that these companies typically require employees, at the time of hiring, to sign an arbitration agreement where the employee agrees that certain work disputes that may come up during employment, such as a work injury, must be submitted to ARBITRATION. This means that the employee is waiving the right to file a personal injury lawsuit in State or Federal Court. Generally, the arbitration agreements will mirror Texas law when it comes to how much time you have to file the work injury claim in arbitration. This means that you could have 2- years to file your lawsuit against your employer. In more recent years, Texas Non-Subscribers have created a new obstacle for injured workers. These companies are now requiring employees to sign arbitration agreements that changes the statute of limitations on the work injury claim from 2 years to 1-year! Very often, an injured worker is still treating after one year and would have no reason to think they are about to lose all rights to file a lawsuit for their injuries. Therefore, the point is, you do not want to have to face this extra hurdle in work injury case. While there are ways to fight the 1-year statute of limitations, there are no guarantees that an arbitrator will not throw out your case and that you’d lose your rights in your case. This is why it is important to seek legal advice early and to get help so your Texas Work Injury Lawyer can get a copy of the applicable Arbitration agreement as soon as possible.
If you’ve been injured on the job and don’t know if you’ve signed an arbitration agreement changing the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit from 2 years to 1-year, call Houston Work Injury Attorney Hector L. Sandoval and get the representation that you deserve! Sandoval Law Firm, PLLC helps injured workers. (346) 347-7777 for a free and informative consultation! Visit us at https://sandovalpllc.com.
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