Kenner Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
A work injury in Kenner is governed by Louisiana’s compensation system, and the first thing that shapes the case is where it will be heard: workers’ compensation judges at the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, not a jury, with appeals going to the circuit court that covers Jefferson Parish. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC handles injured-worker claims across South Louisiana and Mississippi, and a Kenner workers’ compensation lawyer from our firm works within that system every day, on cases the insurer has denied, delayed, or cut off.
Kenner’s economy puts a lot of people in physically demanding jobs. Airport operations, cargo handling, warehouses, distribution centers, trucking routes along Interstate 10 and Williams Boulevard, petrochemical and industrial work along the river, hospitals, and construction crews all generate the kind of back, shoulder, knee, and burn injuries that lead to long absences from work. When a paycheck stops and the adjuster starts asking questions about what happened, the practical consequences arrive fast: unpaid treatment, missed rent, and pressure to return before a doctor says you are ready.
Louisiana law gives injured employees real protections, including payment of reasonable and necessary medical care and weekly wage benefits, but those protections only help if the claim is reported on time and documented properly. Insurers know this, and many denials rest on a missed notice, a gap in the paperwork, or an argument that the injury was already there. The sections below explain how these claims work for Kenner workers and where they most often go wrong.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Kenner Work Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm representing injured workers throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, including Kenner and the rest of Jefferson Parish. Most lawyers who accept comp cases are personal injury attorneys who take a work injury only when one walks in. We have recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients.
Rob Lunsford, our Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe, both Partners, have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, and Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results reflect the kind of injuries Kenner workers suffer: a $685,000 settlement for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, $385,000 for a project manager injured when his work vehicle was struck, and $221,000 for an oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients consistently describe a team that listened, stayed responsive, and fought the insurance company at every step. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and you pay nothing unless we recover benefits for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish (hablamos español).
Injuries and Claims We See From Kenner Workers
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lifting freight, loading trucks, and repetitive warehouse work produce lumbar and cervical disc herniations. Insurers often point to degenerative disc disease, and the response is medical evidence showing that the job caused or accelerated the damage.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears are common among baggage handlers, mechanics, and industrial laborers. Employers sometimes call them old sports injuries, which makes the treating physician’s causation opinion central.
- Fractures: Falls from ladders, loading docks, and scaffolding can break feet, ankles, hips, and other bones, often requiring specialists and complex surgical repair and a long recovery.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Plant, refinery, and industrial sites along the river corridor expose workers to chemical, thermal, and crushing injuries that can end a career and demand lifelong care.
- Truck and Vehicle Accidents on the Job: Delivery drivers and truckers working the Interstate 10 and airport corridors may have both a comp claim and a separate claim against the at-fault driver.
- Firefighter and First Responder Conditions: Hypertension, heart and lung disease, hepatitis, hearing loss, posttraumatic stress, and cancer tied to the job can qualify for benefits.
- Wrongful Death: When a workplace accident kills a worker, surviving family members may be entitled to death benefits and, depending on the circumstances, a separate civil claim.
What a Hurt Kenner Worker Should Do Right Now
Report the injury to your employer immediately, in writing if you can, and treat thirty days from the accident as an absolute outer limit. Louisiana’s notice rule is strict: no compensation proceeding is maintained unless the employer received notice within thirty days of the injury. A text or email that names the date, the place, and what happened is far better than a verbal comment to a supervisor who may later say he does not remember it. Then get medical attention and tell every provider that the injury happened at work, because early records that leave out the workplace cause become the insurer’s best exhibit later.
The formal claim deadline is separate. A claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of injury, though if the insurer has paid compensation, the period can extend to three years from the last payment. Do not treat that extension as a safety net; waiting is how workers lose claims they should have won. Keep a folder with the incident report, medical records, work restrictions, pay stubs, and a short daily log of symptoms and missed shifts.
Disputes over treatment follow their own tight clock. If the insurer denies a recommended procedure, the worker has fifteen calendar days from receiving written notice to file Form 1009 with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, and the OWC medical director then has thirty days to decide. If the medical director rules against you, you have forty-five days from the date the decision was issued to file Form 1008 to take the dispute before a workers’ compensation judge. That period runs from issuance, not from the day you read the letter. Missing either window can cost you the treatment even when the medical case is strong.
Kenner workers may elect to bring the case in the parish where the injury occurred, the parish where they lived when hurt, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. A judgment from the workers’ compensation judge can be appealed, and a final judgment is generally appealed within thirty days when the appeal suspends the judgment, or sixty days when it does not. For Jefferson Parish, appeals go to the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. Common mistakes include giving a recorded statement to the adjuster before speaking with a lawyer, returning to full duty against medical advice, skipping appointments, and signing medical releases broader than the injury requires.
How Louisiana Wage Benefits Work and Why Insurers Cut Them Off
While you are unable to work, Louisiana pays weekly indemnity benefits based on your average earnings, subject to a maximum rate that is set by the date of the accident and adjusted periodically by the state. Temporary total disability benefits cover the period when you cannot work at all. If you recover enough to return to lighter duty but earn less than before, supplemental earnings benefits may apply. Those equal two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury wages and what you earn or are able to earn, and they are available when you cannot earn at least ninety percent of your former pay.
Supplemental earnings benefits last until you are released to full duty, return to your pre-injury wages, or reach the 520-week maximum, with any temporary total disability weeks counting toward that total. Insurers frequently try to end these payments by claiming a job exists that you can perform, often a position that does not match your restrictions or your local labor market. Challenging that kind of vocational claim takes medical documentation and a clear record of your job search and limitations.
Permanent disability benefits come into play when maximum medical improvement leaves you with lasting impairment, and these can resolve through settlement. Settlement value depends on the medical picture, the wage loss, the future care you will need, and the strength of the causation evidence. Insurers lowball early offers, especially when the worker is out of pay and under pressure. Our results, from a $140,000 hip injury to a $685,000 lower back case, show how widely outcomes vary with the evidence behind them.
Questions Kenner Workers Ask About Comp Claims
Do I need a lawyer for a workers’ compensation claim in Kenner?
Not every claim requires one, but if your benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or if your injury will keep you out of work for a long time, an attorney can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and lawyers protecting its interests, and you should have someone protecting yours.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of your case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement for you. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury in Louisiana?
Report it to your employer within thirty days of the accident. Do it right away and in writing if possible, because a late or undocumented report gives the insurer an easy reason to deny.
What is the deadline to file a formal claim?
A claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of injury. If compensation payments have been made, the deadline may extend to three years from the last payment, but you should not rely on that exception.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Louisiana protects workers from retaliation for filing a compensation claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, tell us so we can review your options.
What if the insurer says my injury is pre-existing?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Strong medical evidence connecting the work to the change in your condition is the heart of these cases.
What if the insurer denies my surgery or treatment?
You have fifteen calendar days from written notice of the denial to file Form 1009 with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration. The medical director then has thirty days to decide. If you disagree with that decision, you have forty-five days from its issuance to file Form 1008.
Can I choose my own doctor?
Louisiana generally lets you choose a treating physician in a given specialty, and that choice matters because the treating doctor’s opinions on causation and restrictions carry great weight. Before you switch or accept a referral from the employer, talk to a lawyer about how the choice could affect your case.
Can I still bring a claim if a third party caused my accident?
Yes. If a negligent driver or an unsafe contractor caused your injury, you may have a personal injury claim in addition to your comp benefits. Louisiana’s fault rules changed for causes of action arising on or after the start of 2026: a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing in the civil claim, and lesser fault reduces the award proportionally. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, the civil filing period is two years.
What happens if I disagree with the judge’s decision?
A workers’ compensation judge’s ruling is final unless appealed. The appeal goes to the proper circuit court of appeal, in Jefferson Parish the Fifth Circuit, within thirty or sixty days depending on whether it suspends the judgment. The clock runs from the day after the judgment was signed or notice was mailed, whichever is later.
Can I get benefits if I was partly at fault for my own injury?
Workers’ compensation is generally a no-fault system, so carelessness on your part does not by itself bar benefits. Disputes arise over issues like intoxication or willful misconduct, and those defenses need to be tested against the evidence.
Do you represent Spanish-speaking workers?
Yes. Hablamos español, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Serving Kenner Workers’ Compensation Clients Across Jefferson Parish and South Louisiana
Our work for injured Kenner workers extends across Jefferson Parish and the communities around it, including Metairie, Harahan, River Ridge, Elmwood, Jefferson, Westwego, Marrero, Harvey, Gretna, Terrytown, Avondale, Bridge City, and Waggaman. Because Kenner sits beside the airport and the river, many of the workers we help commute from neighboring parishes, so we also serve clients in New Orleans, Chalmette, St. Rose, Destrehan, LaPlace, and the River Parishes.
Beyond the New Orleans area, we represent injured workers throughout South Louisiana, including Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Houma, and as far north as Shreveport. The firm also handles workers’ compensation claims across Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Delta, and north Mississippi. Wherever you were hurt, the same standard applies: your medical care and wage benefits are rights, and we pursue them.
Talk to a Kenner Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today
If you were hurt on the job in Kenner, the deadlines are already running, and the insurer is already building its file. A Kenner workers’ compensation attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review your injury, the denial or delay you are facing, and what benefits you may be owed. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call us today to talk through your claim.
