Starkville Factory Worker Injury Lawyer
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers across Mississippi and Louisiana, including the plant, warehouse, and manufacturing employees in Starkville and the rest of Oktibbeha County. If you were hurt on a production line, by a press or conveyor, or from months of repetitive lifting, we handle the workers’ compensation claim and the fight with the insurer that often follows. As a Starkville factory worker injury lawyer team, we focus on one thing: getting injured workers their medical care and wage benefits.
Factory injuries rarely look like the clean, single-event accidents insurers prefer. A hand pulled into a roller is obvious. A herniated disc from eight-hour shifts of lifting, twisting, and standing on concrete is not, and that is exactly the kind of claim an adjuster will try to label as “degenerative” or “unrelated to work.” Shoulders wear out from overhead assembly, knees give way after years on hard floors, and backs fail one repetitive motion at a time. Mississippi law still covers those injuries, but you have to report them correctly and on time.
Mississippi workers’ compensation claims are decided by the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, not by a jury. That changes how a case is built. The evidence that wins is medical records, a clear account of your job duties, and consistent reporting, not courtroom drama.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Factory Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm serving injured workers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, including Starkville, Oktibbeha County, and communities across north Mississippi. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury attorneys who see them occasionally. We built our practice the other way around. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of your case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement for you. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, and we speak Spanish (hablamos español), which matters in plants across the region where many workers are more comfortable in their first language.
Founding Partner Rob Lunsford has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Partners Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe 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 regularly appears before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, and Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the team.
The results reflect the kind of injuries factory workers suffer. We secured $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, and $385,000 for a project manager with back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle. We also recovered $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Across all clients, the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements. Our clients consistently describe a team that listens, communicates, and stays with them through the insurance company’s pushback.
Common Injuries and Claim Types on the Factory Floor
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: Lifting, bending, and repetitive motion on a line can cause or aggravate lumbar and cervical disc herniations. When the insurer points to degenerative disc disease, we show how years of physical work or a specific incident caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and Knee Injuries: Overhead assembly, pulling, and pushing heavy stock produce torn rotator cuffs and SLAP tears, while hard floors and constant kneeling lead to meniscus and ACL tears. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries; medical evidence tied to your job duties answers that.
- Fractures and Crush Injuries: Feet, ankles, hands, and hips can be broken by falling materials, forklifts, or equipment, often requiring specialists and surgical repair.
- Burns and Catastrophic Injuries: Heat, chemicals, and machinery in industrial settings can cause severe burns and life-altering injuries that call for long-term medical and wage benefits.
- Machine and Equipment Accidents: Presses, conveyors, saws, and unguarded moving parts cause amputations and serious hand injuries. A separate claim against an equipment manufacturer may be possible alongside comp.
- Cumulative Trauma and Repetitive Motion: Hand, wrist, elbow, and back conditions that develop over months or years are covered, but they require careful documentation of when you first connected the problem to your work.
- Third-Party Injury Claims: When someone other than your employer contributes to your injury, such as a negligent driver, a contractor, or a defective-equipment maker, you may have a personal injury claim in addition to comp benefits.
What to Do After a Factory Injury in Starkville
Report the injury to your employer right away, in writing if you can. Mississippi law gives you 30 days from the accident to give notice, and waiting even a few days hands the insurer an argument that it did not happen at work. For a gradual injury, report as soon as you realize the condition is tied to your job. Ask for a copy of whatever incident report is prepared, and make sure it describes what actually happened.
Get medical care and tell every provider that the injury happened at work. Be specific about your job duties and what you were doing when it started. Vague histories get turned into “pre-existing condition” denials. Follow your doctor’s restrictions even when a supervisor pressures you to push through, and do not return to full duty before you are cleared. Keep your own notes: dates, names of witnesses, how the machine or task works, and any earlier complaints you made about safety.
The filing deadline matters just as much. If no disability benefits have been paid within two years of the injury, your right to benefits can be barred unless a claim is filed with the Commission during that period. Workers generally have two years from the date of injury, or from the last compensation payment, to file a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. Being paid medical bills alone does not always stop that clock, so do not assume you are safe because the insurer has been cooperative.
If your claim is denied, your case goes to an evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge with the Commission. A party unhappy with that decision can seek review by the Full Commission, which reviews the record already made rather than holding a new trial. A final Commission award can be appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court within 30 days, and that court often assigns the case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Because appeals are decided on the record, what gets documented early in your case is what the appeals court will see.
The biggest mistakes we see are giving a recorded statement to the adjuster without preparation, signing forms you have not read, skipping doctor visits, and posting about activities on social media that an insurer can twist. If your employer fires or disciplines you after you report an injury, tell us. Mississippi protects workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim.
What Benefits a Factory Worker Can Recover in Mississippi
Mississippi coverage begins on your first day of employment, with no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement, for employers that carry coverage under the Act. Benefits include all reasonable and necessary medical treatment, wage replacement while you cannot work, and compensation for permanent impairment. Wage replacement for temporary or permanent total disability is generally two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory weekly maximum, and generally cannot run longer than 450 weeks. Permanent partial disability payments in other cases are likewise capped at 450 weeks. The weekly maximum is adjusted over time, so ask us what applies to your injury date.
Those numbers are why settlement value depends so heavily on your medical evidence and your ability to return to the same work. A factory worker who can no longer do repetitive lifting may be unable to return to the job that paid the bills, even if the doctor says the worker could do lighter work somewhere. Showing what the injury does to your actual earning capacity, not just your diagnosis, is central to how we build a case.
How Insurers Fight Factory Injury Claims
Carriers have a familiar playbook: they argue the accident did not happen at work, blame a pre-existing condition, push you back to work before your doctor clears you, or stop paying benefits without warning. A pre-existing condition does not automatically end your claim. If your job caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. We answer these arguments with medical opinions, coworker statements, job descriptions, and your work history.
Questions Starkville Factory Workers Ask
Do I need a lawyer for a factory injury claim?
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, a lawyer can make a major difference. The insurer has adjusters and attorneys protecting its interests.
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. Attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases are limited and approved under state law.
How long do I have to report my injury?
You must give your employer notice within 30 days of the accident in Mississippi. Report it immediately and in writing whenever possible.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Generally two years from the date of injury or the last compensation payment, by filing a Petition to Controvert with the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission. If benefits were never paid and no claim is filed within two years, the right to benefits can be lost.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim?
Mississippi protects workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting an injury, tell us so we can review your options.
What if my injury came from years of repetitive work, not one accident?
Cumulative injuries can be covered. The key is medical evidence connecting the condition to your job duties and a clear record of when you reported it.
The insurer says my back problem is degenerative. Is my claim dead?
No. Insurers raise this often. If work caused, aggravated, or accelerated the condition, you may still qualify for benefits, and strong medical opinions are how that argument is won.
Can I sue my employer in addition to getting workers’ comp?
Comp is generally your remedy against your employer. But you may have a separate personal injury claim against outside parties, such as an equipment manufacturer or a negligent driver, and we coordinate that claim with your comp benefits.
Will my health insurance pay while my comp claim is pending?
If the comp insurer denies treatment, you may be tempted to use health insurance, but that can create reimbursement problems later. Talk to us before you decide, and keep every bill and denial letter.
Who decides my case if the insurer denies it?
The Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, through an Administrative Judge at an evidentiary hearing, with review available before the Full Commission and then the Mississippi Supreme Court. There is no jury.
What happens if I am not ready to go back but the insurer says I am?
Do not return based on the adjuster’s say-so. Your treating doctor’s restrictions control, and an insurer that stops benefits improperly can be challenged before the Commission.
Do you help Spanish-speaking factory workers?
Yes. Spanish-speaking clients can work with our team in their own language from the first call to the end of the case.
Serving Factory Workers in Starkville and Across Mississippi
We represent injured workers in Starkville and throughout Oktibbeha County, including the communities of Sturgis, Maben, and Sessums, along with neighborhoods around the Mississippi State University area and the plants and distribution sites on the city’s industrial edges. We also serve workers in neighboring counties and towns such as West Point, Columbus, Louisville, Ackerman, and Eupora, and across north Mississippi in places like Tupelo, Oxford, and Southaven. Our reach continues to the Delta, Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, and the Gulf Coast, and into Louisiana from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette to Lake Charles, Shreveport, and the rest of south and north Louisiana. Wherever you were hurt, we handle your claim from first report to final resolution.
Talk to a Starkville Factory Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt at a plant or factory, you do not have to fight the insurance company alone. A Starkville factory injury attorney from our team can review your situation, explain the deadlines that apply, and take over the dealings with your employer and its insurer. 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.
