Louisiana Toxic Chemical Exposure Lawyer
A toxic exposure claim succeeds when the medical record, the workplace record, and the legal filings all tell the same story about what a worker breathed, touched, or absorbed and what it did to their body. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Louisiana and Mississippi, and a Louisiana toxic chemical exposure lawyer at the firm builds that story from the first day, whether the injury was a sudden chemical burn or an illness that surfaced years after the exposure.
Louisiana’s economy puts workers in daily contact with hazardous substances. Refineries and petrochemical plants line the river parishes and the Lake Charles area, offshore and land-based oil operations generate their own exposure risks, and shipyards, paper mills, chemical distributors, and construction sites all handle solvents, acids, asbestos-containing materials, and fumes. Exposure injuries are also harder to prove than a fall or a crush injury, because the harm can be gradual, the employer may deny that the workplace was the source, and the insurer often points to smoking, age, or a pre-existing condition instead.
The firm handles these claims before the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration and on appeal when an unfair ruling needs to be challenged. Our team deals with your employer and its insurer so that you can concentrate on treatment, and we work on a no recovery, no fee basis.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Chemical Exposure Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is built around workers’ compensation, not around general personal injury work that occasionally includes a comp case. Our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for its clients. 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, which matters when an insurer will not move without a courtroom behind the demand. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team serving clients in Louisiana and Mississippi.
That depth matters in exposure cases because they turn on medical causation, which is exactly where insurers push hardest. The firm’s results reflect work on contested, medically complicated claims: 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 after being struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns to the lower extremities. The burn case in particular reflects the kind of industrial site injury that chemical and thermal exposures can cause. Clients consistently describe a team that listens, communicates, and stays with them through every step. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of the case, phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language, since hablamos español.
Types of Toxic Exposure Claims Louisiana Workers Bring
- Chemical Burns and Acute Splash Injuries: Acid, caustic, and solvent contact at plants, refineries, and industrial job sites can cause immediate burns to the skin, eyes, and airways. These are usually the easiest exposures to tie to a specific date, which also starts the notice and filing clocks.
- Inhalation Injuries and Fume Exposure: Welding fumes, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, ammonia, and vapor releases can damage the lungs and trigger asthma-like conditions, chronic bronchitis, or reduced lung function that keeps a worker off the job.
- Occupational Disease from Long-Term Exposure: Asbestos, silica, benzene, and heavy metals can produce lung disease, blood disorders, or cancer long after the work that caused them. Insurers often argue the illness comes from lifestyle or age, so a detailed work history is central.
- Neurological and Cognitive Effects: Solvents and certain industrial chemicals are associated with headaches, memory problems, tremors, and nerve damage. These claims need treating physicians who will connect the symptoms to the workplace in writing.
- Skin and Allergic Conditions: Repeated contact with resins, cleaning agents, and industrial compounds can cause dermatitis and sensitization that make certain jobs impossible to continue.
- Firefighter and First Responder Illnesses: Smoke, burning building materials, and hazardous material scenes expose responders to carcinogens and toxic combustion products, and the firm handles claims for heart and lung disease, hepatitis, and cancer tied to the job.
- Oil Field and Offshore-Adjacent Exposures: Drilling fluids, produced water, and pipe-handling chemicals expose derrickhands and roughnecks to substances that may injure the skin, lungs, or other organs.
- Exposure Claims With a Third-Party Defendant: When a contractor, chemical manufacturer, or equipment supplier caused the exposure, a personal injury claim may exist alongside the comp claim, and the two need to be handled together.
What to Do After a Chemical Exposure at Work
Get medical attention first, and tell every provider that the exposure happened at work and what substance was involved if you know it. If you can safely do so, write down the chemical name, the product label, the date, the location on the job site, and who was nearby. Safety data sheets for the product are something your employer is generally expected to have on hand, and asking for the sheet by name creates a record that you raised the issue. Photographs of the area, containers, protective equipment you were or were not given, and any visible injuries are all worth preserving before the site is cleaned up.
Report the injury or illness to your employer in writing as soon as possible. In Louisiana, notice must be given within thirty days of the injury, and a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the date of injury. If workers’ compensation payments have been made, that deadline may extend to three years from the last payment, but a worker should never count on that extension. Occupational diseases that appear slowly raise real questions about when the clock started, which is one reason to speak with a lawyer before assuming you are too late or still on time.
If the insurer denies a medical treatment request, the process has its own short deadlines. A dispute over medical treatment is started by filing Form 1009 with the Office of Workers’ Compensation within fifteen calendar days of receiving written notice of the denial, and the OWC medical director then has thirty calendar days to issue a decision. Anyone who wants to challenge that decision has forty-five days from the date it was issued to file Form 1008. Louisiana hears these claims in district workers’ compensation courts located in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Covington, Harahan, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans, and Shreveport, and the worker may choose to file in the parish where the injury occurred, the parish where the worker lived at the time, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. A final judgment from a workers’ compensation judge can be appealed to the appropriate Louisiana court of appeal, and an appeal that suspends the judgment must be filed within thirty days.
The most common mistakes are waiting to report because symptoms seemed minor, giving a recorded statement to the adjuster without preparation, accepting the insurer’s choice that the problem is a pre-existing condition, and returning to the same exposure because no one told you it was the cause. If a coworker is sick from the same source, that information can be valuable, and we would rather hear it early.
Proving That the Job Caused the Illness
The core fight in most exposure cases is causation. The insurer will argue that the condition is degenerative, genetic, lifestyle related, or unrelated to the substance in question. Answering that requires medical opinions from treating physicians and, when needed, specialists who understand the specific chemical and the specific illness. It also requires a work history that shows duration, intensity, and the conditions under which the exposure occurred, including ventilation, protective equipment, and how often the worker handled the material.
A pre-existing condition does not end a claim. If your job caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, benefits may still be owed. That principle matters in exposure cases because many workers have some prior respiratory or skin history, and insurers use it as a blanket excuse. Our approach is to establish what changed after the exposure and let the medical evidence speak to it.
Benefits in Louisiana include all reasonable and necessary medical treatment, wage replacement while you cannot work, and supplemental earnings benefits if you return at reduced pay. Supplemental earnings benefits apply when an injured worker cannot earn ninety percent or more of pre-injury wages, and they are calculated at two-thirds of the difference between what you earned before and what you earn or are able to earn now. They continue until release to full duty, a return to pre-injury wages, or the five hundred twenty week maximum, and temporary total disability weeks count toward that total. Additional benefits exist for permanent disability, catastrophic injury, and death. Weekly compensation rates are fixed by the date of the accident under a limit tied to the statewide average weekly wage.
When someone other than your employer is responsible, such as a contractor or a supplier whose product or site conditions caused the harm, a separate claim against them may be available. Louisiana’s period for most injury lawsuits is two years from the day the injury or damage is sustained for injuries on or after July 1, 2024, and earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. Since Louisiana now bars recovery for a claimant found fifty-one percent or more at fault, for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, evidence about who controlled the site and who failed to warn becomes even more important. Wrongful death claims follow their own rule of one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer.
Questions About Louisiana Toxic Chemical Exposure Claims
Can I file a workers’ compensation claim for an illness that developed slowly?
Yes. Occupational diseases caused by repeated or prolonged exposure can be compensable. The harder issue is proving that the workplace was the cause and identifying when the filing clock began, so keep your medical records and work history organized and talk to an attorney early.
How soon do I have to report a chemical exposure to my employer?
Notice must be given within thirty days of the injury. Do it in writing, keep a copy, and include the date, the location, the substance if known, and your symptoms.
How long do I have to file a formal claim in Louisiana?
A formal 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.
What benefits can I receive?
Medical treatment that is reasonable and necessary, wage replacement while you cannot work, supplemental earnings benefits if you return at lower pay, and additional benefits for permanent disability, catastrophic injury, or death. Vocational rehabilitation may also be part of the picture.
The insurer says my condition is pre-existing. Is my claim over?
No. If the job caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still qualify. We answer this argument with medical evidence and a clear timeline of your health before and after the exposure.
What if the insurer denies the treatment my doctor recommends?
You can dispute it by filing Form 1009 with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration within fifteen calendar days of getting written notice of the denial. Missing that window can cost you leverage, so call us as soon as the denial arrives.
Can I sue a chemical manufacturer or contractor in addition to my employer?
Possibly. Workers’ compensation generally limits claims against your own employer, but a third party that caused the exposure may be liable in a separate injury action. Louisiana’s two-year period applies to injuries on or after July 1, 2024, and earlier injuries fall under the former one-year period.
What if I was partly at fault for the exposure, for example by not wearing a respirator?
Comp benefits generally do not depend on fault in the way a lawsuit does. In a separate third-party claim, fault matters: for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found fifty-one percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and lower percentages reduce the award proportionally.
Will my health insurance cover treatment while the claim is pending?
Work-related treatment is supposed to be paid through workers’ compensation, and health insurers often resist covering it. If the comp carrier denies or delays care, talk to us about how to keep treatment moving without jeopardizing the claim.
Where are Louisiana comp cases heard, and how do appeals work?
Claims are decided by workers’ compensation judges in district offices around the state. A final judgment can be appealed to the appropriate Louisiana court of appeal, with an appeal that suspends the judgment due within thirty days and one that does not suspend it due within sixty. A further request for review by the Louisiana Supreme Court must be made within thirty days of notice of the appellate judgment.
Does the firm charge anything up front?
No. Consultations are free, we advance the costs of the case, and we are paid only if we recover benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in comp cases are also limited and approved under state law.
Can I be fired for filing an exposure claim?
Louisiana protects workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or punished after reporting, tell us at your consultation so we can review your options.
Serving Toxic Exposure Clients Across South Louisiana and the State
Chemical exposure claims arise wherever industrial work happens, and the firm represents injured workers throughout Louisiana. From the petrochemical corridor and the river parishes through New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and the Houma and Lafayette areas, our team handles claims for plant workers, pipefitters, welders, and laborers. We also serve clients in Lake Charles and the surrounding industrial region, in Shreveport and communities across north Louisiana, and in the smaller towns and parishes where refineries, mills, and offshore support operations employ local families.
The firm’s reach extends across the Mississippi line as well, with representation for injured workers in Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and north Mississippi. Whether the exposure happened on a plant floor, a drilling site, a ship, or a fire scene, we handle your claim before the correct agency and court for where you were hurt.
Talk With a Louisiana Toxic Chemical Exposure Attorney Today
If a workplace chemical has made you sick or burned you, a Louisiana toxic chemical exposure attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain which deadlines apply to you, and start building the medical and workplace evidence your claim needs. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call us to talk through your case, and let us deal with the insurance company while you focus on getting well.
