Metairie Manufacturing Plant Injury Lawyer
A manufacturing plant injury is rarely a single-defendant problem, and the workers’ compensation check is often only part of what the situation is worth. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm representing injured workers in Metairie, throughout Jefferson Parish, and across Louisiana and Mississippi, and we see the same pattern in plant cases: the employer controls the evidence, the insurer controls the money, and the worker is left holding a pile of medical bills and a stack of forms.
If you need a Metairie manufacturing plant injury lawyer, the work usually starts with figuring out what actually hurt you. Was it a pinch point on a conveyor, a guard that had been removed to speed up production, a chemical exposure that built up over months, or a repetitive task that wore out a shoulder or lower back? Each of those leads to a different claim, a different set of medical proof, and sometimes a different set of people who can be held responsible. Our attorneys build that picture early, before the incident report gets rewritten and the equipment gets repaired or replaced.
Plant work also produces a particular kind of denial. Insurers rarely say the injury did not happen. They say it was already there, that it came from age or an old sports injury, that you waited too long to report it, or that the doctor’s restrictions do not mean what the doctor meant. Answering those arguments with real medical evidence and a clear work history is most of what we do.
Injuries We See From Plant and Production Floor Work
Manufacturing and processing facilities in and around Metairie and the wider New Orleans area, including those tied to the river, the port, and the petrochemical corridor, generate injuries that follow predictable patterns. The categories below are the ones that come up most and that insurers contest most often.
- Back, neck, and spine injuries: Lifting, bending, and repetitive loading on a line can herniate lumbar or cervical discs. Insurers frequently point to degenerative disc disease, and we respond by showing how years of physical work or a specific incident caused or worsened the condition.
- Shoulder and knee injuries: Torn rotator cuffs, SLAP tears, ACL tears, and meniscus tears come from overhead work, pulling heavy material, kneeling, and twisting on hard floors. Employers sometimes label them old sports injuries, which we challenge with medical timelines.
- Fractures: Falls from platforms, crushed feet and ankles under dropped material, and hip injuries from forklift or pallet incidents can require specialists and complex surgical repair, with long stretches away from work.
- Burns and catastrophic injuries: Steam, hot product, electrical contact, and chemical splashes cause severe burns. We have recovered $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns to the lower extremities, a result that reflects how serious industrial burn cases can be.
- Machinery and caught-in injuries: Presses, conveyors, cutters, and rollers cause crush injuries and amputations. These cases often involve guarding failures, lockout and maintenance practices, and equipment makers that may be separate from the employer.
- Struck-by incidents in the plant yard: Forklifts, trucks, and moving loads hit workers in loading areas and yards. When an outside driver or contractor is involved, a separate injury claim may exist alongside comp.
- Occupational illness and exposure: Fumes, solvents, dust, and noise can cause lung conditions, skin conditions, and hearing loss that develop gradually, which raises its own questions about when and how to report.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Plant Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm. Most lawyers who take comp cases are personal injury attorneys who handle a work injury when one happens to come through the door; we built our practice the other way around, with workers’ compensation at the center. Our attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience to claims that have been denied, delayed, or cut off before they should have been, and the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients. We serve injured workers in Metairie, throughout Jefferson Parish and the New Orleans area, across south Louisiana, and throughout Mississippi, and we represent Spanish-speaking clients in their own language. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Our phones are answered around the clock.
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, which matters when a carrier refuses to be reasonable and a case has to be tried. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results speak to the kinds of injuries plant 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 who suffered back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle. Clients regularly describe how we listened, stayed responsive, and stood up to the insurance company on their behalf. A plant injury lawyer in Metairie should be able to point to that kind of record in back, shoulder, and burn cases, because those are the injuries that keep manufacturing workers out of a job for months.
Louisiana Benefits After a Manufacturing Injury
Louisiana requires nearly every employer to carry workers’ compensation coverage, even for a single employee, so a plant worker hurt on the job is generally covered. Benefits include all reasonable and necessary medical treatment, wage replacement while you are temporarily unable to work, and additional benefits for permanent disability, catastrophic injury, or death. Weekly compensation rates are tied to your average wage and capped under a maximum that is set each year by the state, and the cap that applies is fixed by the date of your accident.
If you can return to work but at lower pay, supplemental earnings benefits may apply. They are available when you cannot earn at least 90 percent of your pre-injury wages, and they equal two-thirds of the difference between what you earned before and what you earn or are able to earn now. Those benefits can continue until you are released to full duty, you return to your old earnings, or you reach the 520-week maximum, and weeks of temporary total disability benefits count toward that 520. Plant injuries that leave a worker with permanent restrictions, such as no heavy lifting or no overhead work, often turn on this benefit because the old job may simply no longer be possible.
Plant Injury Claims That Go Beyond Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ compensation generally limits your claim against your own employer, but it does not shield everyone else. In a manufacturing setting, the machine that failed may have been built by a company that is not your employer, a contractor on site may have created the hazard, a delivery driver may have struck you in the yard, or a chemical supplier may have mislabeled a product. Those parties can face a separate personal injury claim, which can include damages that comp does not pay, such as pain and suffering.
Timing and fault rules matter here. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana’s general tort deadline is two years from the day the injury was sustained, while earlier injuries remain under the former one-year period. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and lower percentages reduce the award proportionally. If a worker dies, wrongful death claims follow a rule giving the longer of one year from the death or two years from the injury. Because a comp claim and an injury claim run on different clocks and can affect each other, we coordinate them so that one does not undercut the other.
What to Do After a Plant Injury in Metairie
Get medical care first and tell the provider it happened at work, because the first records set the tone for everything that follows. Then report the injury to your employer. Louisiana law requires notice within 30 days of the injury, and a compensation proceeding cannot be maintained without it, so do not let a supervisor talk you into waiting to see if it gets better. Report in writing if you can and keep a copy. A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, though that period can extend to three years from the last compensation payment when payments have been made. Those exceptions are narrow, which is one more reason to talk with a lawyer early.
Document what you can before it disappears. Write down who was working near you, what machine or process was involved, whether guards or safety devices were in place, and what you were told afterward. Photograph the area and your injuries when it is safe to do so. Keep every medical record, work restriction note, and pay stub. Be careful with recorded statements to the insurance adjuster, since offhand comments about prior aches or how you felt that morning get used to argue the injury was not work related.
Claims that are disputed are heard by workers’ compensation judges in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration. Louisiana has ten district workers’ compensation courts, including one in New Orleans and one in Harahan, and under state law the worker chooses where the case is heard from among the parish where the injury happened, the parish where the worker lived when injured, and the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. When a carrier denies a specific treatment, a short deadline applies: an objection to that denial must be filed on Form 1009 within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice, and the OWC medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. If you disagree with that decision, you have 45 days from the date it was issued to file Form 1008. A final judgment from a workers’ compensation judge can be appealed to the court of appeal; an appeal that suspends the judgment must be filed within 30 days, and one that does not must be filed within 60 days. Missing any of these dates can end a claim that should have succeeded, which is why we track them from the first day.
Questions About Manufacturing Plant Injury Claims
Do I need a lawyer for a plant injury claim in Metairie?
Not every claim requires one, but if your benefits have been denied, delayed, reduced, or cut off, or 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 a worker deserves someone doing the same on their side.
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 a plant injury?
Report it to your employer right away, and within 30 days at the latest. In Louisiana a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident, with an extension to three years from the last payment if compensation has been paid.
Can I be fired for filing a workers’ compensation claim?
Louisiana and Mississippi both protect workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or disciplined after reporting an injury, tell us during your consultation so we can review your options.
My employer says my injury came from a pre-existing condition. Is my claim over?
No. A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If your work caused, worsened, or sped up the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Answering this argument with strong medical evidence is a core part of what we do.
The plant doctor released me to work but my own doctor disagrees. What happens?
Disagreements over work status are common and are resolved with medical evidence, not guesswork. We gather your treating doctor’s opinions and restrictions and, where necessary, challenge a premature release so that benefits are not cut off while you are still unable to do the job.
Can I sue the company that made the machine that hurt me?
Possibly. Comp generally limits claims against your employer, but a separate manufacturer, contractor, or driver may be liable in a personal injury case. We evaluate whether a third party contributed and make sure that claim and your comp claim work together.
What if my injury developed slowly from repetitive work or chemical exposure?
Gradual injuries and occupational illnesses can be compensable. The difficulty is usually proving the connection and pinning down when you knew the problem was work related, so keep detailed records of symptoms, treatment, and the tasks or substances involved, and report as soon as you suspect the link.
Will my health insurance pay while my comp claim is pending?
Workers’ compensation is supposed to cover reasonable and necessary treatment for a work injury, and the comp carrier is generally the responsible payer. If treatment is delayed or denied, tell us right away, because short deadlines apply to challenging denied care and we can help you get the treatment authorized.
What happens if I was partly at fault for my own injury?
Workers’ compensation is generally a no-fault system, so your own mistake does not normally bar benefits. Fault does become relevant in a separate injury claim against a third party, where Louisiana’s comparative fault rules, including the 51 percent bar for newer causes of action, can reduce or eliminate recovery.
Do you speak Spanish?
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 Plant Workers From Metairie Across Jefferson Parish and Beyond
Metairie sits in Jefferson Parish, and our team represents injured plant and industrial workers there and in neighboring communities. We help workers in Metairie, Kenner, Harahan, River Ridge, Elmwood, Old Jefferson, Bridge City, Westwego, Marrero, Harvey, Gretna, Terrytown, Avondale, Waggaman, and Jefferson, as well as in Orleans Parish and New Orleans neighborhoods and nearby areas along the river. Claims arising in Jefferson Parish are among those appealed to the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, which covers Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist parishes.
Our work extends well beyond the metro area. We represent injured workers in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and communities throughout south Louisiana and north Louisiana. In Mississippi, we serve workers in Jackson and Madison, along the Gulf Coast, in Hattiesburg and Southaven, in the Delta, and across north Mississippi. Wherever the plant is located, the same core problems tend to follow: a disputed cause of injury, a premature return to work, or benefits that stop without warning.
Speak With a Metairie Plant Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt on a production floor, in a processing facility, or around plant equipment, you do not have to fight the insurance company alone. A Metairie plant injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain what benefits and claims are available to you, and take over the dealings with your employer and its insurer. Consultations are free, we advance the costs, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you.
Call us any time of day to talk through your situation. The sooner we hear from you, the sooner we can protect the deadlines that apply and start building the medical and work-history record your claim depends on. We help injured workers, and that is all we do.
