Delivering parcels and packages as well as letters during the summer or in a perpetually warm or even hot state can be one of the most physically punishing jobs in the country. Last-mile carriers in these states or during this season spend countless hours pounding the concrete which for the most part is made of boiling asphalt, carrying 40-pound satchels that have heavy packages while being forced to drive ancient, Long-Life Vehicles that do not have air conditioning and often break down, especially in the boiling heat, leaving you stuck in a vehicle whose cabin temperature can exceed over 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Under these conditions, the human body simply stops functioning as it should, and starts to sweat profusely, before descending into extreme fatigue and heat exhaustion. If left untreated, acute kidney damage may soon follow, as well as confusion and finally, heat stroke which ends in the letter carrier collapsing while on their route, requiring immediate emergency transport to the nearest ER.

When you finally wake up in the emergency room, you usually do not get a chance to breathe; postal management starts their war against you, and does everything it can to protect the agency from any financial liability. Management will even go as far as checking the “controverted” box on Form CA-1, and intimating to the OWCP Claims Examiner that you were reckless and would never drink water while you were out making delivery, and even go as far as saying that you were suffering from “pre-existing dehydration” due to your wild partying weekends.

Within days, you receive a formal letter from OWCP informing you that your Continuation of Pay (COP) has been frozen, and you may have your claim denied for being irresponsible. While this may seem like an insurmountable hurdle, having an experienced OWCP federal workers’ compensation attorney makes all the difference between receiving your compensation and being left out in the cold to figure things out on your own.

Are you looking for the best OWCP federal workers’ compensation attorney for your USPS heat injury claim? Please call the experienced federal employee attorneys at McCready Law NOW at (314) 481-63338 to learn more about how we can help you fight management controversion and secure your FECA benefits. The experienced injured federal worker attorneys at McCready Law bring to the table combined experience spanning over 90 years where we have helped postal workers across the country navigate the Department of Labor and OWCP bureaucracy with speed, efficiency, and reliability.

To date, we have recovered over $500 million for our clients, and our deep understanding of USPS operational tactics and OWCP adjudication standards places us at a level that is unmatched in federal workers’ compensation law. We have nationwide reach, handling cases on an agreed-upon, transparent basis, and your first consultation is 100% FREE.

Regardless of where your postal route is located in the United States, McCready Law can assist with your OWCP claim from start to finish, connecting you with qualified physicians who understand federal causality and fighting aggressive agency controversies so you can focus on recovering. Need to speak to someone regarding protecting your continuation of pay and securing claim acceptance? Call us NOW at (314) 481-63338 to learn more about our legal services – our intake team is standing by to route your call to one of our experienced attorneys.

Federal Workers’ Compensation for Heat-Related Illness – Managing Agency Pushback

Under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, or FECA, acute heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and heat-induced rhabdomyolysis are all compensable traumatic injuries if they occurred during a work shift. It is, however, not uncommon for management to state that your own poor lifestyle or hydration choices led to these heat-related illnesses; this is patently unlawful for them to state, and it is important to get ahead of the accusations by doing the following:

1. File a traumatic injury form, or a CA-1 in order to qualify for immediate Continuation of Pay, or COP.  It is important that you do not fill out Form CA-2 as this is not considered an occupational disease. Once you fill in the first form, you will be legally allowed to collect up to 45 days of Continuation of Pay, and your regular wage checks will keep coming in without management trying to cut off the same.
2. If you worked in a non-climate controlled LLV, it is presumed that you face operational hazards. Therefore, by documenting the official National Weather Service heat advisories and compiling this with the vehicle’s ambient temperature so you have unassailable proof that workplace conditions did indeed cause your acute hyperthermia
3. In order to strike down the “lifestyle” defense, you must invoke the FECA eggshell-skull doctrine, where the Postal Service must take you as they find you. Therefore, a physician who is conversant with OWCP writing a comprehensive narrative report stating that the acute organ distress and heat stroke was a direct consequence of work-related heat exposure will instantly vaporize any of the management’s claims about pre-existing conditions or lack of personal hydration.

Best Injured USPS Injured Postal Workers Lawyers – Call Us Today!

At McCready Law, we understand that postal management routinely tries to intimidate injured letter carriers so they feel outgunned and that they were in the wrong and caused their own injuries. However, we exist so we can fight these bad-faith supervisor statement so you can ensure acceptance of your COP, and other forms of compensation by OWCP. If you suffered heat stroke as a last-mile federal letter carrier, give us a call NOW at (314) 481-63338 for your 100% FREE legal consultation regardless of where you are in the country. Thanks for choosing us, and we look forward to helping you.