Shreveport’s work injuries come from the nurses and techs at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport and the Willis-Knighton hospitals, the oilfield and industrial hands along the Red River, the warehouse crews off Bert Kouns Industrial Loop, and the drivers running work errands on I-20, I-49, and Mansfield Road. Workers’ compensation is no-fault insurance for those injuries: it pays your medical treatment and part of your lost wages regardless of who caused the accident.
The law that governs the claim is Louisiana law, and it is the same in Caddo Parish as in every other parish. Your workers’ compensation claim is not a lawsuit at the First Judicial District Court, 501 Texas Street. It is an administrative case before the Louisiana Office of Workers Compensation (OWC), whose district office serving Caddo Parish is here in Shreveport, and a state advisory council created by La. R.S. 23:1294 reviews proposed rules for how those claims are handled. La. R.S. 23:1209 sets your time to file. You usually have one year from the accident. If you were paid benefits, you have one year from the last payment, but a claim for medical benefits stays open three years from the last medical payment, and a claim for supplemental earnings benefits (paid when the injury cuts what you can earn) stays open three years from the last wage-benefit payment. If the injury shows up later instead of right after the accident, you have one year from when it shows up, but never more than three years from the accident. Give your employer notice inside 30 days under La. R.S. 23:1301; it does not have to be in writing. When somebody other than your employer, a co-worker, or anyone else the comp law protects caused the harm, La. R.S. 23:1101 keeps a second track open, the one that pays for what comp will not.
Results for Louisiana Clients
- $32,195,000Industrial / Workplace
Failure to maintain proper safety protocols led to an explosion at an industrial plant causing a series of catastrophic injuries from broken bones, burns, spinal injury, and mental anguish.
- $31.5 MillionIndustrial / Workplace
Brain and spinal injuries followed an oil-field company failing to maintain equipment and provide a safe work site.
- $1.65 MillionIndustrial / Workplace
At a worksite, an excavator operator dropped a crane mat onto our client.
- $1,315,000Industrial / Workplace
An oil-field safety violation injured our client.
- $975,000Industrial / Workplace
The other vehicle failed to yield the right of way and collided with our client, who suffered back injuries.
- $740,000Industrial / Workplace
The at-fault driver failed to yield the right of way and collided with our client, who suffered neck injuries.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes; each case is decided on its own facts.
Two tracks, and they do not run on the same rules: different deadlines, different decision-makers, different money. Trey Morris Injury Lawyers works out of 509 Milam Street, across the street from the Caddo Parish Courthouse, and we have handled both tracks across Northwest Louisiana for over two decades. We put your notice to the employer in writing, secure the first-visit medical record, and pull your wage records. What goes wrong most often is a worker who takes the comp checks and never hears that the second claim existed. The comp claim and the third-party analysis happen on the same file in this office, which is how the second one keeps from going missing.
Coverage and Eligibility in Caddo Parish
Coverage reaches most private-sector employees in Caddo Parish under La. R.S. 23:1021 et seq., and carrying it is mandatory. An employer who willfully operates without it faces criminal penalties under La. R.S. 23:1172. That takes in most of the people who work in this town, from the hospitals and the oilfield to retail, hospitality, and most other private industries.
Independent contractors are generally excluded, and that label is often wrong. Employers label workers independent contractors to keep from paying comp premiums, and Louisiana courts do not take the label at face value. They look at who actually controlled the work (who directed it, who furnished the tools, who set the hours) rather than at what the contract called you. If you were called a contractor while your employer decided how and when you worked, that classification is worth challenging. Even if you truly were an independent contractor, you are still covered when a substantial part of your work time went to manual labor doing the job under the contract, so a contractor who set their own hours on a construction crew or an oilfield job may still have a comp claim. Driving a tractor-trailer, along with the fueling, hooking up and inspecting that goes with it, does not count as manual labor.
Subcontractors on a job site have one more question to answer: which employer owes the benefits. Two doctrines can put more than one company on the hook when a worker is loaned out or hired through a staffing agency. The borrowed servant doctrine treats a worker furnished by one employer, but working under another employer’s control, as the borrowing employer’s employee for comp purposes; the analysis turns on who directed the work. Under La. R.S. 23:1061, a general contractor becomes the statutory employer of a subcontractor’s employees, and owes them comp, in two situations. The first is when the subcontractor’s work is part of a contract the general contractor has with someone else, such as the project owner. The second is when a written contract with the subcontractor names the general contractor as statutory employer and the work is part of the general contractor’s own trade or business. If neither applies, the fact that the work is part of the general contractor’s trade or business does not by itself make it a statutory employer. Each arrangement gets read on its own paperwork.
This week, ask your employer in writing for the name of the comp carrier and your claim number, and keep the reply.
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From the 1st JDC
Our 509 Milam St office sits across the street from the First Judicial District Court, where Shreveport injury suits are filed and tried.
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Trial attorneys, one team
Your case is handled by the firm's own trial attorneys, and we respond in minutes, 24/7.
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We come to you
Hospital, home, or the office at 509 Milam St. Free case review, and no fee unless we win.
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Cases resolved over $1 million
Verdicts and settlements of $1 million or more, won by the same trial team that handles Shreveport cases.
Common Work Injuries Covered by Louisiana Workers Compensation
Comp covers an injury that arose out of and in the course of your employment. You do not have to prove your employer did anything wrong, but you do have to prove the injury happened at work, and the industries around Shreveport each produce their own version of it.
Falls from height are still one of the leading causes of fatal workplace injury. Construction workers, industrial maintenance hands, and anyone on scaffolding, a ladder, or an elevated platform live with that risk daily. Overexertion and repetitive stress show up in hospitals, in warehouse and logistics work, and in manufacturing. Back and spine injuries from lifting cross every industry on the list.
Struck-by injuries happen when a falling object or a moving machine hits you, which is routine on construction sites and in the industrial corridors near the Red River. Occupational illness and chemical exposure reach manufacturing and energy-sector workers. Slips and falls on a wet or cluttered floor happen in retail, healthcare, and food service all over the parish.
If you were treated at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport on Kings Highway, the Level I trauma center for this corner of the state, or at a Willis-Knighton facility, your record from that first visit is evidence. It fixes when the injury happened and what you reported. A gap between the injury and the first treatment is the opening an adjuster looks for, so get seen and go back when they tell you to.
A fall from a scaffold leaves different evidence than a repetitive stress injury or a chemical exposure, so the investigation runs differently too. We read the injury type for the second question as well: who besides your employer put you in that position. Before this week is out, write down the names of everyone who saw it happen.
What Shreveport Clients Say
- Adam W.
Trey Morris what a great experience if I ever have to suggest a lawyer's office Morris is my first choice will be suggesting to friends and family
- Jaime C.
I had a great experience with [Trey Morris Injury Lawyers] in Shreveport.Trey Morris and his team really took care of everything from the beginning and kept me informed the whole time. They were easy to work with and always made sure I understood what was going on. I truly felt like they fought for me.
- Dena H.
I would greatly recommend [Trey Morris Injury Lawyers] wholeheartedly, I have known Kristen for years and to know that she has moved to such a wonderful law firm and continues to be such a wonderful person, extremely knowledgeable in her field.I highly recommend her as a paralegal to answer all your questions, as all of the group, couldn't ask for more professional and helpful law firm that puts you first and at ease.
- Kasey L.
Maliyah and Leah have been nothing but great!They are always so pleasant to speak with, very informative, and truly go above and beyond to assist. One of the things I appreciate most is that they always pick up the phone, making communication effortless. It's clear they genuinely have your best interests at heart. I Highly recommend them.
- Caroline M.
[Trey Morris Injury Lawyers] is an amazing personal injury firm.Meghan Nolen and her team are extremely capable, professional and knowledgeable!
- Meyoka A.
I got into an accident and I didn't know who to call.A friend of mines told me to call [Trey Morris Injury Lawyers] and I did. They changed my life and I never felt better about that decision. Thank you all
- Shawanda H.
They was so amazing, communication was awesome!Made sure I was comfortable with my case and I’m grateful for them!
- Catherine H.
[Trey Morris Injury Lawyers]yer has been the biggest help to me, i highly recommend this company.They are all so nice and they treated me like family.
- Beverly T.
My experience with this Injury Law Firm.Was was Truly a 5 Star experience. They give back the community. They are truly a blessing.
- Julianne D.
Liz did a great job.She is an awesome attorney. Very professional office and made my experience very simplistic.
- Karen S.
They have been wonderful!They answered all my questions and kept me up to date during the whole process! I'm so glad I had them to deal with the insurance company! Would absolutely recommend them!
- Debra C.
My husband was a client of Attorney Morris last year and we were very pleased.The most intelligent and friendly staff that would just make you find reasons to call or stop by. Out of my many years of working with and hiring attorneys, I must say that Attorney Tre Morris and staff are just OUTSTANDING!!! If you're looking for a honest hard working attorney with a pleasant staff. Contact Attorney Morris and he's handsome too😉
Testimonials do not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Benefits Under Louisiana Workers Compensation
La. R.S. 23:1203 pays for all necessary medical treatment, with no dollar cap on it. Under La. R.S. 23:1121, you choose one treating physician in each field or specialty, not your employer or its insurer. Your employer can send you to its own doctor for an exam, but that doctor becomes your treating physician only if you pick them by signing a choice-of-physician form. If you are refused your first choice of doctor, you can ask for a fast hearing. After that first choice, switching to another doctor in the same specialty needs the employer’s or insurer’s consent, but seeing a doctor in a different specialty does not. Getting that consent is where a lot of Caddo Parish claims stall.
Reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI), the point where your condition has stabilized and further treatment is not expected to improve it, does not end your medical benefits: your employer must keep paying for all necessary treatment for as long as you need it. What MMI can end is Temporary Total Disability (TTD). Those wage checks stop once your condition has settled enough for doctors to reliably judge how disabled you are and you no longer need regular treatment from a physician. MMI is a medical determination, and it drives more benefit disputes than anything else, because an insurer that gets you declared at MMI early can stop your TTD checks and recalculate what it owes.
Indemnity benefits are the wage side. Your average weekly wage (AWW) is the base number for TTD, SEB, and death benefit payments, and under La. R.S. 23:1021 how it is figured depends on how you were paid. If you are paid by the hour, it is your hourly rate times the average hours you worked in the four full weeks before the accident. If you were hired for 40 or more hours a week, it is counted at no fewer than 40 hours, unless you regularly chose to work fewer, in which case your average weekly pay over those four weeks is used. Salaried workers convert their monthly or yearly salary to a weekly figure, seasonal workers divide their yearly income by 52, and only piecework, commission and similar pay uses the 26 weeks before the accident. Temporary Total Disability (TTD), under La. R.S. 23:1221(1), pays 66.67% of your AWW while a work injury leaves you unable to work at all. If you can work but the injury leaves you unable to earn at least 90% of your pre-injury wages, Supplemental Earnings Benefits (SEB), under La. R.S. 23:1221(3), pay 66.67% of the difference between your pre-injury wages and what you earn or are able to earn, figured month by month. Permanent Total Disability applies only when you prove by clear and convincing evidence that the injury permanently keeps you from doing any job or self-employment at all, including odd-lot work, sheltered work or work done in pain. Death benefits, under La. R.S. 23:1232, pay 32.5% of the deceased worker’s AWW to a surviving spouse alone, 46.25% to a spouse and one child, and 65% to a spouse and two or more children, divided equally among them. Vocational rehabilitation, under La. R.S. 23:1226, is available when the injury keeps you from earning what you earned before, and insurers sometimes use that evaluation to justify ending benefits. If you need retraining, you must ask for it and start it within two years after your treating doctor finds your temporary total disability has ended.
La. R.S. 23:1201 makes the first payment of temporary total disability, permanent total disability, or death benefits due on the 14th day after your employer or their insurer learns of the injury or death. SEB is due 14 days after they learn of your lost earnings. Medical bills are due within 60 days after the insurer receives the bill, or 30 days for a complete electronic bill. If they pay late, they owe a penalty of up to 12% of the unpaid amount or $50 a day, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney fees. The $50-a-day penalty stops at $2,000 per claim. They avoid the penalty if they had a reasonable basis to dispute the claim or the delay was beyond their control. Cutting off benefits they were already paying carries a separate penalty of up to $8,000 plus attorney fees, and that one requires proof that the cutoff was arbitrary, capricious, or without probable cause. Penalties awarded at one hearing are capped at $8,000 in total. Both penalties depend on a record you build from the first late check, and we read every file for it.
The Claims Process in Caddo Parish
Put the notice to your employer in writing. Telling a supervisor out on the floor can preserve your rights, but it leaves an argument about what was said and when. A dated memo or email leaves none. Keep a copy.
Get your paper together before the claim is filed: the incident report, every medical record from your treatment, the wage records for the 26 weeks before the injury that your AWW is calculated on, and contact information for anyone who saw it happen. The insurer will ask for all of it, and having it in order keeps the file from sitting.
If your employer disputes the claim or simply does not pay, you file a Disputed Claim for Compensation, Form 1008, with the OWC.
The deadline on a third-party tort claim is a separate date from the comp claim’s one-year period, and the two run independently. If you have both, both dates matter. Miss either one and the right is gone for good, which is why we calendar both. Write your notice this week, date it, and email it so your sent folder holds the proof.
Your Shreveport Trial Team
The lawyers who work your file. Every Shreveport case is handled by the firm's own trial attorneys.
How Does Louisiana Workers Compensation Handle Disputed Claims?
Form 1008 opens the formal dispute. A mediator tries to settle the case first only if both sides ask for mediation or the workers compensation judge orders it (La. R.S. 23:1310.3). Mediation is non-binding, so when it fails or never happens, the case moves to a hearing.
A workers compensation judge decides it, and there are no juries in Louisiana comp litigation. The judge takes evidence from both sides and rules on benefit entitlement, the adequacy of the treatment being authorized, and whether penalties apply.
We represent injured workers before the OWC and try these hearings before workers compensation judges. If your check stopped or your treatment was denied, ask the adjuster this week for the denial in writing; that letter is the first exhibit.
What Are the Most Common Workers Compensation Disputes in Caddo Parish?
The most common dispute starts with an independent medical examination. The insurer hires the physician, you see that physician once, and the report comes back recommending an earlier return to work, or an earlier MMI date, than your own doctor gave. That report becomes the basis for reducing or terminating your benefits. You can ask for a second medical opinion and contest the findings, and Form 1009 appeals a disputed medical treatment decision, which has to be filed within 15 calendar days of that decision. When the insurer physician clears you for work your own doctor has not, we answer with the treating physician’s response, a functional capacity evaluation, and a motion at the OWC.
Causation is another fight. The insurer argues the injury predates this job, or happened away from work, or that the work activity did not cause the condition. Your medical records from before and after the injury date are the central evidence, along with your treating physician’s opinion. Examining physicians hired by the insurer find pre-existing conditions and non-occupational causes with some regularity.
Physician disputes run through La. R.S. 23:1121, which gives you the right to choose one treating doctor in each specialty. A doctor your employer or insurer sent you to counts as your choice only if you got written notice of that right and then signed the state’s choice-of-physician form picking that doctor. If you never signed that form, you can still choose your own doctor in that specialty. If the insurer refuses, you can ask a workers’ compensation judge for a fast hearing, and the judge must approve your doctor unless the insurer shows a good reason to refuse. Once you have used your choice, switching to another doctor in the same specialty takes the employer’s or insurer’s consent. Moving to a doctor in a different specialty needs no one’s approval. So if the doctor you are seeing is not giving you appropriate treatment, or is writing reports that read like the insurer’s brief, find out whether you ever signed that form before you assume you are stuck with that doctor.
Return-to-work pressure is next. An employer offers a modified duty position aimed at ending your TTD, and sometimes the position does not fit the restrictions your doctor wrote. Where the offered job exceeds those restrictions, your benefits can continue. Get the written restrictions from your treating physician and the written job description for the position, and read them side by side before you accept anything.
La. R.S. 23:1361 bars an employer from firing you, or refusing to hire you, because you made a workers’ comp claim. If you were fired because of your claim, you have a separate claim, apart from your comp benefits. Being fired after you filed is not enough by itself. The firing has to be because of the claim, and the law still lets an employer fire a worker whose injury leaves them unable to do the job. This law does not cover cut hours, a shift change or a demotion that stops short of firing. Write down every adverse action with its date, who delivered it, and what was said, and keep the order things happened in. A verbal warning or a write-up that only started after you filed can be evidence that you were fired because of your claim.
If an examination is on your calendar, ask this week for the letter the insurer sent that doctor, because what they asked shapes what comes back.
Third-Party Tort Claims for Shreveport Workers
La. R.S. 23:1032 is the exclusive remedy rule: where workers compensation covers the injury, comp is your only claim against your direct employer, the one who carries the coverage. You cannot sue that employer in civil court over a covered workplace injury, outside narrow exceptions.
A third party is a different matter. If someone whose fault caused your injury is not protected by comp, a civil suit against that person can run alongside the comp claim, and that one is filed at the courthouse on Texas Street. Comp protects more than your direct employer. It also protects a principal, meaning a general contractor or property owner that hired your employer to do work that is part of its own business or that it had contracted to do. It protects the officers, owners and co-workers of either one while they are doing their jobs, too. So if you work for a subcontractor, you often cannot sue the general contractor on the job. Third parties you may be able to sue include equipment manufacturers, a negligent driver who hit you on a work errand out on I-20, a contractor or property owner that is not your principal, and co-workers acting outside the scope of their employment. That claim reaches damages comp never pays: pain and suffering, the full wage loss instead of two-thirds of it, and the rest of your non-economic damages.
When a non-employer caused the injury, the report written by law enforcement carries weight. If a driver ran into your work truck on I-49 or on Mansfield Road during a delivery, the report from the Shreveport Police Department or the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office fixes the date and the location and names who responded. It is the starting point for the third-party file, and a different piece of paper from the incident report your employer fills out for an injury inside the workplace.
The borrowed servant and statutory employer doctrines matter here too. Borrowed servant applies when you were furnished to work under another company’s supervision, which can make that contractor your employer for liability purposes. Statutory employer cuts both directions: the contractor can raise it to claim immunity from your civil suit, or you can raise it to make the contractor provide the coverage your subcontractor employer did not.
If the third-party case settles or you win a judgment, your comp carrier holds a lien on that money under La. R.S. 23:1101. In a judgment, the carrier is repaid first, before your share is figured, for the comp it actually paid. It may not get all of it back. If you were partly at fault and your own recovery is cut, the carrier’s repayment is cut by the same percentage. The carrier also pays a share of your lawyer’s fees and costs, up to one-third of what it recovers. The carrier’s claim reaches future comp too. Once you receive your share, it owes you no more comp until the benefits it would have paid add up to your net recovery, minus the attorney fees and costs you paid, under La. R.S. 23:1103. A settlement you make with the third party does not bind the carrier unless it agrees, and a settlement the carrier makes does not bind you unless you agree. Negotiating that lien down is part of resolving the third-party claim, so it changes what reaches your pocket.
If a truck, a machine, or another contractor’s crew was involved, give us those company names this week, before the equipment gets repaired or sold.