They said I didn't prove my injury was work-related and I'm gutted
Quote from rileymeredith on March 26, 2026, 10:09 amI really thought I had all my ducks in a row on this one, which is why getting that denial letter felt like a punch to the gut. I work at a greenhouse and nursery over near Greenville, mostly doing watering, lifting pots, loading up customers' cars—physical work that I've done for years without any issues. Last summer I was helping unload a shipment of large ceramic planters when one of them slipped out of my hands and I twisted weird to catch it, felt something tear in my shoulder. I went to urgent care that same day, told them exactly what happened, filed my claim within the week, and kept copies of everything. Fast forward to now and the insurance company's decision came back saying there wasn't enough evidence that my rotator cuff tear actually happened at work, even though I had the urgent care report and a statement from my supervisor confirming the accident. I'm honestly at a loss for how they can just ignore paperwork like that. My sister went through something similar when she hurt her back at a nursing home a few years back and she said the first denial is almost like a test to see if you'll just give up and go away. She told me not to even think about trying to appeal this myself because the hearing process is completely different from just filing a claim and I'd be walking into a room full of lawyers who do this every day. She suggested I find a workers comp appeal attorney Greenville NY who can look at my case and tell me if it's worth fighting. I guess I'm trying to figure out if denials like this actually get overturned or if I'm just throwing good money after bad on something that's already decided. Has anyone here won an appeal after getting denied on something like this? I'm trying to stay hopeful but honestly it's hard not to feel like the system is stacked against you when you do everything right and still end up here.
I really thought I had all my ducks in a row on this one, which is why getting that denial letter felt like a punch to the gut. I work at a greenhouse and nursery over near Greenville, mostly doing watering, lifting pots, loading up customers' cars—physical work that I've done for years without any issues. Last summer I was helping unload a shipment of large ceramic planters when one of them slipped out of my hands and I twisted weird to catch it, felt something tear in my shoulder. I went to urgent care that same day, told them exactly what happened, filed my claim within the week, and kept copies of everything. Fast forward to now and the insurance company's decision came back saying there wasn't enough evidence that my rotator cuff tear actually happened at work, even though I had the urgent care report and a statement from my supervisor confirming the accident. I'm honestly at a loss for how they can just ignore paperwork like that. My sister went through something similar when she hurt her back at a nursing home a few years back and she said the first denial is almost like a test to see if you'll just give up and go away. She told me not to even think about trying to appeal this myself because the hearing process is completely different from just filing a claim and I'd be walking into a room full of lawyers who do this every day. She suggested I find a workers comp appeal attorney Greenville NY who can look at my case and tell me if it's worth fighting. I guess I'm trying to figure out if denials like this actually get overturned or if I'm just throwing good money after bad on something that's already decided. Has anyone here won an appeal after getting denied on something like this? I'm trying to stay hopeful but honestly it's hard not to feel like the system is stacked against you when you do everything right and still end up here.
