Buffalo Workers’ Comp Lawyer for Teachers & School Employees

Representing teachers, teaching assistants, custodians, bus drivers, aides, and cafeteria staff across Buffalo Public Schools and Western New York districts.

You were hurt doing your job: breaking up a fight, catching a falling student, lifting a wheelchair, or slipping on a waxed hallway. Now you are caught between the district, its insurance pool, and your union, and you need a teacher workers compensation lawyer in Buffalo who understands how school claims actually work. That is what Lewis & Lewis, P.C. does.

School employees do not file the same way private-sector workers do, and the extra layers can either protect you or trip you up. We make sure they protect you. Since 1944, our firm has recovered more than $1 billion for injured workers across Western New York.

Free Case Review – No out-of-pocket fees

Schedule a Free Consultation

Do Teachers and School Staff Qualify for Workers’ Comp in New York?

Yes. Every school employee in New York, from tenured teachers to part-time aides and bus drivers, is covered by workers’ compensation for injuries that happen on the job. It does not matter whether you work for Buffalo Public Schools or a suburban district.

School work carries injury risks that outsiders underestimate. The table below shows how school employees most often get hurt on the job:

If any of these sound like your day, you have a claim worth protecting.

What Is Assault Leave, and How Is It Different From Workers’ Comp?

Assault leave is a separate school-employee benefit that can pay your full salary after a student assault, on top of workers’ compensation. Many New York district contracts provide that an employee injured in an assault stays on full pay, with the district covering the gap between the workers’ comp check and your normal salary.

Here is the catch that costs teachers money: to receive assault leave, you almost always must first apply for and be granted workers’ compensation.

• The Trap: Skipping the workers’ comp claim because you assume assault leave covers everything.
• The Fix: File the workers’ comp claim first. It is usually the key that unlocks full assault-leave pay.

Assault-leave rules come from your collective bargaining agreement (your union contract) and from New York Education Law. Schools are a recognized high-risk setting for workplace violence, as OSHA’s workplace violence resources document. Bring us your contract and we will read the assault-leave clause against your claim.

“We work closely with union members because it’s something that shaped my life. My mom was in a union, my grandparents were in unions. A union membership gives injured employees a significant leg up because it provides job protection that others don’t have.” Emily Janicz, Partner, Lewis & Lewis, P.C.

Injured in a student assault? Call (716) 854-2100 before you file anything.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Does My NYSUT Membership Mean I Have to Use the Union’s Lawyer?

No. If you belong to NYSUT (New York State United Teachers) or a local union, you have real workers’ comp rights, but you are free to choose your own attorney. A union referral to an endorsed law firm is a benefit, not a requirement.

Under New York law, attorney fees in a workers’ comp case are approved and paid by the Workers’ Compensation Board, not taken from your pocket. So choosing your own lawyer does not cost you anything extra.

What matters is that your representative treats your union contract as part of the case, not an afterthought. Assault leave, sick-bank rules, and return-to-work provisions all live in that contract, and they interact with your claim.

We read your specific agreement, not a generic one. A Buffalo Public Schools contract, a suburban district’s agreement, and a paraprofessional’s terms can each handle injury benefits differently. Missing one clause can leave money on the table that you were entitled to all along.

School District Insurance Pools Change Who You Deal With

They add a layer, but not a barrier. Many New York school districts do not use a normal insurance company. Instead they self-insure or join a shared risk pool with other districts, which means the “carrier” reviewing your claim answers to the districts themselves.

That changes who you are dealing with, and how.

• What it means: Claims decisions may run through a third-party administrator hired by the pool, not a household-name insurer.
• Why it matters: These administrators still schedule Independent Medical Examinations (doctors the pool hires to evaluate you) and still dispute claims. The tactics are familiar even when the name is not.

Whether your district self-insures or carries traditional coverage, the path to benefits runs through the same Buffalo workers’ comp process and the same hearings.

What About My Pension if I Can’t Return to the Classroom?

You may qualify for disability retirement, but it interacts with workers’ comp. Teachers belong to the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS), while many non-teaching school staff belong to the state employees’ system, and both can offer disability retirement if a work injury ends your career.

The important part: those pensions and your workers’ comp benefits offset each other, and a lump-sum settlement can quietly reshape your monthly pension for life if it is not structured correctly.

Do not accept a settlement without understanding the pension effect first. For staff whose injury permanently prevents work, state workers may also qualify for the broader NY state employee workers’ comp protections, and the two tracks need to be coordinated.

Near retirement after an injury? Call (716) 854-2100 before signing a settlement.

Schedule a Free Consultation

What Should You Do Right After a Student Assault?

Report it in writing and get checked by a doctor the same day. The strength of an assault-leave and workers’ comp claim depends heavily on documentation created right after the incident, so a written report and prompt medical care matter more than anything else you do.

Take these steps in order:

1. File a written incident report with the school, and keep your own copy.
2. Get medical attention even if the injury seems minor, and say it happened at work.
3. Tell your union representative so the assault-leave process starts on time.
4. Write down what happened, including names of any witnesses and any prior warnings about the student.

Assault injuries often involve more than the obvious bruise. Concussions and back and shoulder injuries can surface days later, so early documentation protects you.

Bus Drivers, Aides, and Cafeteria Staff Are Covered Too

Every school employee is covered by workers’ compensation, and support staff such as bus drivers, teaching assistants, custodians, and cafeteria workers have the same right to benefits as classroom teachers. The injuries differ, but the coverage does not.

Support roles carry real physical risk that districts sometimes downplay:

• Bus drivers and monitors: Injuries loading wheelchairs, securing students, and slips on steps and lots.
• Cafeteria staff: Burns, cuts, and lifting injuries in fast-paced kitchens.
• Custodians: Back and shoulder strain, falls, and chemical exposure.
• Aides and assistants: Lifting and transfer injuries, and assault-related injuries.

One difference matters: non-teaching staff usually belong to a different retirement system than teachers, which changes how a disability pension interacts with your claim. We sort that out for you.

Why School Employees Wait Too Long to Get Help

Many teachers and aides delay a claim out of loyalty, worry, or the belief that reporting an injury looks weak. That instinct is exactly what carriers and administrators count on, because a late report is the easiest kind of claim to dispute.

School culture rewards pushing through, and that works against you here.

• The loyalty trap: Not wanting to burden a short-staffed building, so you stay quiet.
• The fear trap: Worrying that a claim will affect your standing, when the law protects you from exactly that.
• The paperwork trap: Assuming the district’s forms are enough, when the workers’ comp claim is separate.

Reporting early does not make you a problem. It makes your claim solid, protects your assault-leave and pension options, and keeps the district honest.

We meet teachers where they are, quietly and without drama, and handle the parts that feel overwhelming so you can keep your focus on recovering and getting back to your students.

Ask Lewis & Lewis

A student injured me at school. Do I file workers’ comp or assault leave first?

File the workers’ compensation claim first. In most New York districts, being granted workers’ comp is what qualifies you for assault leave, and assault leave then covers the gap between your comp check and your full salary. Report the assault in writing the same day, and keep a copy of the incident report.

Can Buffalo Public Schools fire me for filing a workers’ comp claim?

No. New York Workers’ Compensation Law Section 120 prohibits any employer, including a school district, from firing, demoting, or punishing you for filing a claim or testifying at a hearing. Tenure and civil-service protections may add further rights. Document any change in your assignment after you file.

I’m a teaching assistant, not a teacher. Am I still covered?

Yes. Workers’ compensation covers all school employees regardless of title, including teaching assistants, aides, custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and monitors. Your benefit amount is based on your own earnings, but your eligibility is the same as any teacher’s.

How much does a Buffalo school-employee workers’ comp lawyer cost?

Nothing out of pocket. Attorney fees in New York workers’ compensation cases are set and approved by the Workers’ Compensation Board and paid only from awarded benefits. If we do not recover benefits, you owe no fee.

Where are Buffalo school workers’ comp hearings held?

Claims are handled through the Workers’ Compensation Board’s Buffalo District Office, and most hearings are held virtually by phone or video. We prepare you for the questions the judge will ask before your hearing date.

Can I pick my own doctor for a school work injury?

Yes, as long as the doctor is authorized by the New York Workers’ Compensation Board. Your district and its administrator cannot force you to treat with their chosen physician, though they can require a separate Independent Medical Examination.

Do you represent staff in suburban districts too, not just Buffalo?

Yes. We represent teachers and school staff throughout Western New York districts, not only Buffalo Public Schools. See the general NY work injury claims process for how work injury cases work beyond the school setting.

Talk to a School Workers’ Comp Attorney This Week

Lewis & Lewis, P.C. has offices in Buffalo, Depew, Niagara Falls, Batavia, Olean, and Jamestown, and we understand the extra layers school employees face: assault leave, union contracts, district risk pools, and pension offsets. Those layers are exactly where an unrepresented teacher loses benefits, and exactly where we make the difference.

Bring your incident report, your union contract if you have it, and your recent pay records, and we will show you how the pieces fit together.

The consultation is free and there is no obligation. Whether you were hurt last week or you are only now realizing an old injury has not healed, a short conversation will tell you what benefits you qualify for and what to do next.

Call (716) 854-2100 for a free case review, or use the form on this page and one of our attorneys will contact you within one business day.

Schedule a Free Consultation