New Orleans
Hearing loss rarely happens all at once.
It builds quietly over years on a plant floor, a refinery, or a job site, until the damage is permanent and the connection to your workplace feels impossible to prove.
The Voorhies Law Firm represents Louisiana workers whose hearing was damaged by unsafe noise exposure on the job.
Occupational hearing loss is gradual, noise-induced damage to hearing caused by prolonged exposure to unsafe sound levels at work.
Common among workers in:
Because hearing loss develops gradually, it’s often misunderstood as an inevitable part of aging or a certain line of work, rather than what it often actually is: a preventable injury caused by an employer’s failure to provide adequate protection.
Occupational hearing loss claims in Louisiana usually run through the workers’ compensation system, though there are important exceptions worth understanding.
Louisiana’s workers’ compensation system is normally your exclusive remedy against your employer, but there’s a narrow exception for intentional acts under La. R.S. 23:1032, which states that if your employer knew hearing damage was substantially certain to occur and disregarded it anyway, rather than simply being negligent about it, a separate civil claim may be available.
A claim against a third party, such as an equipment manufacturer whose product failed to provide adequate protection, can also proceed outside the workers’ comp system entirely.
Because hearing loss is typically classified as an occupational disease rather than a single traumatic injury, most claims proceed through Louisiana’s workers’ compensation system rather than a standard personal injury lawsuit.
Workers’ compensation doesn’t require proving your employer was negligent, but it also caps what you can recover compared to a full injury claim.
Because hearing loss develops over years, pinpointing exactly when it became a compensable injury is inherently difficult, and Louisiana law generally accounts for this by looking at when the condition was, or reasonably should have been, diagnosed rather than simply the date you started a noisy job.
STEP 1
Free consultation.
Tell us about your work history and hearing loss. We’ll give you a straightforward, no-cost assessment.
STEP 2
Claim classification.
We determine whether your claim proceeds through workers’ compensation, a third-party claim, or, in limited cases, a direct claim against your employer.
STEP 3
Audiological and medical documentation.
We work to establish a clear medical record connecting your hearing loss to workplace noise exposure.
STEP 4
Work history investigation.
We document your exposure history across employers and job sites where relevant.
STEP 5
Damage calculation.
We account for medical costs, any wage impact, and the effect on your daily life.
STEP 6
Filing your claim.
We pursue your claim through the correct forum, workers’ compensation or civil court.
STEP 7
Resolution.
Your claim resolves, whether through a workers’ comp settlement, a negotiated agreement, or litigation.
Behind every occupational hearing loss case is someone who spent years on the job while their hearing quietly deteriorated, often without ever being told it didn’t have to happen that way.
We build the case to prove it didn’t.
The Voorhies Law Firm’s client recoveries across all our practice areas now exceed $100 million.
Results may vary, and hearing loss cases depend heavily on your specific exposure history and which legal path applies.
Hearing loss claims require connecting years of exposure history to a diagnosis, and figuring out early whether workers’ comp, a third-party claim, or both apply.
Richard P. Voorhies III and the team at The Voorhies Law Firm know how to build that record.
We’re recognized by Super Lawyers and other legal organizations, but what matters here is direct access to your attorney and no cost to you unless we recover for you.
We handle these cases on contingency.
Often, yes, if it developed from workplace noise exposure. Occupational hearing loss is a recognized, compensable condition in Louisiana, though it typically proceeds through the workers’ compensation system rather than a standard lawsuit.
Possibly. Louisiana law generally accounts for the gradual nature of noise-induced hearing loss rather than requiring the claim to arise from your current job specifically, though the timeline matters and is worth reviewing with an attorney.
That’s worth discussing directly with an attorney. Louisiana’s workers’ comp exclusivity has a narrow exception for intentional acts, if your employer knew harm was substantially certain and disregarded it, which is a higher bar than ordinary negligence but can open the door to a separate civil claim.
An audiological evaluation is typically an important part of documenting an occupational hearing loss claim, and we can help connect you with the right medical evaluation as part of building your case.
Nothing upfront. Your consultation is free, and we handle qualifying cases on a contingency fee basis.
