I have been practicing Worker's Compensation law plaintiffs side for a bit more then a decade. In the last year or two employer's have been filing more and more audacious defenses. I am going to give 2 examples without identifying details.
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Young person under 21 gets hurt employer refuses report. Employer terminates for no show no call the day after the ER visit. They come to see me within a week. I file with the court and the court sends a notice within the 30 day notice requirement. They come to court and tell the judge that the employee had to give them notice the court notice wasn't good enough. Apparently they have done this multiple times and my client was just smart enough to come see me quickly other people have been screwed by this behavior.
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Second one is a severe injury multiple fractures ER visit etc. Employer is contesting based on voluntary intoxication, ok fine that's fairly normal.
Only thing is the evidence for voluntary intoxication is a blood test that shows opiates taken 24 hours after the ER admission and 22 hours after they administered a morphine drip. The employer is claiming he was high based on medical treatment he received after the accident. It's clear in the hospital record that the painkillers where given before the drug test. They are delaying this client's treatment and payments for months and it's not stupidity it's maliciousness.
When I first started employers sucked but a lot of times especially if you had been there a while they would help out and make sure you got treatment quick and try to get you back on the job fast, this would be for their benefit not the employees but it was better all around.
Always remember if your employer tells you the accident doesn't need to be written up they're lying, if they say that you don't need a lawyer they're lying and if they say they will take care of you privately they're definitely lying.