Posted on February 12th, 2018
Injury claims by your employees can ruin your reputation and company. Here are six possible signs that you need to find a workplace injury lawyer to work with.
Businesses buy workers’ compensation insurance to protect themselves from the heavy burden of the costs of employee injuries. In fact its mandatory by law in California to have workers comp insurance for your employees.
But workers’ compensation doesn’t always go far enough to placate injured employees. While it’s supposed to protect us employers by paying out damages, in some cases, the employee can still sue you for more money.
Injured employees can sue for damages that resulted from pain and suffering extended beyond the injury. This usually happens when there were knock-on effects, such as not being able to enjoy a favorite hobby.
As if these lawsuits aren’t tricky enough, California employment law heavily favors employees over the employer, stacking the deck against your business.
A workplace injury lawyer helps employers navigate the ins and outs of these lawsuits. This way, they can protect their business while still being fair to injured employees.
Not sure whether it’s time to lawyer up? Here are six signs an employee could sue you for a workplace injury:
1. Someone Intentionally Created Negligence Resulting in an Injury
Many workers’ compensation accusations are based on the claim that the employer was negligent. Whether you realized it before the accident or not, something in your organization could have caused your employees to be injured.
Even if it was the organization’s fault, the employee’s claim generally could not extend beyond workers’ compensation benefits.
However, there is an important, if uncommon, caveat to this rule.
If the organization or someone from within intentionally set out to create the conditions and purposefully harm the employee, they can bring further suit directly to the company.
The employee would need to be able to prove this happened. If there is enough evidence to bring it to court, then you’ll need a workplace injury lawyer.
2. It Was an Outside Contractor’s Fault
In a case where the fault of the injury lies less with the employer and more with an outside contractor, then an employee may be able to sue the outside contractor.
One potential example may be if the employee was injured by a defective machine knowingly sold by the equipment manufacturer. Additionally, if one of the chemicals used in-house caused an injury, then the employee could bring a suit to the manufacturing firm.
These lawsuits alone don’t affect your company as they are targeted at an outside contractor. Whatever liability you had was minimized by workers’ compensation.
However, the outside contractor’s legal team will not be interested in assuming responsibility. Instead, they will try to establish whether the blame lies with the contractor – or if it lies with you.
Whether the investigation stops at the door or goes to trial, a workplace injury lawyer can help you with a second lawsuit.
3. The Lawsuit Was Late
The trajectory of a workplace injury lawsuit often begins the same way.
An employee is injured, and everyone knows the injury wasn’t minor. Yet, neither the employee nor the employer was fully aware of the extent of the damage at the time. They also have no idea how it would affect their lives.
A current or former employee may end up suing for an injury that happened last year or even 10 years ago.
Your state will have a statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits.
In the state of California, an employee has two years from the date they were injured to file a lawsuit.
If the suit falls within the statue of limitations, the employee is still allowed to sue. But late lawsuits present complications that require a legal strategy.
For example, waiting until the end of the legal time frame may indicate that the injury wasn’t as serious as the plaintiff claims.
If there’s a way to prove this, it’s possible to have the case dismissed because the lawsuit is frivolous.
4. You Don’t Have Worker’s Compensation Insurance
The law requires California employers to provide workers’ compensation insurance benefits whenever a business has at least one employee.
These benefits are expensive. For small businesses who consider their workplaces to be safe, it may seem like an unnecessary expense.
Unfortunately, if an employee endures an injury entitling them to workers’ compensation and you don’t have it, you’re vulnerable to lawsuits.
If caught without workers’ compensation, you will:
- Be fined no less than $10,000 by the state
- Be responsible for the costs of workplace injuries in full
- Be responsible for litigation expenses in the event of a lawsuit
- And even potentially spend up to one year in a county jail!
In case an employee is injured and you don’t have insurance, consider hiring a workplace injury lawyer.
5. The Plaintiff’s Assertions Are Overstated
If your insurance has paid out the claim and you’re still sued by the employee, it will often be for pain-and-suffering damages.
These lawsuits are challenging for plaintiffs. They must prove that their pain and suffering extends beyond the insurance payout.
Pain and suffering claims must be backed up by medical diagnoses and claims from impartial medical professionals. But in some cases, the claims are overstated and don’t add up.
If a case features overstated complaints, it’s possible for a workplace injury lawyer to reduce the damages paid out. He might even get the case dismissed.
6. The Employee Caused Their Own Injury
If an employee gets hurt at work, then it is often the result of some negligence on the behalf of the employer. Workers’ compensation insurance takes care of this negligence.
But in some cases, the employee was equally at fault for the injury. In this case, we’re talking about comparative negligence.
If comparative negligence occurred, damages could be limited or even denied entirely.
A Workplace Injury Lawyer Protects Your Business
No one wants to see their employees hurt or suffering, but when it comes to personal injury lawsuits, the legal deck remains stacked against employers.
If you’re facing a workers’ compensation claim that may turn into a lawsuit, get legal help to protect your business.
Have questions about a case or personal injury claims in general?
Book a free 15-minute consultation today.
