Thon Beck Vanni Callahan & Powell

A workplace often creates dangerous situations for employees who can be injured while on the job. Many employees understand that if they are injured at work, they may bring a ‘worker’s compensation claim’ that will enable the employee to obtain proper medical care and reimbursement for lost wages without filing a lawsuit. However, the employee may also bring a lawsuit against a third party who caused or contributed to the employee’s injuries.

For instance, if an employee is driving a car in the course and scope of his employment and gets into an accident, the employee can initiate a worker’s compensation claim and also sue the driver of the other vehicle that hit him.

Another example would be if an employee who is injured by a defective product at work. Then, the employee could bring a worker’s compensation claim and sue the manufacturer of the defective product. The benefits of bringing a third-party lawsuit while still pursuing a worker’s compensation claim is that in a third-party lawsuit, the injured victim would be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, which is not included in a worker’s compensation claim. (more…)

A ‘slip and fall’ or a ‘trip and fall’ accident is self explanatory–they occur when a person slips or trips and falls and suffers an injury on someone else’s property. The condition which causes the accident can be varied, ranging from liquid on the floor of a supermarket, merchandise left in the aisle of a department store, an uneven flooring surface or raised sidewalk slab, or even a stairway without a necessary handrail. Not surprisingly, the general belief of anyone who is injured when there has been a slipping or tripping accident is that the property owner is automatically responsible for the injuries that result. This is not always the case. These cases are generally referred to in the legal community as “premises liability” claims and over the years the law has developed in such a way so as to present substantial challenges to the injured plaintiff to impose responsibility (or legal “liability”) on the property owner for any damages or harms that result from the accident.

These premises liability cases generally involve accidents which occur on private property, commercial/business properties, or property owned and controlled by governmental entities. The challenges and procedures with respect to claims against governmental entities for dangerous conditions existing on public property are governed by different rules and procedures than claims against a private or commercial/business property owner. (more…)