can my dad sue his employer for work related injury?
My dad fell 14 feet at work and broke his hip. His job made him go up on this platform that was 14 feet high and did not have a safety railing. the ceiling was also low in this area and my dad hit his head and lost his balance then fell backwards. this fall is completely his jobs fault. they violated labor laws by not providing safety railings on this platform. his job is paying him 100% wages through workmans comp and all his medical bills regarding the injury are being covered. my question is can he sue for additional damages, including pain and suffering? also, because he is out of work, they kicked him off the health insurance for the family. and now we have to pay over 2,000 bux a month to COBRA. Can we make his job liable for that COBRA fee? The lack of health insurance is really a HUGE deal for my family right now. We really need his job to keep our health insurance. ANY help would be GREATLY appreciated. thank you!
his boss was the one who told him to go up on that platform so he was just following orders. isn’t that what you’re supposed to do at a job? follow orders????
Cars and houses are not cheap and not every person is able to buy
it. However, loan was invented to help people in such situations.
Contact OSHA, they will fine your dad’s company for unsafe conditions. You father needs to get a good personaly injury/worker’s comp lawyer, ask around or just check the yellow pages.
Talk to an attorney. WC laws are state specific, but generally
provide for filing a claim to be the exclusive remedy. In the RARE
case where the employer is guilty of ‘serious and willful conduct’
there may be action in civil court. RARELY
You can definitely sue for injuries, and probably for loss of money (through paying family insurance) as a result of these injuries.
Best thing to do is speak to a lawyer and learn more through them.
‘this accident is 100% his jobs fault’. Nooo, it is also HIS fault. If he’s old enough to have a kid writing this, he’s old enough to know his OWN work practices. Yes, his company is at fault for not providing the railing. He’s also at fault for not using fall protection. They will probably face an OSHA fine, he’ll suffer some pain.
His medical and wages are being paid. Since he is taking worker’s compensation money, he isn’t able to sue for anything more
Work-related injuries are generally limited to workman’s comp and a separate suit is not possible unless the injury was caused by intentional acts by the employer. Your dad should speak to a workers’ comp lawyer, as even if a lawsuit is not possible, he could be getting more from worker’s comp.
because of workers comp you can not directly sue your employer, pain and suffering are not valid in workers comp cases, they only way to get a pay day is if your father has a permanent disability rating, by the way the accident could have been prevented if he just didn’t go up on the platform, being paid 100% is very unusual in workers comp cases it is usually 66 2/3 or your salary
They are ALREADY paying full wages AND all medical bills. Even if he could sue, that is all he would be entitled to collect.
Yes, he IS supposed to refuse an order to violate safety rules. Also, if there is a 14 foot high platform in the room, it does NOT have a low ceiling. A low ceiling is less than 14 feet.