Slip and fall and fall accidents in Arizona are complex, and understanding the law surrounding these workplace accidents is imperative. If you slip and fall at work, you want to know if you’re entitled to damages, if your case is worth a lawsuit, or if you should get up and move on. In a minor accident where there is an absence of injury, you’ll have no reason to sue your employer for your fall. If you fall at work and you’re injured badly enough to miss work, to need medical attention, and to incur hefty medical bills, you’ll want to know more about filing a lawsuit to sue your employer for damages. That’s why calling a personal injury attorney is imperative. We know the law, we can help you understand your rights and legalities, and we can help you proceed if suing is the next course of action in your case.
Negligence
If your employer was negligent and that’s what caused your injury, you might be able to sue. This means the employer was knowingly neglectful in their actions, which directly resulted in your fall and subsequent injury. A good example would be an employer who is well-aware the lights in the stairwell no longer work and vision is nearly impossible in the stairs. If you slip and fall on the stairs as a result of the darkness, it’s their fault that you fell. They had the duty of care to fix this light and provide all people who use this stairwell with the kind of care they require to remain safe.
On the other side, if the light goes out while you’re walking down the stairs at work, it’s not your employer’s fault. Light bulbs go out all the time. It’s your employers job to replace it as soon as they know it’s gone out, but they can’t predict when this will happen. At this point, it’s nothing more than an unfortunate accident.
There’s one more consideration in this aspect, too. If your employer was negligent, you must be able to prove that your employer was negligent with the specific intent to harm you. This makes things a bit more difficult, since most people make mistakes daily that aren’t intended to harm anyone in the process. It’s not always easy to go through with a situation like this, which is why having the law on your side is a good way to handle it.
Lack of Notice
If you are at work and you slip and fall on a wet floor after it’s been cleaned, you’ll need to see if there is a sign notifying you of the wet floor and potential for danger. If there is a notice posted, your employer is in the clear and you cannot sue. If there is no notice, you might have a case. Your employer is required to post notice about anything dangerous or potentially hazardous when it might harm an employee.
Notices should always be posted when something is dangerous at work, but sometimes it’s not possible. If there is a leak no one knows about, it takes someone finding the leak, the wet floor, and the danger and alerting the company about it so they can post a notice and have it fixed. Someone has to find it, and that person can’t just sue because the company didn’t know it was a problem in the first place.
Workman’s Comp Rights
If you are injured on the job and you sign paperwork to receive worker’s compensation, you’re not going to be able to sue your employer once you do. You signed this paperwork to receive money to replace your lost income while you’re out of work, and it means you cannot sue. But if you don’t sign it, you leave yourself open to the possibility of suing if you see the need.
If you do sign a worker’s comp form and it’s denied, you also have a right to sue your employer. Arizona law states you may also reject worker’s comp benefits if you choose to sue instead. This means you must stand in front of a jury to tell them you no longer want to go through with the worker’s comp claim filed for you, and you’d rather sue the company for damages. It’s a requirement you do this in front of a judge and jury in Phoenix.
Suing your employer in Phoenix after you fall at work and sustain a serious injury is not a simple case. It’s complex, it’s time-consuming, and it’s confusing to those who are unfamiliar with the law. If you need to know if you have a case, call our offices now. Our experienced attorneys take the time to discuss your case with you to help you understand if you have one, what you can get in terms of damages, and how you can proceed. We make sure our initial consultation is free of charge every time.