Did You Injure Your Back After A Fall At Work? You May Hard A Hard Time Getting Workers' Compensation Without Help
Posted on: 11 September 2018
Trip and fall accidents happen all of the time and can be some of the worst for your back. Some might even make it impossible for you to continue going to work. Unfortunately, having one of these accidents at work may complicate your compensation attempts. Understanding why is critical when planning a lawsuit because it helps improve your chances of winning what can be a difficult case.
Trip And Fall Cases Can Be Complex
While tripping and falling is definitely a type of personal injury that could take you out of work, there is a chance that your employer may not have to pay. For example, if you trip over your chair when trying to stand up and get injured, your employer owes you nothing.
That's because your actions, and not those of your employer, caused your injury. However, there is also a chance that your employer will have to pay upwards of $100,000 or more if you can prove that they were negligent in some way and contributed to your fall. This fact is particularly true if your back suffered from a permanent injury that may take you out of work for good.
Proving This Type Of Case
While it can be hard to win in this kind of case, it isn't impossible. There are several ways that you can argue that your employer owes you workers' compensation after a trip and fall accident injures your back. Just a few ways that you can do that include:
Proving Liability – Show that your employer knew about the problem that caused you to trip and did nothing to rectify it. For example, there was an abutting surface at foot level that was brought to their attention and which you tripped over because they failed to fix it.
Show Unusual Circumstances – The situation that caused you to trip has to be something that would have been unusual in any other job situation. The abutting foot-level surface mentioned above would count because other work areas would likely lack that issue.
Injury – Though it may seem obvious, you need to prove that the trip and fall at work caused you to suffer the injury that you are attempting to get compensated. The injury you suffered cannot have been influenced by outside situations. For example, if you had a slipped disc before you tripped and suffered further back injury, liability may be on you and not your employer, even if they were negligent.
So, if you suffered a trip and fall accident at work and your employer is trying to deny your workers' compensation claim e, it is important to learn more about your rights. Talk to a workers' compensation attorney to get the help that you need.
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