What? Sue my employer? (Deliberate Intent)
There are occasions where filing a claim against or suing your employer is appropriate.
If you are the victim of a form of discrimination recognized in law, or your employer breached your employment contract, a suit may be appropriate.
A “deliberate intent” claim involves certain workplace injuries. Isn’t that what Workers Compensation is for; workers’ claims? Yes, but today’s workers compensation is much different than it used to be. I will leave the workers compensation article to someone else.
“A deliberate intent claim” allows a claim or suit to be filed against the employer, over and above workers comp. Of course, if you recover, you must deal with workers comp.’s “subrogation claim” for the value of medical bills it pays. That can be negotiated as part of a fair compromise settlement.
In a case where the employer knowingly failed to provide a safe workplace, where injury was foreseeable and inevitable, a claim exists. For a serious injury, the recovery can be substantial.
Attorneys take deliberate intent workplace injuries on a contingent fee basis (a percentage of the recovery). We off course, are interested in handling deliberate intent cases or associating with a firm that has this type of case as a “primary area of focus”. We know the firms with the best reputations and won’t hesitate to help you find one.
Call if you have been injured seriously in a workplace injury.
This post was written by Burton Hunter
1 Comment
Two points of explanation.
1.Workers Comp. benefits have been drastically reduced by changes in WV law.
2. Some of these claims require the advancement of tens and hundreds of thousands of law, for experts such as economists, engineers, doctors, life care planners and structured settlement experts. By being a Board Member of the WV Assoc. for Justice, formerly Trial Lawyers, I have learned who has the expertise and funding. So, often, I remain local counsel, and my staff local support for our client, while associating with “the best in the business”. The contingenct fee percentage remains the same for the client, who benefit by being represented by two firms, AND we can help put together the facts of the case to make it more likely that firm will be willing to associate. JBH