Negligence After Workman's Comp Case Was Closed...

by Lisa
(Greenville, SC)

About a year ago, I had an accident on one of the machines at my former job. I lost most of my left pinky finger on my left hand.

Long story short...Me and a co-worker were running a machine called an addresser. We print addresses on post cards and things like that. I was at the catching end at the conveyor belt. I went to reach for the mail and my pinky stopped the machine. We pulled it out and well, the rest is imaginable.

The reason why my pinky was able to reach the gears it got caught on was because earlier at some point (not sure when), my previous supervisor took off the safety plate because it was bent and rubbing the rollers. In my mind that is negligence.

If the plate or guard was on then there was no way my finger could fit where the gears were. I had a workman's comp case and we settled about two weeks ago. My lawyer at the time knew I wanted to pursue this, but I was trying to do one thing at a time. They understood.

Now, they couldn't help me with the negligence case so they suggested someone else. I have spoken to three different lawyers here in Greenville, SC and no one will touch this case. They said since I signed off on workman's comp I released everyone of any further action towards my injury.

I don't understand since my lawyer read the material and knew my intentions. I am not able to pursue this? Could you help me understand if I have a case of negligence or not against my former employer?