Workers Compensation or Slip and Fall Settlement?

by Mario
(Colorado Springs, CO, USA)

I was working for a moving company and we were at a business storage moving a unit out. There was ice and I slipped and fell backwards with my leg the wrong way and broke my leg. My boss didn't want to come to the scene nor did he want to pay workmans comp.

He sent me to his workers compensation carrier clinic to treat me, they did x-rays and found out I broke my fibula in half and my tibia. I was referred to an orthopedic doctor and had surgery 2 days later. He put a titanium rod inside of my shin bone and 3 screws, which I think is my fibula, and they couldn't do anything for my tibia.

Now I have constant pain, numbness in my knee area possibly nerve damage and suffering every second of the day. The storage place where I fell didn't put anything on the ice to prevent my slip and fall and the witness who I was working with refused to give me his name.

The employer I was working for doesn't want to pay anything and my medical bills are stacking up.I hired an attorney and its been 3 weeks and they haven't asked me anything about the case and aren't aware of my suffering, findings, nerve damage, or rod in my leg, and they tell me that it takes time to get an answer.

I need money now to pay bills. I am gonna need physical therapy and I don't think my leg will ever be the same. Am I up against a couple of settlements or one large settlement? Do i sue workers comp or the storage unit? Thanks.

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Workers Compensation or Slip and Fall Settlement?

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You Can Sue Both
by: Law Lady

In your situation, you definitely have a workers compensation case because it was an on-the-job injury within the scope of your employment. Your employer cannot refuse to pay your bills in that system. You need to have a workers compensation claim and all bills should be submitted and paid accordingly.

Anyone who is treating you should be advised that they are treating you in connection with an injury claim. This can forestall the medical providers from billing YOU personally and submitting your account(s) to collections.

Secondly, you may have a cause of action against the storage facility for premises liability which is essentially negligence on physical property.

In order to submit a viable premises liability claim, you would need to show that the property owner failed to make periodic and reasonable inspections of the subject property and failed to warn of known dangers. Whether "ice" is considered a known danger is subject to two interpretations.

Some consider ice to be an act of God for which property owners are not responsible. Others consider it to be a hazard that will give rise to a liability claim. The only way to know is to contact the storage facility, ask for their insurance information and submit a claim.

Since laws change frequently and across jurisdictions you should get a personalized case evaluation from an attorney licensed in your state (if you haven't already). Find an experienced local attorney to give you a FREE personalized case review here.

Best of luck,

Law Guy

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Workers Compensation or Slip and Fall Settlement?

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Workers Compensation or Slip and Fall Settlement?