Slipped and Fell at Work: Personal Injury Or Workers Compensation?

Words you hoped never to say- "I slipped and fell at work." The nature and extent of your injuries may depend on how serious your slip and fall was. Slip and fall injuries can range from minor cuts and bruises to serious and permanent injuries such as paralysis or brain damage that prevent you from working and that render you disabled. If you have suffered any type of injury from a slip and fall at work, you may wonder what your right to recover is and how you should go about collecting damages.

Personal Injury versus Workers Compensation

Normally, slip and fall cases are covered under a special branch of personal injury law called premises liability law. Under premises liability law, a standard of care is set based on the reason you were at the premises, with those invited to a premises to do business afforded the highest amount of protection and those trespassing on a premises afforded the lowest amount of protection. Negligence must be proven for you to recover, and you are able to collect your damages only by proving that the premises owner breached his duty and that the breach led to damages.

Worker's compensation is different. Under the worker's compensation laws in place throughout the United States, a worker who is injured at work is not permitted to sue his employer in a personal injury lawsuit. Instead, that worker recovers under worker's compensation rules and gets his damages from a worker's compensation insurer. To get damages for your slip and fall, you must prove:

That it happened at work, while you were working or because of your job duties
The nature and extent of your injuries and illnesses

It is important to note what is missing from that list- negligence. Your boss or employer did not have to be negligent for you to recover your damages from a slip and fall case. Negligence is not relevant. As long as you weren't drunk or under the influence or doing something against specific company rules when your injury happened, if that injury happened because of work, then you can recover.

The worker's compensation laws determine exactly how much you get, instead of a jury determining your damages as in a slip and fall case. The workers comp payment is usually based on the nature and severity of the disability or injury that you suffered as a result of the slip and fall.

Getting Help

If you slipped and fell at work, you should speak with an experienced worker's compensation attorney. Your attorney can assist you in taking the steps necessary to make a claim with your employer's workers compensation insurer so you are able to recover damages for your accident and injuries.

Have a Work Injury Case?