| Author | Subject: Florida-Injured Worker Can Sue Employer in Tort |
| Del | Posted At 18:23:55 03/23/2000
At the moment this decision has set precedent only in Florida and under these exact circumstances. The Oregon Court of Appeals has previously ruled that Oregon employers can deliberately injure their employees. Read the Larry Davis decision in section 7 here. Injured Worker Can Sue Employer in Tort An employer can be sued in tort for a worker's injury -- despite workers' comp -- if it should have known that an injury was "substantially certain" to occur, even if it didn't have actual knowledge, says the Florida Supreme Court in reversing a summary judgment. The plaintiff was injured in an accident at a chemical plant while working with a highly explosive compound using a procedure developed by the employer. Under state law, workers' comp is not a bar to an intentional tort claim if the employer "engaged in conduct which is substantially certain to result in injury or death." The company argued that it wasn't liable because it didn't actually know that the procedure was "substantially certain" to cause death or injury. But the court said that the correct test was "whether a reasonable person would understand that the employer's conduct was 'substantially certain' to result in injury or death to the employee...[T]he employer's actual intent is not controlling... "To hold otherwise would virtually encourage a practice of 'willful blindness' on the part of employers who could ignore conditions that under an objective test would be found to be dangerous, and later claim lack of subjective knowledge or intent to harm an employee." Florida Supreme Court. Turner v. PCR, Inc., No. SC94468. March 2, 2000. |
| Margaret |
Re: Florida-Injured Worker Can Sue Employer in Tort (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 12:26:27 03/27/2000 Does anyone know if this is also true for the State of Tennessee?? I would like to go after the W/C Dr. for Negligence. He totally ignored the obvious for the sake of the W/C Insurance. He gets lots of W/C business. I fell in our walk - in freezer at work. I have a condition called RSD, Nerve Damage. I was in stage 1 when I saw him, now at the end of stage 3. I had a broken piece of bone spur in the top of my foot, he put off surgery for over 4 months, just kept "scratching his head". I finally ended up at a Pain Management Dr, who is a great guy by the way! He actually saw the piece of bone sticking out of my foot. Thats the only way I ended up getting the surgery. He raised enough hell that the Dr did the surgery. I have been told & have read so many things..like I would have to pay back the W/C benifits I have recieved if I won a settlement from this Dr. I am still off work, will be rated in about a month I think. I will have long term problems from this. It is a shame that these Dr's have forgotten their oath's for the sake of $$. ANy info will be appreciated. If you know a way I can find out nay court cases showing this has helped an injured employee please let me know. Thanks, Good Health to everyone! |
| Generosa L. Gines |
Re: Florida-Injured Worker Can Sue Employer in Tort (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 11:33:21 01/26/2001 I need information of or in my case the doctor put at home because I having a cervical disk surgery my question is: Tha worker comp pay while you at home and when they start paying? |
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