Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

An on-the-job accident that leads to an injury typically falls under the purview of Workers’ Compensation. However, you may need more for your injury than you can obtain from a workers’ compensation claim. You can file a personal injury claim as well, but only under specific circumstances. Here is how workers’ compensation can work with a personal injury claim for the same incident.

Workers’ Compensation and Personal Injury Are Not the Same

Accidents at work can happen at any time for any reason. Workers’ compensation exists to help workers while protecting employers from lawsuits. Even if the accident at the workplace occurred because of negligence, workers’ compensation will still represent how you obtain the funds you need for medical care and loss of work.

By contrast, a personal injury case involves an accident stemming from negligence that leads to an injury. When the fault isn’t completely your own, you can press a lawsuit against any person or group involved in the chain of negligence leading to your injury.

Workers’ Compensation Does Not Allow Damages for Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering includes the physical and mental distress caused by an injury. For example, a broken bone comes with actual dollar amounts attached. You pay to have the bone treated and healed. You can calculate how much money you lose from lost wages and potential wages.

By contrast, it’s hard to put a dollar amount to how much the injury affected your life in other ways. Did your injury cause you depression? Does your injury cause you pain affecting everything you do? Did the injury cause you to miss plans you made with your children or significant other?

These things fall under pain and suffering. Workers’ compensation only pays out for damages that come with a dollar amount. If you feel you need compensation for pain and suffering, then your only option is to press a personal injury claim. Unfortunately, you cannot press such a claim directly against your employer.

Workers’ Compensation Does Allow You to Pursue Further Compensation

A single incident can allow you to collect your workers compensation while also pursuing a personal injury claim. The most common way this works is through a third-party claim. If a third party holds any responsibility for your workplace accident, you can press a claim against that entity.

For example, if you fall from scaffolding on the job and suffer an injury, you can and should go through the workers’ compensation process. If the scaffolding failed because a third party didn’t erect it properly, you can pursue damages from the scaffolding company.

Third-party lawsuits require the third party to have a duty of care and verifiable negligence showing they violated that duty of care. You will have to prove negligence and negotiate with the third-party’s insurance company.

Workers’ Compensation Can Affect a Third-Party Lawsuit

A workers’ compensation claim changes how a third-party lawsuit works. The insurance company that administers the workers’ compensation can place a lien on damages awarded to you for a third-party lawsuit. Sometimes, the insurance carrier also files a lawsuit against the third party to recover funds used to pay for your workers’ compensation benefits.

Depending on how the process plays out, you may have to return some of what you’re awarded to the workers’ compensation insurer. How this works depends entirely on your specific case.

Speak about the possibility of a third-party lawsuit with an attorney who knows both personal injury and workers’ compensation law in your area. At Spooner & Perkins, P.C., we have decades of experience dealing with both types of claims. If you have questions about a workers’ compensation claim, personal injury claim, or both, contact us immediately.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Vehicle safety devices lessened the number of fatalities from car crashes during 2017, but the overall number of accidents and resulting injuries continue to rise across the country. This reality gives reason to reflect on additional measures you can take to lessen the likelihood of a car crash.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 33% of car accidents in 2015 were rear-end crashes. Often the nature of being struck from behind leaves little room for avoidance, but you can still practice better driving habits to lessen the likelihood you will be hit. Take a look at these ways you can avoid being rear-ended in traffic.

Practice Better Brake Techniques

One of the hallmarks of experienced drivers is good brake skills. When you were a new driver, you probably hit the brakes with less finesse, which resulted in choppy or sudden stops. Over time, you learned to execute a smoother stop. However, you may still have room for improvement when it comes to how your braking affects the driver behind you.

Anticipate Your Stopping Distance

As you approach a stop sign or traffic light, look farther down the road ahead of you so you can begin the deceleration with enough time to implement a smooth stop.

When you fail to anticipate your stopping distance and must resort to slamming on your brakes, the driver behind you is suddenly part of the chain reaction you create. When other drivers are unable to react in time, the result is usually a rear-end accident. Instead, an anticipated stop is gentler and slower, which allows the driver behind you to do the same.

Leave Yourself an Out

Remember when your driver training instructed you to leave yourself an out, or a way to safely escape traffic, while you’re on the road? The same principle applies to when you prepare for a stop as well as maneuvering a crowded freeway.

Anytime your car slows to a stop in traffic, mentally prepare an escape route if the vehicle behind you fails to notice your speed change or stop. When you can quickly change lanes or enter the shoulder safely, you might avoid being rear-ended by another car.

Don’t Crowd Cars

As you slow down and prepare to leave yourself an out, don’t crowd the car in front of you. When you stop right behind someone’s rear bumper, you leave little or no room for escape if the need arises. Instead, leave a car length of space between your bumper and the car in front of you.

The same concept applies to when traffic is flowing. Resist the urge to follow too closely the car in front. Your braking time lessens the closer you are to another vehicle. Try to leave at least 3 seconds of space between you and the car in front of you, which gives you more room to stop suddenly if the need arises.

Check Your Brake Lights

You may be surprised to learn the cause of your rear-end accident was because the other driver could not see your brake lights. Drivers behind you are unable to know you are preparing to stop if a brake lightbulb needs to be replaced. A burned-out brake light is especially dangerous at night when you rely on those distinct red lights to alert others.

You may still experience a rear-end accident despite improving your braking skills and checking your brake lights. The experts at Spooner & Perkins, P.C., want you to receive the right compensation for your injuries from this type of collision. Contact us for help after your car accident if you suffer from back pain, neck pain, or other signs of whiplash.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A manufacturing defect arises when a manufacturer makes a mistake while constructing or putting together a product. You can file a product liability claim against a manufacturer if a manufacturing defect in their product causes you injury. Here are some forms of manufacturing defects for further clarity.

The Manufacturer Used the Wrong Parts or Materials

When a product is properly designed, the design specifications indicate the parts and materials that the manufacturer should use. However, someone may make a mistake and use a wrong part or material during the manufacturing process. A serious mistake may make the product dangerous to its eventual consumers.

For example, a car’s airbag is typically manufactured from woven nylon fabric since the material is strong enough to provide protection in case of a collision. Therefore, if a manufacturer makes a mistake and uses a mixture of nylon and cotton, the airbag may fail when it is needed most and fail to provide the needed protection.

The Manufacturer Assembled the Product Incorrectly

A manufacturing defect may also arise if a manufacturer uses the correct materials but makes an error when putting them together. An incorrect assembly can come in different forms; for example:

• A manufacturer can wire an electrical circuit backward.
• A manufacturer can fail to tighten nuts and bolts as tightly as they should be fastened.
• A manufacturer may leave out a crucial part, for example, by using five ball bearings where six are needed.

Consider an example of a power tool whose internal wiring has a short circuit due to a manufacturing error. Such a power tool can give you a nasty electrical shock when you plug it in and try to use it.

The Manufacturer Labeled the Product Incorrectly

Apart from the use of wrong products and incorrect assembly, poor labeling is another classic example of a manufacturing defect. In the case of wrong labeling, the manufacturer has done everything else correctly but then forgot to include a label, used the wrong labels or mixed up the labels. Incorrect labeling can particularly be dangerous if it applies to safety instructions or parts.

Again, consider an example of a power tool whose “On” and “Off” parts have been mislabeled or swapped. Such a power tool can cause you serious injury when you pick it up because you think it is “Off” when, in the real sense, the power tool is “On.”

The Manufacturer Contaminated the Product

Another example of a manufacturing defect is when a foreign material inadvertently finds its way into a finished product. Product contamination can be dangerous in any type of product, but it can be particularly dangerous in products that are meant for consumption such as medicine and food. It can even be worse if the contaminant is poisonous to human beings.

Salmonella contamination in food, which usually grabs the news headlines, is a classic example of product contamination. Although salmonella infection is usually not life-threatening for most people, it can be dangerous for people with compromised immune systems.

The Manufacturer Included a Damaged Part in the Finished Product

Lastly, a manufacturing defect may also arise if a manufacturer uses all the right materials and procedures but one of the parts is defective or damaged.

Such a scenario may arise, for example, if the manufacturer’s part supplier delivers damaged products and the manufacturer fails to weed out the defect. For example, a motorized wheelchair shipped with a defective, and therefore weak, leg rest kit can trigger an accident for the user.

If a defectively manufactured product has caused you injury, then the manufacturer ought to compensate your losses. At Spooner & Perkins P.C. Attorneys at Law, we can help you prove your injuries and the manufacturer’s liability so that you get the compensation you deserve. Give us a call today so that we can evaluate your case.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »