Work injury

Personal Injury Lawsuits Against Employers for COVID-19 Infections

August 19, 2020 by Gregg Wisotsky, Esq. Leave a Comment

Suing Your Employer for Getting COVID-19 at Work

Even though the jobless rate in New Jersey has spiked to over 16%, there are still countless employees who have needed to show up in person to work during the COVID-19 crisis. Many of them have contracted the virus at work as their employers were lax about protecting them on the job. You may be wondering whether you can file a lawsuit against your employer instead of seeking workers’ compensation benefits.

Your Lawsuit Must Be About More Than Negligence

Like the response to many legal questions, the answer to the inquiry of whether you can sue your employer for not taking the proper COVID-19 precautions is complicated. Ultimately, it would depend on the level of blame that the employer bears for the fact that you contracted COVID-19 on the job. Nevertheless, you would need to go well beyond showing that your employer was negligent in failing to protect you.

In general, it is very difficult to file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer. This is because the workers’ compensation system gives them a certain level of protection from any lawsuit that an employee would file. If a worker is injured on the job, and getting coronavirus at work would count as an injury, their exclusive remedy is to file a workers’ compensation claim.

Try to Find Lawsuit Grounds

You cannot file a standard personal injury lawsuit on the theory that the employer was negligent in failing to protect you. While you can receive workers’ compensation benefits under those circumstances, you would likely get more in payment in a personal injury lawsuit. This is why some victims will want to find a reason to try to file a lawsuit instead of a workers’ compensation claim.

In New Jersey, there are some limited circumstances under which an employee can sue their employer. Instead of just showing negligence on the part of their employer, they would need to prove that their employer acted with gross negligence. This is a much higher standard that is not always easy for a plaintiff to meet.

The Employer Must Have Acted Deliberately

While negligence can cover omissions or carelessness, gross negligence requires that the employer acted with some sort of intention or deliberate conduct. In other words, your employer needs to know that their employees are facing risks and deliberately ignored these risks in failing to protect the employees.

This is not an impossible standard to meet when it comes to preventing COVID-19 outbreaks at work. While many employers have since cleaned up their act as more information about the pandemic has been released, there are countless stories from the earlier days when employers sent their workers on the job without any personal protective equipment. Moreover, some employers forced their employees to work close together when they knew that COVID-19 was a highly contagious disease. Some supervisors forced employees to come into work even when they were showing symptoms of being ill. Each of these may be considered as deliberate conduct if the case goes to trial.

Again, it is not easy to win a personal injury lawsuit against an employer no matter the circumstances. This is the reason why workers’ compensation exists. However, there have been cases in New Jersey where employees have been successful. For example, a New Jersey court allowed an injured employee to sue when their employer willfully ignored federal safety rules.

Of course, COVID-19 is an unprecedented situation, so it is too soon to tell how courts will treat the normal rules. A Morristown personal injury lawyer can advise you as to the possible merits of your case. You should be prepared for some uncertainty along the way as courts’ legal approaches to this issue are still unknown.

To learn more about whether your employer may be liable for your case of COVID-19 that you got on the job, contact the Morristown personal injury lawyer Gregg Wisotsky at (973) 898-0161 to schedule your free initial consultation. We have offices throughout New Jersey.

Was Your Injury Work-Related? Part Two

January 29, 2020 by Greg Sutphin Leave a Comment

Was Your Injury Work-Related?

Part Two—Work-Related Travel

As we discussed in our last blog, there are only two requirements in New Jersey to qualify for workers’ compensation—you must prove you were hurt and that the injury happened while you were on the job. In the previous blog, we discussed whether injuries sustained on breaks are covered by workers’ compensation. In this blog, we’ll look at injuries suffered while traveling for work.

Work-Related Travel

The first thing to understand is that injuries incurred on your commute to or from work generally are not covered by worker’s compensation. There are exceptions, however. If you deviate from your normal commute route to perform a work-related task—for example, stoppingat the post office to pick up company mail or buying donuts for coworkers—any injuries sustained on the detour may be covered, provided you were doing the task at the request of a supervisor. In addition, if your job requires you to be on the road—for example, as a salesman to visit customers—you may be covered for injuries suffered on the way to your first appointment of the day, provided it’s not on the path to your office.

If you are required to travel to a conference, convention, training, workshop, seminar, or business meeting where you stay overnight, you may be able to claim workers’ compensation for injuries suffered while there. For example, if you slip and fall in the lobby of the hotel where the conference is being held, you’ll likely qualify for workers’ compensation, as you have to go to the hotel to attend the conference. However, if you decide to use the hotel gym and suffer an injury lifting weights, you may not qualify for workers’ compensation, as that’s a purely optional activity and not essential to your time there.

As with any workers’ compensation claim, there are certain actions that potentially disqualify you from eligibility for benefits. If your injuries are intentionally self-inflicted, or if you engage in behavior or activity that in violation of established company rules or policies, you may be deemed ineligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

Contact Gregg A. Wisotsky, Partner at Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins, PC

I offer a free phone consultation to every prospective client. For a complimentary assessment of your case, contact my office online or call me at 973-241-7468. I will come to your home or the hospital to meet with you, if necessary. All major credit cards are accepted.

Common Cause of Construction-Related Injuries

February 13, 2018 by Greg Sutphin Leave a Comment

Construction Site Injuries

It’s common knowledge that working in residential or commercial construction is one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. Here are some of the most common causes of constructionsite injuries:

Falling objects — Whether it’s a high rise or a single-family home, there’s always a risk of injury from falling tools, equipment, building materials or refuse.
Falls from heights — These types of injuries can happen in a variety of ways. A contractor or subcontractor may fail to put proper guardrails on upper levels or may leave sections uncovered without protective barriers. Ladders or scaffolding may be incorrectly assembled or may be defective. Construction elevators or lifts may not have appropriate safety mechanisms. Workers may be pushed to perform dangerous jobs without harnesses or other requisite safety devices.
Dangerous or defective products — Construction projects involve the use of power tools, heavy equipment and other types of machinery. If these items are not properly designed, are used in ways not intended by the manufacturer or are poorly made, construction workers can be at risk of serious injury.
Negligent hiring, training or supervision of employees — Often, in the rush to complete projects, contractors hire workers without fully investigating or confirming their qualifications. As a result, they can hire people without the necessary skills to operate dangerous construction equipment. It’s not unusual, either, for a contractor to allow workers to perform their job without direct supervision and without any concern for safety measures.
Construction-site motor vehicle accidents — Construction sites are often a beehive of activity, with trucks and other vehicles moving in and out. Because there are seldom any designated roads, let alone traffic signs or signals, it’s not unusual for collisions to occur.

Contact Gregg A. Wisotsky, Esq., Partner, Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins, PC.

We offer a free phone consultation to every prospective client. For a complimentary evaluation of your case, contact our office online or call us at 973-898-0161. We will come to your home or the hospital to meet with you, if necessary. All major credit cards are accepted.

Determining if Your Injury Is Work Related – Part Two

August 1, 2017 by Greg Sutphin Leave a Comment

To qualify for workers’ compensation benefits in New Jersey, you must meet two requirements: you must prove that you suffered an injury and that the injury happened during the normal course of your employment. In an earlier blog, we addressed whether you can seek workers’ compensation benefits for injuries suffered on a break or while traveling. What your rights when you are injured at company event, or as a consequence of misconduct?

Injuries Incurred at a Company Event

If your employer sponsors an event — a ropes course, indoor mountain climbing, tennis or golf, for example — and you suffer an injury at the outing, can you file a Workers’ Compensation claim? In most instances, you’ll meet the test to recover benefits through a Workers’ Compensation claim. There are exceptions, however. For example, if you were engaging in some activity that was inherently dangerous and not endorsed or supported by the company — suppose you were staging golf cart races and your cart turned over — your employer probably wouldn’t be responsible, unless the company provided alcohol and you were inebriated at the time.

Injuries Caused by Your Negligence or Carelessness

What if you were hurt while engaging in some type of activity or conduct that is clearly in violation of workplace safety rules? In most instances, you would still have a right to pursue Workers’ Compensation claims, because Workers’ Compensation laws are customarily no-fault laws — your right to benefits isn’t based on who is at fault, only on whether you were injured, and it was in the course of your employment. There are some exceptions to this rule — you can’t recover for selfinflicted injuries, but you can often recover if your job aggravates a preexisting condition.

Contact Us

at the law offices of Gregg A. Wisotsky, Esq., Partner, Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins, PC, we offer a free phone consultation to every prospective client. For a complimentary evaluation of your case, contact our office online or call us at 973-898-0161. We will come to your home or the hospital to meet with you, if necessary. All major credit cards are accepted.

Determining if Your Injury Is Work Related – Part One

July 2, 2017 by Greg Sutphin Leave a Comment

Under New Jersey law, you must meet two requirements to successfully recover workers’ compensation benefits in New Jersey: you must demonstrate that you were injured and that the injury occurred during the performance of normal duties of the job. Often, it’s not an issue. For example, if you are hurt when a machine malfunctioned at work or you slipped and fell while doing your job, if you can show injury resulting from repetitive stress or motion at work, or an illness caused by exposure to a toxic substance that led to an illness, you should qualify for benefits. But there are times when you’re hurt at a work-related function or while on the premises of your employer where the answer may not be so clear

Injuries Suffered While on a Break

There are laws that require your employer to allow you to take periodic breaks, including meal breaks. What happens if you slip on the floor at the company cafeteria? Is it any different if you fall and hurt yourself at while at an offsite restaurant? Not surprisingly, “it depends.”

If you choose to leave your place of employment to get something to eat, any injuries you suffer on the way to, from or at the restaurant will generally not be covered under a Workers’ Compensation claim. However, if you were getting food for a company luncheon or your boss asked you to pick him up some lunch, you may successfully argue that you were on a work-related task when you were hurt.

If, on the other hand, the injury occurs at a dining facility on company property, you will probably have a valid Workers’ Compensation claim.

Injuries Suffered During Company-Related Travel

Injuries suffered on your drive to or from work are generally not covered, unless you deviated from your normal route to perform some work-related task. For example, if your supervisor asks you to pick up donuts for the office and you are hurt in a motor vehicle accident while on your way to or from the donut shop, you may have a claim.

If you are on a business trip and suffer an injury, you will probably be able to recover Workers’
Compensation, unless your employer can show that the activity you were engaged in had nothing to do with work or the trip. For example, if you are injured in a brawl at a nightclub while on a business trip, your employer will probably be able to successfully argue that you were involved in a personal activity (unless you were entertaining clients at the time).

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