just had surgery.....

I AM A DELIVERY GUY AND I WENT TO A STOP AND I FELT IT WAS DANGEROUS TO GO UP SOME STAIRS WITH THE PRODUCT. SO, I CALL INTO THE COMPANY AND THE COMPANY TOLD  ME I MUST MAKE THE DELIVERY,BUT JUST TAKE LESS UP THE STAIRS. AFTER GOING UP A FEW TIMES , I CALL FOR SOME HELP. THEY SENT ME ONE GUY. I ENDED UP FALLING ON THE STEP BACKWARD AND HURTING MY BACK AND TEARING MY LABRUM. MY BACK IS FINE NOW ,BUT I HAD SURGERY ON MY SHOULDER.. I TALK TO THE INSURANCE ADJUSTER AND HE SAID I PROABLY WILL RECIEVE AROUND 400 TO 500 A WEEK. IS THAT BEFORE TAXES? ALSO, I HAVE TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT AND JOB BENEFITS. I CAN'T SURVIVE OFF THAT INCOME. SHOULD I HIRE A LAWYER? ALSO, DOC SAID RECOVERY TIME IS 4 MONTHS.  

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Thanks, Kristin,

Community Manager

Hi.  I am a Missouri injury attorney.  Any time an injury occurs in the "course and scope" of employment, provided that your employer has more than 5 employees working there, it goes through the Workers' Compensation system.  Under Workers' Compensation, you are entitled to three types of benefits: payment of all medical bills for treatment related to your work injury, payment of a percentage of your wage rate for time missed from work, and payment of a permanent partial disability award, that will compensate you for any on-going, permanent impairment that you may have.  There are numrous deadlines and guidelines for properly reporting your injury to your employer.  You should never wait in having an attorney look into the facts of the injury, because you can be barred from receiving workers' compensation benefits if the injury is not properly reported to the employer.  More detail would be needed, such as your normal weekly wage, to make an assessment of whether $400-$500 a week is the proper amount for temporary benefits, or if you are entitled to more.  My e-mail is mth2000@yahoo.com.  Thanks.

NOTE: This response is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.  The use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship or privilege between the user and the attorney responding.

There are a couple issues here. Generally speaking the fact that your employer may have acted negligently by not initially providing you with the appropriate assistance is not an issue. In the world of MO Work Comp, issues like negligence are not taken into consideration. The main point is that you suffered an injury that arose out of the course of your employment. Since that seems to be pretty clear, you now need to concentrate on making sure that your rights are protected.

Basically you are entitled to medical care (doctor chosen by your employer) and payment of your medical bills (for the doctor chosen for you by your employer), payment for your lost time from work (2/3 of your avg. weekly wage) for every week you are off of work, subject to a maximum. This is called TTD or Temporary Total Disability. Finally, you are potentially entitled to lump sum payment for the perm disability that you have in your back and your shoulder, if any.

You note that you have been told that you would get $400 to $500 a week for being off of work. That is a tax free figure. If the calculation was done correctly, it should equal 2/3 of your gross avg. weekly wage- which should not be that far off of what you were netting out before the injury, unless of course you were earning above the maximum TTD rate which is currently $807.48.

Once you have been released from the doctor, you can then start to consider what your perm. disability is in connection with bringing the case to a close.

Remember, since it looks like your shoulder injury may be considered a significant injury, you may be entitled to additional benefits from the Second Injury Fund, for the combination of your shoulder injury and any prior disabilities if applicable.

I hope this helps.

Daniel Lefton

314-231-1166

1-800-231-5852 ext 1166

Can I sue the store and my employer or just the store?

Generally speaking, Workers' Compensation is the "exclusive remedy" for accidents/injuries that occur in the course and scope of employment.  However, in certain situations, and yours, based on the limited facts provided, could be one of them, you can also have a "third party claim" (as attorneys call them) against another party besides the employer.  So, here, you will likely have an action against your employer through Workers' Compensation, but you may potentially also have a separate "third party claim" against the store that the accident occurred at.  In order to have a separate personal injury claim, in addition to your workers' comp. claim, you would have to demonstrate some negligent act on the part of the store.  Any potentially dangerous situtation on the stairs that you fell on could be sufficient (poor lighting, broken stair, defective handrails, etc...) for a separate claim against the store.  Claims for defective or dangerous conditions have been made on many other theories besides the ones I listed above.  More detail would be needed in order to assess whether you have a viable "third party claim" against the store, which, generally speaking, can result in a higher settlement amount than a workers' compensation claim.  I am a Missouri injury and workers' compensation attorney and I have seen successful third party claims in similar situation... Every case is highly fact-specific, so further detail is needed to assess if a third-party claim is feasible here.  My e-mail is mth2000@yahoo.com.  Thanks.

An additional piece of information you should be aware of regarding your situation here is that if you file a Workers' Compensation claim, AND a separate "third-party" claim against the store, and settle the third-party claim, you generally are liable to pay back the workers' compensation insurer for any medical bills that they have covered.  However, recoverable damages in a third-party claim can be significantly higher, and it may be worth looking into a third-party suit, depending on whether there is a legitimate premises liability theory of liability.  Without knowing of the condition of the steps that you fell on, including lighting, handrails (there are statutes that regulate the exact placement of handrails), type of paint or covering on the stairs (if any), and more, I cannot assess if and how a claim could be pursued.  In any event, there are deadlines and requirements relating to notice given to the employer to ensure that later on they will not try to deny your claim.  Thanks.