Legal Question in Personal Injury in Nevada

accident at work

my mom just got off work and she was on her way up from the basement riding the escalator. in front was a lady that was drunk, she was on the escalator barefooted, she was carrying her shoes, she was holding on to the rail of escalator but something happen.. and she fail backward and landed on my mom in the escalator, my mom was injured and she had an operation on her knee...the casino that my mom works for denied the claim for insurance....my question is can we sue the casino for the accident? and is there a time limit as to when you sue.


Asked on 4/15/09, 9:22 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jonathan Reed Reed & Mansfield

Re: accident at work

I can think of two possible sources of recovery I am willing to discuss in a open forum. There is a good claim against the drunk woman. Hopefully there was an incident report by casino security and you know who the woman is. If she is a homeowner, her homeowner's insurance may cover her liability. That's a big if. If she is not a homeowner it becomes much less attractive to sue her.

Another possible source or recovery is a workman's compensation claim that your mom might be able to file against the casino. You said the casino denied liability. Did they deny liability on the basis that they aren't liable if a drunk falls on your mother or did they deny liability because they considered and denied a workman's comp claim; if so, what was there reasoning?

The question also arises about whether you can sue the casino for "letting" a drunk woman fall on your mother. This is not an issue I want to discuss in open forum.

You are right to worry about the statute of limitations. Against the drunk, or against the casino under a theory that they are liable for the drunk woman, the statute of limitations--assuming the incident was in Nevada--is two years meaning suit must be filed within two years of the date of the incident. After suit is filed there are various other deadlines as well. The statute of limitations for a workman's comp claim is a bit more complicated.

Feel free to call me (prefer to talk rather than e-mail) if you want to follow-up.

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Answered on 4/15/09, 11:54 am


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