Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Being sued
We own a satellite tv business. Our installers are subcontractors. One of our installers died in a car accident he was not doing an install with us at the time. His wife is suing our company. He also worked with other companies but she is only suing ours. Her lswyer filed a form with workmens comp. We do not carry workmans comp. Does she have a case.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Being sued
She has already filed 'a case' that you have to vigorously defend. There are serious risks in trying to make people 'independent contractors'. This is one of those risks. You need a good attorney, right now. You must try to get the court to rule that the person was not an employee, and/or that he was not on duty for your company, as early in the case as possible. If you lose this case, it eill likely mean a substantial judgment against your company and probably the individual shareholders, officers and directors. Call me if interested in discussing the defense of this problem; I have been doing this kind of civil litigation for 30 years.