Legal Question in Construction Law in Florida

Re: Scam artists

Florida is a "No-fault" Workers' Compensation state, which means that even injuries caused by en employee's negligence are covered. The "trade-off" is that the employee can't sue you civilly for your simple negligence. Hopefully you have the proper Workers' Compensation insurance coverage. If you had a policy in force at the time of the accident, report it your carrier and make sure that you comply with their policy to avoid a denial of coverage.

Just because he files a claim does not mean that he will receive benefits. If he is not injured then he will not have much of a claim. Let your carrier worry about all of the details, but you don't have to worry about him getting RICH from a WC claim in Florida.

As for terminating him due to his filing a claim, you should contact your business attorney for specific advice regarding this employment issue. However, keep in mind Florida Statutes provide pretty severe penalties to employers for retaliating against employees who file Comp claims, even claims without merit.

Re: Scam artists

For gosh sakes. Take a deep breath. The work comp laws in florida are hortrible in florida and no one can "get rich quick" on a work comp claim. Yes -- you are responsible when the employee hurts himself even though he was careless. That is what work comp is all about. You are not responsible for much, though. In exchange, you can't get sued when any employee -- even thouse that are hurt because you were negligent are badly hurt. You get off scot free (doe sthat sound fair?). The guy that hurt himself should go to a doctor to make sure that he is ok. If he is in fact not hurt, then the doctor will say so. It would be terribly punitive and unethical to fire him for going to a doctir when he was hurt on the job. It is also improper to fire someone for making a work comp claim and that will cost you a lot of money. You want to fire an adult for what his mommy is saying? Fascinating.