Legal Question in Workers Comp in Florida

Son Injured At Work

This evening our 17 year old son was injured at work and needed 10 stiches on his hand.The manager of the store brought him home instead of them taking him to the hospital.We took him to the Emergency Room.When we recieved service they asked how the injury happened we explained how it happened at work.The billing department tried to contact the owner or management billing contacted the owner who told the hospital employee it was his fault so they should not have to pay and will not pay anything. My son was opening a can he was told to open.Owner was quite nasty with Hospital Staff and said they had no wormans comp.This is in the state of florida. We can not afford the bill.Hospital said we will be billed and its our responsibility to collect reimbursement.This is a food service franchise.


Asked on 1/15/07, 10:51 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Cameron Brumbelow Brumbelow Drechsel Law Group, P.A.

Re: Son Injured At Work

The fact that they don't have comp insurance doesn't mean that the employer is not responsible for providing benefits. You can still file the comp claim and the employer can be held responsible for the benefits in most cases.

Another issue is that without comp insurance, there is no tort immunity. What this means is that if you can show negligence on the part of the employer, you can sue them in circuit court instead of filing a comp case. Not only can you recover for lost wages and medical bills, but this would open the door to a recovery for pain and suffering that is not available under comp. The key would be proving the employer did something negligent that caused him to cut his hand... Feel free to email or call if you want to discuss options in detail.

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Answered on 1/15/07, 10:58 pm
Cameron Brumbelow Brumbelow Drechsel Law Group, P.A.

Re: Son Injured At Work

Stephen, I tried to send this to your email address, but the server blocked it. he should return to work if the doctor has released him to work. If they then terminate him, it may open the door to another claim. You should ask the owner to pay the bills and if he refuses, seek representation.

In the meanwhile, you should check the following site for coverage on the employer: http://www.fldfs.com/WCAPPS/Compliance_POC/wPages/query.asp

If the employer has more than four employees and no coverage use this link to report them: http://www.fldfs.com/WCAPPS/Whistle_Blow/ReferralDownload.asp

Hope this helps!

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Answered on 1/16/07, 4:53 pm


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