Legal Question in Personal Injury in Iowa
I am a fulltime, self-employed, silver- smith living in Iowa. I travel the country selling my line of jewelry findings as well as jeweler�s trade tools and equipment. This past weekend, March 10-12, I was scheduled to exhibit at an out of state trade show. However, I was unable to participate in the show. While moving my products into the facility, I was injured by a flat-bed moving cart. While pulling the empty cart, which was made available for this purpose by the venue, down a ramp to the unloading area, I incurred a severe horizontal laceration to the posterior Achilles tendon area of my left foot requiring 7 stitches at a nearby emergency room. My right foot was also struck causing painful swelling, and stiffness. I was unable to participate in the show, which not only cost me the income, but it made my expenses unrecoverable and I will now have medical bills that 1. I absolutely cannot afford,even with insurance and, 2. I feel should be the responsibility of the School District who owns, and operates the facility where this happened. It has now been five days since the injury and I have limited movement, constant tingling numbness, stiffness and pain. I am scheduled to exhibit at a show next weekend and am having a difficult time preparing for the show because of my feet. I was instructed to visit a clinic in 10 days to have the stitches removed. Am I wrong to ask them to pay the medical expenses, and is it out of line to ask to be compensated for my other monetary losses? Thanks in advance for your time.
2 Answers from Attorneys
I disagree with Robert's advice. You haven't described enough detail about how the accident occurred in order to know if the facility has done anything negligent. You said, "While pulling the empty cart, which was made available for this purpose by the venue, down a ramp to the unloading area, I incurred a ..." But you didn't say how the cart came into contact with your ankle. Was someone else moving a cart that struck you? Or were you injured by the cart that you were handling? Was there something defective about the cart? We need more details before advising if the facility was at fault. It's irresponsible to just say sue them without knowing more about the facts and if there is negligence. But realistically you may not have sue or show culpable conduct on the part of the facility ownership or management if you file a claim under the medical pay provision of the building insurance policy. There may be insurance that covers medical bills when people are injured on the property. So I would encourage you to contact the building management and ask if there is coverage for your medical bills. Hopefully this will end the matter without you being involved in a lengthy litigation process.
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