Injured On The Job In Florida, What Are My Rights?
This is one of the most extensively litigated in the workers compensation law for a reason. When a worker qualifies for this benefit, the value of the claim increases and spending the insurance company to reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If you believe you may be entitled to such benefits, you should immediately consult with an attorney who specializes in workers’ compensation field to determine how to proceed with the claim.
5). Death Benefits. If death is the result of the accident within one year after the accident or permanent disability and is continuous within five years after the accident, then the employer or insurance company must pay death benefits to relatives of which workers relied for their livelihood. These benefits are limited to a total of $ 150,000.00. Florida Statute 440.16 provides the manner and form of payment which takes into account various factors, such as if the deceased spouse is survived by his children or me, if the surviving spouse remarries, and the dependence on deceased. Under certain circumstances, including parents, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren may be eligible to claim benefits. In addition to the monetary benefits the employer and the insurance company are responsible for covering up to $ 7500.00 of expenses burial / funeral, post-secondary studies for the surviving spouse obtains additional education and training (covers up to 1,800 hours of classroom or payment of up to 80 semester hours in any community college).
Other claims concerning an accident at work
Often the first question that makes me a customer after explaining the benefits of workers’ compensation system for them is: “I can sue my employer or co-workers for this accident?” Usually, the answer is No, because the law provides immunity to the employer and fellow employees from being sued for acts of negligence (see FS 440.11). The immunity is not absolute, and the employer is not immune to the conduct which is considered an intentional tort. To prove an intentional tort was committed by the employer, the injured worker must clearly demonstrate that: 1) the employer deliberately attempt to harm, or 2) that the employer engaged in conduct that the employer knew, based on previous accidents similar or explicit warnings specifically identifying a known danger, was almost certainly the result of injury or death to the employee and the employee was not aware of the risk because the danger was not apparent and that the employer deliberately concealed or distorted the danger to prevent the employee to exercise informed judgments about whether to do the job.
As you can see, Florida lawmakers have passed legislation that has become extremely difficult to sue employers. However, there are a number of specific situations in which immunity does not apply. As fellow employees there is no immunity for a worker who works with free and willful disregard for the safety of physically assaulting another worker or another worker. In addition, there is no immunity from co-workers when assigned to each employee who works for the same employer not related mainly to the work. Another exception to the rule of immunity is the situation where an employee engages in horseplay and accidentally injures another worker.
The reason why there is no immunity in this case is that the conduct of the employee engaged in horseplay is not considered within the course and scope of employment (ie, behavior does nothing to promote the interests of the employers). Only employees acting within the course and scope of their employment are entitled to participate in the immunity of employers.
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