After you get in an accident, you may be too overwhelmed, in pain or confused to realize that you are not at fault. That pain and suffering is the result of someone’s negligence so you have every right to ask for compensation. This includes injuries caused in the workplace.
Common Causes of Slip and Fall Injuries
Some of the most common causes of slip and fall injuries are due to property that is poorly maintained. In such cases, the manager or owner of the property is liable for any slip and fall injuries that passersby may suffer from. If you are involved in such an accident, you can sue the owner if you are able to prove that he/she was wholly or partly responsible for overlooking obvious hazards. That’s because according to US law, if they are aware that their property has health hazards and they did nothing to prevent accidents, they have to pay compensation for injuries. You can even hire a St Louis slip and fall lawyer in such cases.
Some of the most common issues that can cause slip and fall injuries and which are usually ignored by property owners include:
- Icy/slippery or cracked sidewalks.
- Damaged carpeting or rugs.
- Wet floors that don’t have warning signs.
- Damaged floorboards.
- Unsuitable handrails.
Some people can walk away from a slip and fall injury unscathed but some such as the elderly can get seriously injured. Depending on the fall, you can suffer from spinal cord damage or break an arm or leg which can prevent you from working and taking care of yourself.
Plus, the medication and medical bills you will have to contend with can place a serious strain on your finances. You could always use a site like CFAH to find some cheaper, natural alternative medicines that you could use instead, but nevertheless, you don’t have to take care of those things at all if the property owner was mindful in the first place and so you have every right to ask them to pay up.
What is ‘Pain and Suffering?’
By ‘pain and suffering’ we mean physical and mental pain you can go through not only after slipping and hurting yourself but also because of the immense pain, depression, and anxiety you go through during treatment or surgery.
Physical pain and suffering is the pain of your actual injuries as well as the future discomfort you may face as a result of the property owner’s negligence. For example, if you slipped and injured your spine, you may have to live with chronic pain for the rest of your life. This article from Rolling Paper discusses living with chronic pain and potential treatments for it in more detail. In serious cases physical pain and suffering can take years to heal, and significantly affect quality of life.
Mental pain and suffering is a by product of the injuries you sustain and can include emotional distress, fear, depression, anger, anxiety and shock. In other words, it includes any type of negative emotion that manifests when you have to endure the trauma of the accident. If the injury is serious or traumatic enough, the emotional distress you feel can compromise your quality of life. You should seek out guides on sites like www.observer.com to help you find products that can help you manage emotional problems so that you can carry on as normally as possible. In serious cases, victims can also develop PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) which can prevent them from getting a job or force them into isolation.
What You Need To Make a Personal Injury Case
Even if you have been in a serious slip and fall accident, you still need to collect proof against the property owner to prove that they were negligent. In other words, you have to prove that they breached their legal duty to prevent accidents on their property. You also have to prove that the accident was caused by said negligence.
If your case makes it to trial, you have to prove to a jury or the judge that everything you claim is true including the extent of your injuries and the liability of the defendant. Mostly, such cases are settled out of court, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider taking it to trial if the defendant is being defensive or uncooperative. The management and property owners will always have lawyers to defend them in case a slip and fall accidents happen in the workplace. Choose the best reliable attorney to help you get through the process, file a claim and get the maximum compensation.
However, keep in mind that not every personal injury case will come down to whether the defendant was negligent. If for instance you got hurt from a defective product or slipped and fell in your workplace, your claim may have to follow a different set of rules. If you suffered a job based injury for example, you will need to submit a worker’s compensation claim as per state regulations.
Evidence Required To Prove a Claim
If you slipped and fell on a property, you can claim compensation by collecting the following evidence as proof:
- A detailed incident report from the owner of the store, restaurant or other property that you slipped and fell in.
- Eyewitness accounts that prove the incident and how you got injured.
- Picture from the scene of the accident that can help your lawyer document your case and the circumstances that lead to the accident.
- Records of treatments, physical therapy and doctor visits that you had to pay for.
- Documentation of time you missed at work and the salary you lost that can help you claim lost wages.
- A solid testimony from the doctor or medical practitioner who treated you and who can attest to the seriousness and cause of your injuries. For example, if you slipped a disk during the injury the doctor can prove that it was not caused by old age or due to an existing condition and was a direct result of the accident you suffered.
A slip and fall injury can lead to chronic pain and emotional distress that can not only prevent you from getting a job, it can also make your days unbearable. Depending on the extent of your injuries, you may need to make multiple trips to the doctor’s office, hire a nurse to take care of you while you are recuperating and if you live alone and suffer from crippling depression caused by the trauma you went through.
You can alleviate that pain and suffering significantly by taking the person who caused your injury to task and demanding that they take responsibility by paying for your treatments and bills. A personal injury lawyer can help but you also need to make sure that they have evidence to back up your claim.