Can Baltimore workers sue employers for workplace slip-and-falls?

A workplace slip-and-fall can leave a professional with serious injuries. Even if the slip-and-fall is a same-level fall, the professional could break a bone or injure their brain. They could also sustain painful soft tissue injuries that interfere with their performance of their work functions.

Frequently, the conditions that lead to a workplace slip-and-fall are indicative of negligence on the part of a company. Delayed repairs to machinery or a leaking roof could be the underlying reason that the worker fell. A slip-and-fall at a business in the same circumstances might warrant a premises liability lawsuit against a company that failed to properly maintain reasonably safe facilities.

Can a worker with medical expenses and lost wages caused by a slip-and-fall take legal action against their employer to seek compensation for those losses?

Most employers have work injury indemnification

Maryland law requires that all employers with even a single worker carry workers’ compensation insurance. The coverage available can provide disability pay to injured workers and cover their medical expenses.

The business receives indemnification, which means that workers cannot hold them directly responsible for injuries, even when it is clear that negligence was the underlying cause of the slip-and-fall. Employees generally cannot sue their employers over workplace injuries or illnesses. The only exceptions to that rule are in cases where the company intentionally caused an incident that hurt the worker or the business failed to carry the workers’ compensation coverage required by law.

Professionals hurt in a slip-and-fall while on the job typically have the right to file a workers’ compensation claim, which can help cover their losses. They may be eligible for medical benefits and disability pay.

They may also potentially have the right to pursue a third-party lawsuit if an outside company contributed to the situation. If the business operates in a leased commercial space, for example, the landlord may be partially liable for failing to make appropriate repairs. If an outside company provides facility maintenance, that business might be partially liable for the incident.

Reviewing what caused an on-the-job slip-and-fall and the total losses sustained in the incident with a skilled legal team can help injured Baltimore workers understand their options. A workers’ compensation claim, possibly combined with a third-party lawsuit, can potentially cover injury-related expenses.