On occasion, as with any large industry, an United Airlines employee is injured by a co-worker during work. One incident, reported by New Jersey’s Star-Ledger on January 20, 2013, resulted in serious injury to an airline worker, who was pinned by a baggage cart after the cart was struck by a food service supply vehicle driven by another worker. This is the type of workplace injury situation that a New York United Airlines employee is best served by speaking with a lawyer as soon as possible, as liability and compensation in these sorts of cases can be complex. Initial statements regarding the circumstances of the injury can matter a great deal.
Circumstances Can Affect Liability
Sometimes, an accident is just that – an accident – and the standard procedures for dealing with compensation for an on the job injury are sufficient. However, that is not always the case and liability can expand beyond the usual workers’ compensation available for people hurt at work. Sometimes, an airline employee can be injured by a co-worker through the negligence of that co-worker. If the co-worker was impaired by drugs or alcohol, or was behaving in a reckless manner, for example, that could constitute negligence under the law and could affect liability.
Another scenario that could affect liability is if, for example, it was well known that a particular employee did sometimes come to work impaired or behave recklessly, depending on specifics, it could be determined that the employer was negligent by putting other employees at risk of harm from that employee. There are many factors to consider in cases involving a person being injured by a co-worker, making legal advice important to obtaining a just outcome.
State Regulations Can Vary
Some states have different regulations when it comes to handling co-employee negligence liability cases, so a Washington DC airline employee may have a different experience than a Denver airline employee injured by a co-worker. In some states and work injury situations, co-workers are protected against personal liability lawsuits when the injury happens during the scope of employment. Even in states with those limitations, however, negligence proven under the law can result in the co-worker having some liability assigned.
Just The Facts
It is essential to be truthful in all statements regarding a New York airline employee injury, and to take a just the facts sort of approach. It is often almost second nature to try to protect a co-worker, because often co-workers are friends, and to use language that, while stating facts, also seeks to produce a certain perception of the event, deflecting blame from a co-worker or offering reasons why the co-worker’s actions resulted in an injury. That can be problematic if it becomes necessary to establish liability later, such as in circumstances where the injury results in a long-term disability. Speak with an experienced lawyer before filling out documents if possible. If not, be very circumspect in the description of how the injury occurred, offering just facts, not explanations or reasons.