If you get hurt on the job in Missouri, your employer likely carries workers’ compensation insurance that is supposed to provide for your medical needs in addition to supplying compensation for your injury. However, this begs the question- what do you do if you get hurt at work and your employer does not carry workers’ compensation insurance?
Our Firm handles these kinds of cases. There are multiple ways you can recover money for such an injury in the absence of workers’ compensation benefits. It is important to assess whether the work you were performing was an “inherently dangerous activity.” If the owner of the property where the work is performed tasks an independent contractor with work that is “inherently dangerous,” then “the landowner who commissioned the inherently dangerous work was said to have a non-delegable duty to take precautions to prevent injury from the activity.” Matteuzzi v. Columbus Partnership, L.P. 866 S.W.2d 128, 130 (Mo. banc 1993) (internal citations omitted). Work is “inherently dangerous” if the landowner should recognize the work is likely to create “a peculiar unreasonable risk of physical harm to others unless special precautions are taken.” Id, citing Restatement of (Second) Torts Sections 413, 416.
Under the “inherently dangerous activity” doctrine, the owner of the worksite could be liable for worker injuries (1) performance of the job involves an inherently dangerous activity; (2) the activity that caused the damage was reasonably necessary to complete the job; (3) the landowner negligently failed to insure that adequate precautions were taken to avoid damage by reason of the inherently dangerous activity; and (4) the worker is hurt as a result of the negligence. Matteuzzi, 866 S.W.2d at 130; Mallory, 320 Mo. 95, 6 S.W.2d 617; Ballinger v. Gascosage Elec. Coop., 788 S.W.2d 506 (Mo. banc 1990). The Missouri Supreme Court expanded the inherently dangerous activity doctrine in Mallory such that injured workers who lack workers’ compensation coverage could be entitled to the same remedies as innocent third parties.
Even without an “inherently dangerous activity,” there are ways for you to recover from an injury. You may be able to establish that the landowner’s careless maintenance of the worksite is responsible for your injury, for example. You may also be able to examine any type of product malfunction (scaffolding, a man lift, power tools, etc.) contributed to your injury. In this case, it may be possible for you to maintain a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer of any such products.
The upshot of all of this is that you should not give up just because you get hurt on the job and there is no workers’ compensation coverage available. You need to be thorough in your investigation. We counsel injured workers at no charge. Your case is important to us, and we look forward to helping you.
Rick Voytas of Voytas Law, LLC is a trial lawyer who combines objective advice with the tactical know-how to obtain the compensation you deserve. He has more than nineteen years of courtroom and litigation experience, handling a variety of difficult cases.
As a native of St. Louis and licensed in Missouri, Illinois, and various federal courts, Rick Voytas provides knowledge and personal attention to your legal matter.
Don’t delay! Contact Voytas Law, LLC now for your workers compensation legal problems in Missouri at 314-380-3166 or learn more at www.voytaslaw.com.
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