Clumsy employees deserve workers’ comp benefits, too

If you consider yourself a bit of a klutz or if you are a little clumsy, you know how easy it can be to get hurt.  Now, if you are a clumsy employee who gets hurt on the job, do you still deserve workers’ compensation benefits – even if your clumsiness may have contributed to the accident?

The case of Vacuum Depositing v. Dever tells us that yes, clumsy employees deserve workers’ compensation benefits too.  In this case, a woman was hurt when she fell in the company break room.  She claims that there was trash on the floor from an overflowing garbage can, and she slipped on a piece of paper.

Her employer, however, denied that there was any trash on the floor and claimed that the woman was clumsy and wore high-heeled shoes.   They did not believe that they owed her workers’ comp benefits simply because she was clumsy.

The court found in favor of the employee, because the employer failed to provide “substantial” evidence that the woman was solely to blame for the fall.  In many situations, workers hurt in an unexplained workplace fall can receive workers’ comp benefits – don’t let your employer or the insurance company tell you otherwise.

If you need help with a Virginia workers’ compensation claim, please contact the law offices of Dulaney, Lauer & Thomas, LLP.