Third party sued in Louisiana workers’ compensation case

Workers’ compensation claims can become quite tricky. Sometimes the employee should be seeking compensation solely from their employer’s insurance company. However, other times a third party should be held liable for a worker’s injuries.

Right now, this is what Luba Casualty Insurance Company is attempting to claim. The insurance provider is filing a lawsuit against the manufacturer of a step stool, claiming that the company should be held liable for a workers’ compensation claim that stems from an Ascension Parish, Louisiana, employee who was hurt on the job due to one of the company’s step stools.

According to the lawsuit, the woman was an employee of Top Fuel #4. She was standing on a step stool in order to put ice inside of an ice machine, when a step on the stool broke. This caused her to injure herself.

The lawsuit claims that this workplace accident was in no way the employee’s fault, but rather the fault of Safety First and Dorel Industries for manufacturing a defective and dangerous product.

Additionally, the company is accused of not only making this defective product, but also for failing to warn users that the step stool was in fact dangerous.

Overall, this lawsuit shows the true confusing nature of filing a workers’ compensation claim. In this case, when the woman first fell, she may have had no idea that a third party could end up possibly paying for her medical expenses.

In general, while there are sometimes many different options available to a worker who is hurt on the job, an attorney who focuses on workers’ compensation and personal injury claims can help explore those legal avenues and help an injured worker file their claim.

Source: Louisiana Record, “Workers’ compensation insurer files lawsuit against step stool manufacturer,” Kyle Barnett, Feb. 15, 2012