Man Killed When Truck Dolly Backed Into Him at Blount Island in Jacksonville, Florida
A man working at Tico Terminal Systems at Blount Island in Jacksonville, Florida was killed when a truck dolly backed into him, according to an article on News4Jax.com. The man was an employee of Tico at the time of the fatal accident.
It is not clear from the article whether the driver who killed the Tico worker was also a Tico worker. When a person is injured or killed on the job, there are issues relating to who the injured party, or the family of the deceased party, can sue to recover for the injuries or loss of a loved one. According to the workers compensation laws, when a person is injured at work due to the negligence or his/her employer, the employer typically has workers compensation immunity which means the injured worker will be reimbursed for medical expenses and loss of wages regardless of whose fault the accident was but the employer cannot be sued for damages due to negligence. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally, the workers compensation laws prevent a worker from suing his/her employer for damages due to the employer's negligence.
However, there are other avenues for a person injured, or a family of a person killed, to recover damages in a case like this. If the co-worker's or employer's conduct rose to a level beyond negligence and such an injury or death was likely to occur based on the co-worker's or employer's conduct, workers compensation immunity may not protect the employer in such a lawsuit. Additionally, if the person who caused the injury or death was an employee of a different company, as is sometimes the case in these accidents that occur at industrial complexes, workers compensation immunity does not affect the injured party's or deceased's family's right to sue a separate person or company for negligence.
When a person is injured or killed at a job-site, there are several issues that must be analyzed to determine who can and should be sued. If you have questions about an injury that was suffered at a work-site or any other location, feel free to contact us for a free consultation so you can learn your rights.
