Ladder Fall Injuries

Injured after a fall from a ladder? Rasansky Law Firm can help!

While a ladder fall can occur anywhere, the majority ladder fall accidents occur while on the job or at home.  When an accident such as this occurs at home, you may be able to file a claim against your homeowners’ insurance policy in order to cover your medical bills and other related expenses. When such an accident occurs at work, your legal options depend on a few very specific details (which we'll discuss a bit later in this article).

While there are certainly cases in which a person falls from a ladder by accident or his/her own failure to take safety into consideration, many times theses accidents are caused by employer negligence or a defective ladder.

Types of injuries common to ladder falls.

The scope of injuries a person can suffer from when falling from a ladder are quite diverse in nature and can range from minor to serious depending on a number of factors. Ladder accidents most-commonly cause injuries to the following:

• Elbow and forearm (19.1%)
• Knee and lower leg (16.4%)

Defective ladders.

In the case of a defective ladder, these type of claims would be categorized as "product liability." A product liability claim essentially states that the manufacturer should be held responsible for any injuries a person suffers due to the defective product. Product liability is a very serious offense, and the manufacturer is at the mercy of the court when these products make their way into the marketplace and result in injuries to a consumer. These type of cases can be difficult for many attorneys to pursue, but the Dallas attorneys at Rasansky Law Firm have successfully handled countless product liability claims in the past two decades.

Workers' compensation.

If you were injured at work because of a ladder fall accident, the options available to you depend on several factors that include but are not necessarily limited to the following:

• Existence of workers' compensation insurance (not required in the state of Texas).
• Whether you're an employee or a contractor.
• Whether a death occurred because of gross negligence.

Work injury cases can be quite complex, but in short, if you're an independent contractor, you cannot bring a claim against the employer. If you're an employee and your employer subscribes to workers' comp, you cannot bring a claim and must seek compensation through a workers' compensation claim. If you're an employee and your employer does not subscribe to workers' comp, you can bring a claim or lawsuit just like any other type of personal injury. If the victim suffers a wrongful death at work due to gross negligence, all of these rules go out the window.

Now, don't be fooled by your employer into thinking you can't sue because they have a state-authorized workers' comp plan; call us and have us verify this with the Texas Department of Insurance. Once we perform an initial investigation, we can explain the legal options available to you for no cost or obligation.

To reiterate, workplace accident claims are very complicated. It's in your best interest to speak with an attorney before doing anything! Even if you're precluded from filing a lawsuit against your employer, you may still have a valid product liability claim against the manufacturer. We can provide all of this information to you free of charge when you call or email us.

So if you have suffered an injury in a ladder fall incident, call (214) 617-1886 and speak to one of our experienced Dallas personal injury lawyers today for no cost.