Earlier this year, a store manager down in Monmouth County received a $1.5 million settlement for a serious slip and fall accident that occured on the job. The facts of the case are a reminder that it is important to seek the compensation you are due no matter what the circumstances surrounding your injury.
Don’t bother filing a lawsuit if…
One of the most frustrating things about being a personal injury attorney are the number of people out there who are hurt, but do not seek compensation for their injury because they don’t think they have a good enough case. Oftentimes the injured person has done some internet research on personal injury lawsuits, or talked to an attorney he or she knows that remembers a little bit about personal injury law from law school. They become convinced that it wouldn’t be worth their time to talk to an experienced personal injury attorney. They could not be more wrong.
Every single person who is injured should meet with an experienced personal injury attorney. Period. Full stop.
But what if…
A lot of people tell us they didn’t bother speaking to an attorney sooner — or at all — because they were injured on the job so workers comp applied, they had pre-existing injuries, they didn’t realize they were injured at first, or there was no good evidence of what happened. The list of excuses goes on an on.
A recent case from down in Monmouth County is the perfect example of why none of these are good reasons not to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney.
According to the New Jersey Law Journal, “On the early morning of May 30, 2014, Frank Giannone.. [was] opening up the [Marshalls] store [he managed] for employees to enter and begin working. As he walked from the front doors back to his office, he slipped and fell on a wet floor… Giannone had several pre-existing spinal injuries, including surgeries, but claimed the 2014 fall ultimately led to two surgeries: a two-level fusion at the cervical level and a two-level fusion at the lumbar level… The suit claimed a Professional Janitorial Maid Services worker mopped the floor on the morning of his fall but failed to put out wet-floor warning signs…”
An inexperienced personal injury attorney might say this case is not worth pursuing because it occurred at work and Giannone had pre-existing injuries. Plus, the defense “…disputed Giannone’s version of the facts—pointing out that Giannone supervised the janitorial worker, knew he was in the store cleaning on the morning of the fall, and gave him a good review for that day—as well as causation, pointing to Giannone’s prior spinal injuries and treatment…”
Even though Giannone was seriously injured, this suggests he did not act like he was hurt by the fall. However, there was no way of knowing how Giannone actually behaved on the day he was injured because, “security footage from the store was lost during the case.”
Any one of the facts in this case might lead a less experienced attorney to suggest that Giannone just suck it up and deal with his injuries the best he can. But that is not what happened. Giannone sued the cleaning company and was awarded $1.5 million in damages.
This just goes to show you that it is always worth talking to an experienced attorney if you have suffered an injury.
Posted in: Slip and Fall Accidents