It is important to know your rights when you get injured on the job in Texas. If your employer subscribes to the Workers’ Compensation insurance program, your medical care and part of your lost wages will be covered. However, if your employer is a non-subscriber, you might have to bring a lawsuit to get appropriate compensation.
Amazon, like many Texas employers, is a non-subscriber. When you are hurt while working for Amazon, contact a trustworthy law firm that pursues compensation against non-subscribing employers. They have substantial experience achieving favorable settlements in Amazon work injury claims in Houston.
A large proportion of Amazon’s Houston-area employees work in warehouses and fulfillment centers. Like any warehouse worker, they are especially prone to back injuries, repetitive motion injuries, and infectious diseases from exposure to other workers. Injuries sustained in forklift accidents, slips and falls, and falls from a height are also common.
Amazon also has a population of employees who work in technical or managerial capacities. Repetitive stress injuries from excessive keyboard use or poorly designed workstations are common in this group.
When an employee suffers any work-related injury, Amazon has an insurance policy that should cover the worker’s medical care and supplement their lost wages. However, Amazon is notorious for making it difficult for employees to collect their benefits. An injured Amazon worker should contact a personal injury attorney immediately to ensure prompt consideration of their claim and to investigate the possibility of legal action.
When an employee of a company that subscribes to Workers’ Compensation gets hurt, they get free medical care, a partial wage while they cannot work, and disability payments if they have a permanent injury. In return for these benefits, they cannot sue their employer.
When an employer is a non-subscriber, like Amazon, there is nothing preventing an injured employee from suing. When successful, a lawsuit against an employer provides the opportunity to receive more compensation than a Workers’ Compensation claim against a subscribing employer would provide.
For example, an employee can sue Amazon for all the wages lost while unable to work due to injury. An injured worker can claim all medical care and treatment-related expenses, not just those a Workers’ Compensation-provided doctor thinks are medically necessary. Importantly, an injured employee can claim compensation for their pain and suffering, and even make a claim for punitive damages.
Under Texas Labor Code § 406.033, an employer that chooses not to subscribe to the Workers’ Compensation program loses certain rights under the law. Most importantly, their workers can sue them for negligence if conditions at the workplace led to the injury. Any deviation from best safety practices could be considered negligence. Examples of workplace negligence that can lead to injury include:
Any situation in which an attorney can demonstrate that Amazon did not use reasonable care to protect its workers could lead to liability in a lawsuit. A settlement is often possible in these cases.
Because Amazon is a non-subscribing employer, many defenses available in standard negligence lawsuits are off-limits. For example, Amazon cannot claim that the worker was responsible for their injury, unless they can prove the injury was intentionally self-inflicted or resulted from impairment by drugs or alcohol. Similarly, Amazon cannot escape liability by claiming an injured employee accepted the risks of their job.
Amazon is famous for treating its employees poorly. When you suffer a workplace injury at an Amazon facility, protect your rights by contacting an attorney immediately—do not wait for the company to acknowledge a mistake.
Generous settlements in Amazon work injury claims in Houston are possible, but they require help from a skilled legal professional. Get in touch with us today.
SMS Legal