Nonsubscriber Job Injury Cases in SoCal
Nonsubscriber is Legalese for an employer that doesn’t have a valid workers’ compensation policy or a situation in which workers’ compensation is inapplicable. Although California law requires most employers to buy workers’ compensation insurance, not all employers do so. Furthermore, by design, workers’ compensation only applies to unintentional job-related injuries. More on these things below.
Work-related injuries often turn life completely upside down. As victims struggle to get better, unpaid medical and other bills pile up. The financial stress worsens their physical conditions, and the downward spiral continues. An Oceanside personal injury lawyer reverses this downward spiral. No one can go back in time and change what happened. But an attorney can do the next best thing, which is obtain maximum compensation for serious injuries.
No Valid Policy
Some employers knowingly ignore the law and do not purchase policies. Others lie to their insurance carriers and thereby invalidate their policies. For an Oceanside personal injury lawyer, both situations produce the same result.
California subtly encourages employers to ignore the mandatory purchase requirement. Like most other jurisdictions, the Golden State doesn’t aggressively enforce the mandatory purchase law. In the unlikely event that investigators discover a violation, the punishment is usually a fine which barely exceeds the amount of money the company saved.
So, many employers choose to roll the dice, improve their profit margins, and let injured workers bear the risk.
Other employers lie to their insurance carriers about material matters, usually worker classification. For example, a roofing company with twenty roofers (high-risk occupation) and ten managers and clerical employees (low-risk occupations) may claim it has ten roofers and twenty clerical/managerial employees.
When insurance companies discover such false statements, as they almost invariably do, they refuse to pay workers’ compensation claims. Once again, the company saves money on insurance premiums and injured workers pay the price.
Other employer fraud schemes include lying about the number of employees or payroll size, and buying fake insurance policies from sham companies.
In these cases, injured workers must file civil claims. Usually, the law takes away some key employer defenses, such as assumption of the risk, to punish the employer for its noncompliance.
Reckless or Intentional Injury
Civil claims are optional in reckless or intentional injury matters. A lawyer should choose which way to go. Additional compensation, in some cases significantly more compensation, is available in a civil claim. This additional compensation includes money for emotional distress and other noneconomic losses. However, in civil court, an Oceanside personal injury lawyer must prove negligence, or a lack of care, as well as recklessness or intent.
Workers’ compensation, on the other hand, is no-fault insurance that covers economic losses following job-related injuries. These economic losses usually include lost wage replacement and medical bill payment.
Usually, a reckless injury is sending workers to jobsites the company knows, or should know, is unsafe (e.g. a construction site that’s received safety violation citations). An injury is intentional if the employer wants to get back at a worker for union activity or other activity the employer doesn’t like.
Connect With a Detail-Oriented San Diego County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Oceanside, contact the Pursley Law Firm. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.
Source:
dir.ca.gov/injuredworkerguidebook/injuredworkerguidebook.html
