James R. Balmforth: An Employee is Hurt During a Workplace Emergency

Whenever a crisis arises in the workplace, there is often concern regarding who is liable — whether it’s the government, a healthcare provider or the company itself. Liability during emergency situations is a tricky matter, and many businesses could be held accountable for employee injuries if they respond in the wrong way or fail to respond at all.

Emergency situation liabilities can stem from a wrongful death case to a slip and fall case that may involve a lawyer. This can put a lot of pressure on both employers and government officials from West Jordan, Utah to the rest of the state.

Potential Areas of Liability

Emergency first responders can potentially be held liable under matters of civil and criminal liability. They may be protected by different liabilities and waivers, but there’s still room for egregious conduct when responding to an emergency situation. For instance, an unfortunate slip and fall could arise during an emergency — and first responders could potentially be held liable on grounds of negligence.

Civil Liability

Civil liability is most likely where liability issues are going to arise. Civil liabilities include negligence, intentional harm, privacy violations, discrimination or misrepresentation. Even though one particular employee may have been responsible for an injury, the employee’s company would be held liable, as an employee acts as a representative of his or her company. However, an intentional tort can place blame upon an individual, if intent to harm can be successfully proven.

So if an employee were to intentionally trip someone, resulting in a slip and fall injury, then the employee could be held liable. If an accident were unintentional, then a company would have to hire a good lawyer out of West Jordan in order to ensure a smooth court case.

Defense in Intentional Torts

If you and your lawyer find yourself involved in an intentional tort case, there are two general arguments that you can make: you can either argue consent or necessity. In the argument of consent, such as in the case of a drug injury, one can argue that the patient was informed beforehand of what drug was going to be administered. This argument can also be used if medicine was administered while the person was unconscious.

Another argument that can be used is necessity. This could be used in a case in which someone intentionally causes a person to slip and fall in order to protect the person from further harm. These are a couple of routes that your West Jordan-area lawyer may take if you are involved in an intentional tort lawsuit.

Negligence

In an emergency situation, employers should do everything within their power to assist employees in danger — if not, they could be held liable for an injury due to their negligence. This could be a tough case for your lawyer to argue, especially if you had to opportunity to provide assistance but failed to take action. Your West Jordan-based company could be found liable for an injury due to negligence if you weren’t properly prepared, or breached some kind of employee confidentially.

If you find yourself in court in West Jordan Utah due to a slip and fall case during an emergency situation, use this knowledge and be prepared.

Free Consultation with a Utah Business Lawyer

If you are here, you probably have a business law issue you need help with, call Ascent Law for your free business law consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.