Can I really lose this lawsuit?
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Can I really lose this lawsuit?
A contractor took his wife on a job with him. She had recently had surgery.
Supposedly she injured herself from where she had surgery using our
equipment. We were never informed that she would be using our equipment and she has never been our employee. We received papers today from an attorney saying to provide our insurance info or they will sue our business and us personally. Can we really be sued by someone who wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place? We’ve worked so hard to build this business.
Asked on June 25, 2018 under Business Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
You could be liable if at fault: that is, if the injury occured due to defective equipment or some reason that you caused or could have (and should have--such as by proper maintenance) prevented. It doesn't matter if someone is "supposed" to be there or not--you have to take reasonable care to prevent injuries. (This is same reason that if you have a broken stair on your front porch which you are aware of, and so should fix, but failed to fix, a trespasser who falls due to it can sue you.)
On the other hand, if you are not at fault in causing her injury--for example, she used a power tool incorrectly and injured herself due to that--you are not liable. Liabilty depends on fault.
If you have liabiltiy insurance, pass the attorney's contact onto the insurer--let them deal wth this; it's what you pay for insurance for. If you don't have the relevant or applicable insurance, you can refuse to pay if you believe you are not at fault, let them sue, then in court, defend against their suit by providing evidence, testimony, etc. showing that you were not at fault in any way.
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