Need legal advice: got hurt at an unpaid work related event: Torn ACL and meniscus ***complicated

dunks318ti

dunks318ti

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Jun 12, 2006
what's up NT,

I need your help as I'm in a predicament and I don't know what to.

Once a year our work department (Dept. of Public Social Services) holds a charitable giving event which is basically like a bbq/picnic/sports event.

Technically, I wasn't work.  I didn't get paid for it.  BUT it was a work related event and we did raise/earn revenue for charitable giving.

There was a basketball and volleyball tournament and I dislocated my knee playing in the volleyball tourney.  Went to ER, then orthopedics, and torn ACL and meniscus tear.

The thing is I signed a waiver to play.  (basically saying I can't sue/it was voluntary/blah blah blah)

***There was an asterisk on the waiver saying that the waiver is invalid if there is neglence on the employer's behalf.

The volleyball tournament was played on GRASS.  LUMPY, UNEVEN, VARIOUS POTHOLES.  Is that neglegence on my employer's behalf???  It was obvious someone was going to get hurt and it was dumb of them to set up the courts KNOWING of the UNEVEN surface.

***while playing I was "representing" my work district's team and also wearing my work district's uniform.


I dont know what to do.  I don't have Colonial/Aflac insurance so im basically SOL contributing to  a work charitable giving event.

I will need surgery and I will be out of work for a cool minute and I will basically have to use sick time/vacation time/percentage time until im able to come back to work.


What can I do???  I mean I'm covered by my medical insurance (Kaiser Permanente), but everything else i'm +#%'ed out.
 
that's the very reason why most private companies make you sign a waiver so you can't sue them if you got hurt. if you're the only one that got hurt playing on that field, it would be pretty hard to prove negligence on your employer's part.
 
for what its worth....we just got done going over torts in my business law class....to prove negligence, you have to prove these 4 things:

1. Duty - The law assumes that a duty of care exists for all people in relation to any other person.
2. Breach of Duty - Assuming that the plaintiff proves that a duty was present, Mr. Y must next prove that Mr. Z breached that duty. That's done by comparing Mr. Z's conduct to that of a "reasonable person," which is the typical standard used.
3. Causation - This is the most complicated element of proving a negligence claim. Mr. Y must prove that Mr. Z's breach of duty directly led to Mr. Y's injuries.
4. Injury - your acl etc.......................

you have a good case, let me represent you 
grin.gif
.......but 4real IMO you knew of the "unsafe" conditions n still did it any way....so your both at fault...depending on how the law is round your neck of the woods, you might have a case.....but you were the only fool that got hurt so they might laugh at you and tell you to take the L........... consult an attorney
 
This is why i'm so glad i'm living in Finland. There would never be that kind of problems here. I broke my hand at work related basketball game and work took care of everything.
 
It could be negligence in a "failure to maintain" sort of way--like if a store/restaurant leaves water on the floor for an unreasonably long time and somebody slips and gets hurt. They had a duty to not try to start a volley ball game on a dangerous surface. If it was inherently likely to cause the event, it's still negligent. I would pull examples, but I'm running late for work.

They could try to say that you had contributory negligence for agreeing to play on the dangerous field, but you could probably get out of that by saying that you're not a field expert and you relied on your employer to satisfy their duty to not hold a dangerous game.

Since it was a PR event for the company (charity is pretty much BS for businesses. They do it as an advertising/PR move and tax write off), and you were uniformed, and acting as an agent (the key issue is agency and if you were within the scope of your duties, which would be different for the event than for your typical work day), you should have a good case.

There are cases virtually identical to yours out there. I'll try to remember to look at this post over lunch or later tonight if it's still at issue for you.
Sorry for being brief, but I'm late and a little hungover so I can't go into much detail.
 
also were you required or semi-required to be there? If so, I think yuo can at least get workers comp and not have to miss vacay time and whatnot.
 
This isn't an agency issue.  What you're looking at is a worker's comp issue.  There are usually two ways that you can recover here, and I'm sure you can find an attorney to take this case.  To get worker's comp there are two main components to the claim.  First you have to be an employee, which you are. Second the injury has to come out of and in the course of your employment duties.  Clearly, playing volleyball isn't in the scope of your employment.  But the argument here asks if the charity event is a yearly event that you're expected to participate in.  Then you have a better argument that the injury occurred during the course of your employment duties.
Alternatively, like others mentioned, there's the negligence argument. I think this is your stronger argument because I would argue that your employer certainly had a duty to protect the volleyball players from unreasonable injuries.  Further, your specific injury was foreseeable because someone could easily injure themselves playing on uneven grass with potholes.  If you'd been playing on a court I don't think you'd have a case, but just setting up the game anywhere on the grass seems careless.  It doesn't matter that you're the only one that got hurt.  That's like saying only 1 out of the 100 people in the grocery store slipped on the water so that person should've just been more careful.  If the grass was full of potholes like you say, then the conditions were unsafe and unfit for the game.  One thing you do need to do is get pictures of the grass area immediately
 
dunks318ti wrote:

Technically, I wasn't work.  I didn't get paid for it.  1. 

The thing is I signed a waiver to play.  (basically saying I can't sue/it was voluntary/blah blah blah) 2. 
***There was an asterisk on the waiver saying that the waiver is invalid if there is neglence on the employer's behalf.

The volleyball tournament was played on GRASS.  LUMPY, UNEVEN, VARIOUS POTHOLES.  Is that neglegence on my employer's behalf???  It was obvious someone was going to get hurt and it was dumb of them to set up the courts KNOWING of the UNEVEN surface. 3. 

I don't have Colonial/Aflac insurance so im basically SOL contributing to  a work charitable giving event.

You don't have a case.  
1. You weren't at work, nor were you required to play (or even be there).  

2. You signed the waiver.  

3. You recognized that the playing field was conducive to injury, yet you played anyway (even spite of points 1 and 2).  

In summation, you're screwed.  
Click to expand...
 
No one here is willing to say accidents happen? Accidents happen.

I SMH at how so many want to lawyer up right away instead of taking responsibility.
 
Originally Posted by jimmybeanz

dunks318ti wrote:

Technically, I wasn't work.  I didn't get paid for it.  1. 

The thing is I signed a waiver to play.  (basically saying I can't sue/it was voluntary/blah blah blah) 2. 
***There was an asterisk on the waiver saying that the waiver is invalid if there is neglence on the employer's behalf.

The volleyball tournament was played on GRASS.  LUMPY, UNEVEN, VARIOUS POTHOLES.  Is that neglegence on my employer's behalf???  It was obvious someone was going to get hurt and it was dumb of them to set up the courts KNOWING of the UNEVEN surface. 3. 

I don't have Colonial/Aflac insurance so im basically SOL contributing to  a work charitable giving event.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
You don't have a case.  
1. You weren't at work, nor were you required to play (or even be there).  

2. You signed the waiver.  

3. You recognized that the playing field was conducive to injury, yet you played anyway (even spite of points 1 and 2).  

In summation, you're screwed.  



That's exactly what I was thinking. Just trying to weigh my options. That's what I get for volunteering and raising money for a WORK charitable event.I seriously think if they didn't set up those courts where they were, I wouldn't have gotten hurt. And no, I didn't see that the courts were setup on unsafe uneven pothole riddled grass. Obviously if I knew I wouldn't have played or requested to play on a different court. (There were 5 different courts set up)
 
Originally Posted by dunks318ti

Originally Posted by jimmybeanz

dunks318ti wrote:

Technically, I wasn't work.  I didn't get paid for it.  1. 

The thing is I signed a waiver to play.  (basically saying I can't sue/it was voluntary/blah blah blah) 2. 
***There was an asterisk on the waiver saying that the waiver is invalid if there is neglence on the employer's behalf.

The volleyball tournament was played on GRASS.  LUMPY, UNEVEN, VARIOUS POTHOLES.  Is that neglegence on my employer's behalf???  It was obvious someone was going to get hurt and it was dumb of them to set up the courts KNOWING of the UNEVEN surface. 3. 

I don't have Colonial/Aflac insurance so im basically SOL contributing to  a work charitable giving event.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
You don't have a case.  
1. You weren't at work, nor were you required to play (or even be there).  

2. You signed the waiver.  

3. You recognized that the playing field was conducive to injury, yet you played anyway (even spite of points 1 and 2).  

In summation, you're screwed.  
Click to expand...


That's exactly what I was thinking. Just trying to weigh my options. That's what I get for volunteering and raising money for a WORK charitable event.I seriously think if they didn't set up those courts where they were, I wouldn't have gotten hurt. And no, I didn't see that the courts were setup on unsafe uneven pothole riddled grass. Obviously if I knew I wouldn't have played or requested to play on a different court. (There were 5 different courts set up)

Please do not listen to this.  I'm an attorney and am telling you to re-read my post from above.  If you weren't actually required to be there, then worker's comp is out of consideration.  However, the waiver doesn't mean anything if there was negligence.  Waivers like that are only effective against general injuries that occur while playing a sport.  For example, you and a teammate both go for the ball, bump into each other, and you fall and break your arm.  They'd be safe in that situation.  The waiver wouldn't protect against someone intentionally injuring you, or negligence.  You do have a case for negligence here.  And for the future, don't mention that you recognized the field as being unsafe.  But even if you thought the field might be unsafe, that doesn't absolve the company's negligence.  It just makes this a comparative negligence issue, and whatever percentage of fault is assigned to you will be deducted from any judgment in your favor.  Please consult a local attorney and don't don't listen to people giving their opinions on niketalk
 
^^^thanks

I did read your post the first time and reread it again and it does sound good.

Yes, I spoke to my administration about workers comp and I got shut down because it wasnt at work and I didn't get paid nor forced to participate.

I just wanted my time to be compensated while going through surgery/rehab/out. I saved up my vacation and sick time for a reason and this unfortunate event wasn't one of them. Especially if I did it for work. (It looks good volunteering, putting time in, get seen/face out there)

I do want to pursue it. I haven't told my employer anything yet, but the way they denied/handled the workers comp kinda got me heated.
How much compensation am I looking at? Also I kinda like my career and benefits/salary, will I be putting my job at risk by taking legal action?
 
Originally Posted by GP9Rm4108

No one here is willing to say accidents happen? Accidents happen.

I SMH at how so many want to lawyer up right away instead of taking responsibility.
Click to expand...
This took the words right out of my mouth. ^

I have the same injury now at my job with no health insurance. I tore
mine at Megadeth, went to work on Monday and got three days off.
Im not complaining, but boo hoo op don't play volleyball next time.
At least you can have surgery and some time off.

  
 
^ He, and you, may actually have a case though. This is a text book case--literally, it's in the text book. Every state is different, but if he can prove that his injury arose from the negligence of holding the game on a dangerous field and not from some accident that would be likely to happen while playing on a safe field, I'd say he has a good likelihood of succeeding.
 
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