Q.

I recently had an accident at work where I injured my wrist and back, and  
the pain has kept me from returning to work for about a month. 

Currently, I do not have health insurance and am in a very difficult financial situation.  
My company keeps delaying payment of my medical expenses and salary, which makes me even more desperate.

A.

Legally, if an employee is injured while on the job,  
the employee is entitled to compensation for lost income and medical expenses through Workers' Compensation, regardless of whether the accident that caused the injury was the employee's own fault. 

More specifically, California's workers' compensation laws  
require employers to have workers' compensation insurance if they hire one or more employees. 

Even if an employee’s injury is caused by an unrelated cause and not the fault of the employer, the compensation laws apply equally.  
If the employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance, the injured employee can file a lawsuit against the employer individually and  
seek compensation for the injury through the Uninsured Employers Fund (“UEF”) in California. 

If you file a lawsuit against your employer under civil law,  
you may also seek compensation for medical expenses, loss of income, and pain and suffering, which are excluded from workers' compensation insurance. 

In your case, if your company has workers' compensation insurance, you can file a workers' compensation claim,  
which is a legal right.  
If you are fired or unfairly discriminated against because you filed a workers' compensation claim, you can file a lawsuit in court.  
And if your company does not have workers' compensation insurance, you can file a claim for hospital bills and lost income from the state UEF fund, and you can  
also file a civil lawsuit against your employer for hospital bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. 

In this way, workers' compensation insurance is a system that provides certain financial compensation when an employee is injured at work, while also  
protecting the employer from accidents and the resulting costs. 

Under California labor law, employers who fail to carry workers' compensation insurance  
can be fined up to $10,000 and/or imprisoned for up to one year, and the state can impose an additional $100,000 fine.

Q.

If someone is negligent in their duties and causes harm to another person, we know that they are liable for the harm caused.  
What is the exact legal definition of negligence here and what is required to prove it in court?

A.

The field of private harm law deals with cases where someone suffers harm as a result of another's negligence. 

Whether someone is injured as a result of a car accident, medical malpractice, a defective product, a dog bite, or a plane crash,  
the legal theory of “negligence” is based on holding the individual or company responsible for causing the injury. 

Negligence is a term that is commonly used to mean that someone has acted without the proper level of care.  
However, when used as a legal term, negligence has a very specific definition, and  
in order for a person who has been injured in an accident to receive compensation for their damages, each element of the legal definition of negligence must be satisfied. 

There are generally four elements that a plaintiff must prove in a negligence case, and they are: 

1. Duty of Care: 
 First, the plaintiff must establish that the defendant owes a legal duty to exercise reasonable care toward the victim.  Generally, someone owes a duty of care  
if the harm suffered by the victim was “foreseeable” as a result of the defendant’s conduct  . For example, a store owner has a duty to keep the floor in good condition because it was foreseeable that a customer would trip on it. 

2. Breach of duty of care: 
 Once a duty of care is established, the plaintiff must prove that it was breached.  
For example, if a store owner knew about a large crack in the floor but failed to warn the customer,  
the owner failed to act reasonably and therefore breached his duty. 

3. Causation: 
 If it is proven that the defendant breached the duty of care,  
the next step for the plaintiff is to prove that the defendant’s actions caused the plaintiff’s injury.  
For example, if a guest tripped on a crack in the floor and fell, the guest’s injury  was caused by the crack and not by any other cause (such as the guest having a heart attack or being pushed). 

4. Damages: 
 If the plaintiff proves that the defendant breached the duty of care and caused the victim's damages,  
the plaintiff must prove that the plaintiff suffered damages.  
For example, if a customer trips on a crack in a store and falls but is not injured, the customer does not suffer damages.  
If the customer's knee is broken, the customer suffers damages such as medical treatment, pain and suffering, and loss of income. 

Because the plaintiff must prove “negligence of duty,” the plaintiff’s attorney will use statutes, case law, expert witnesses, and other evidence  
to argue the four elements of negligence: breach of duty, causation, and damages. 

Of course, the defense attorney will argue, but  
ultimately the jury will hear both sides and decide whether the defendant was in fact “negligent” in his duties and  
whether the plaintiff should be compensated for his damages.