Result: $525,000 settlement secured at mediation on behalf of a maintenance employee injured in a slip-and-fall at a national travel center chain that had opted out of the Texas workers' compensation system.
A coworker left water on the floor. No one warned him. We made sure he was heard.
The Situation
Our client was a maintenance employee at a busy travel center, responsible for keeping the facility's shower area clean and safe for guests. When he arrived to clean, a coworker was already power-washing a nearby shower, sending water flowing out into the adjoining hallway. Our client flagged the issue, but the coworker simply dropped what he was doing, said he was headed on break, and walked off, leaving the water behind.
Knowing the hallway floor was wet, our client turned to grab towels from a nearby storage room to clean it up himself. Within a few steps, he slipped on the water that had flowed into the adjoining hallway and fell hard onto the tile floor, a fall captured in full on the facility's own surveillance video.
There were no warning signs posted. No one had flagged the hazard. Our client paid the price for someone else's carelessness.
The Injuries
What looked at first like a hard fall turned out to be the beginning of a long and difficult recovery. Our client suffered a head injury with traumatic hematoma, and over the following months, additional injuries surfaced and were diagnosed across nearly every part of his body: cervical and lumbar spine damage, a torn rotator cuff and labrum in his left shoulder, a torn meniscus and cartilage damage in his left knee, bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, and hearing loss and nasal injury tied to the head trauma.
Over the next three years, he underwent extensive treatment, including physical therapy, injections, nerve testing, and ultimately five separate surgeries, including shoulder arthroscopy and biceps tenodesis, bilateral carpal tunnel release, and knee arthroscopy. Nearly $175,000 in medical treatment was incurred outside of his employer's internal injury benefit plan alone.
Simple, everyday activities, such as working out, hunting, taking walks with his wife, and even eating comfortably, became difficult or impossible.
The Legal Strategy
Because the employer had opted out of the Texas workers' compensation system, it owed our client a non-delegable duty to provide a safe workplace, including supervising its employees, warning of known hazards, and remedying dangerous conditions before someone got hurt. As a non-subscriber, the company also lost the traditional defenses most employers can rely on, such as blaming a coworker's negligence or arguing our client assumed the risk.
We built the liability case around clear, compelling evidence: surveillance footage showing exactly how the hazard was created and how violently our client fell, testimony establishing that no warning signs were posted, and a straightforward argument that a company cannot let a known hazard sit unaddressed and then blame the employee who was injured by it.
What We Demanded
Our demand was built on three things the employer could not answer:
- A full, well-documented damages package built on years of consistent medical treatment across multiple specialists and five surgeries.
- A liability theory that left the employer with no meaningful defense as a workers' compensation non-subscriber.
- Compelling visual evidence, including the surveillance video of the fall itself, that made the hazard, and the harm, impossible to dispute.
The Result
Facing a well-documented liability case and years of extensive medical treatment, the employer agreed to resolve the non-subscriber work injury claim at mediation for $525,000, securing meaningful compensation for our client's medical expenses, pain and suffering, and the lasting impact these injuries have had on his life. Learn more about how these cases resolve on our page about non-subscriber settlements versus trial.
Why It Matters
A puddle of water and a missing warning sign changed our client's life for years. This case is a reminder that employers who cut corners on basic safety, and then try to walk away from the consequences, can and should be held accountable.
If you or someone you love has been injured on the job, especially by a non-subscriber employer, you may have more options than you realize. Our Dallas work injury lawyer can explain how a non-subscriber claim works and what your case may be worth.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation
For a free consultation about your workplace injury case, call our Dallas office at (214) 932-1288 or complete our online contact form. You pay nothing unless we win your case.
This summary reflects a real case handled by our firm. Case details have been adapted to protect client confidentiality, and the parties' names have been omitted. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee similar outcomes in future matters.