Result: $75,000 settlement secured on behalf of a retail employee who suffered a serious lower back injury while operating a pallet jack for a national retail chain that had opted out of the Texas workers' compensation system.
She protected a customer from getting hurt, and paid for it with her own spine.
The Situation
Our client was doing her job the right way. While moving a pallet loaded with product across the sales floor using a pallet jack, a customer suddenly stepped directly into her path. In a split-second decision to protect the customer from being struck, she tried to bring the heavy, loaded jack to an abrupt stop, and it slammed back into her lower back.
It was the kind of split-second choice retail employees are put in every day: put the customer's safety first, and absorb the consequences herself.
The Injury
The impact caused a serious lumbar spine injury. Medical evaluation confirmed nerve compression.
By the time settlement discussions began, she had already incurred more than $33,000 in medical treatment tied directly to the incident, with continued care ahead of her.
The Legal Strategy
Under Texas law, employers owe their employees a non-delegable duty to provide a safe workplace, including proper training, supervision, and equipment fit for the tasks employees are assigned. As a workers' compensation non-subscriber, the employer could not raise the traditional defenses ordinarily available to employers, such as arguing that our client's own actions contributed to her injury.
We moved quickly to document the full extent of our client's injury and medical treatment, and built a demand grounded in a straightforward reality: an employee was hurt performing exactly the kind of quick, safety-driven decision her employer should have equipped and trained her to handle safely.
The Result
Facing a well-documented spine injury and a non-subscriber liability picture with no easy defenses, the employer agreed to resolve the claim for $75,000, securing meaningful compensation for our client's medical treatment and pain without the delay and expense of prolonged litigation.
Why It Matters
Retail and warehouse employees are often asked to operate heavy equipment around unpredictable customers and coworkers, with little margin for error. When that equipment injures an employee who was simply trying to keep someone else safe, the employer, not the worker, should bear the cost.
If you've been hurt on the job while operating equipment your employer assigned you, 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.