Need some advice DU...Please leave your opinion...

OK, so I'm a 19 year old university student who's home for the summer. I got a part-job for a construction company as a day laborer at student wage ($16 an hour). Well, anyways, on tuesday my leg was crushed due to a concrete hydro pole (approx. 1000 pounds, 30 feet tall) rolling onto it. Broke my tibia and fibula and I'm in constant pain as you can imagine. It was caused by pure negligence on the part of another full time worker. My employer agreed to pay me compensation for the rest of the summer but refused to pay any additional money for pain and suffering. My dilemma is that my employer is my father. If I had worked for any other company I'd already be on the phone with an injury lawyer (and I'm sure my dad would be helping me get compensation for my pain if that were the case). So what should I do? I feel even though he's my father, I should be paid for the pain I'm in (I'm sure a jury would agree). I haven't really confronted him about this yet.

If you are, do you pay for rent and meals?

I live in Halifax the rest of the year for school. No I do not pay rent. I don't pay for all my meals.

....much more?? Dad gives you a job, idiot employee hurts you, so Dad no doubt is paying all medical bills. Give it up kid. Yes another employer would have to pay for "pain and suffering" but another employer wouldn't be housing and feeding you either. Just make sure Dad fires idiot employee.

I live in Canada. Free healthcare.

who have done so much to help you.

If you wish to sue for pain and suffering, then you could at least have the courtesy to move out first and pay your own way.

of a grown up child whose education I paid for totally and who is living in my home free of rent, etc., temporarily, I would suggest you move out of the home before you sue your dad. At 19 years old you haven't a clue what life ahead of you is like yet. Being in college and living at home is a wonderfully comfry situtation. Once you are on your own, you will truly know what pain and suffering is and then you will be able to decide if the risk of suing your dad is worth the loss of the relationship you will have with your dad. Only you can make that decision, and my advice is just part of the processing you need to go through.

I believe you would have to ask yourself. What has my father done for me? The answer to that question is the answer to your dilemna. Only a personal opinion. Thanks.
quickesst

definitely. Call a lawyer who can give you one of those free consultation-over-the-phone things and see whaty he/she says. Then bring that up to your dad. Make sure you are being fair about the amount and if he isn't fair in return, well, then it gets a bit dicey. However, you should get what you deserve in this instance, whether it's your dad or not.

after you do this and he's still not giving in, well, you may want to back off. You don't want to cause a huge family battle, stuff like that you may not be able to recover from. Just make sure you are well-informed, and you can state your case regarding why you are entitled to be compensated. He should treat you like any other employee, in all honesty. However, if it isn't happening at all, it's not something you want to lose your relationship with your father over.

to live in your house and eat your food?

This fellow is not a 'regular' employee. His father seems to be doing more then enough to take care of his royal butt. I'm appalled that people would encourage him to sue his own father under the circumstances.

has no bearing on what happened on the job site. At all. If his father treated him like a regular employee at work, than he should treat him as a regular employee even after he was hurt.

I never said he should sue his dad though. I said he should be well-informed and prepared to make his case to his father about why he should get what he deserves. I'm surprised somebody on a Democratic website would be so hostile to a worker's rights. His dad is taking advantage of their relationship to avoid paying him what he would have to pay any other employee. That isn't right.

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not worth it. I implicitly said not to sue the dad. You have no right making a personal attack on me.

he should NOT be paid for pain, its extortion.

If you sue your Father you will regret it for the rest of your life, in terms of family upheaval, shattered relationships and unnecessary strife. You will not be very popular at family reunions, either. Take the compensation, the pain will subside, even if that seems unimaginable at this time.

I could not live with myself. Why should I not be compensated? If it had happened to any other worker there would have already been a settlement. Why does he feel his son should not have the same? It's a respect thing.

Be prepared for the inevitable familial damage, I suspect your Father will react very, very badly to even the suggestion of a law suit. If you feel you must, I suppose you must. I did many things I now regret when I was nineteen, that I certainly wish I had the opportunity to redo now that I am older & hopefully, wiser.

I would ask you to think long and hard about this before initiating any such suit. Please talk with your most trusted mature advisor who knows both you and your Father prior to proceeding down this path. But ultimately, let your conscience be your guide.

Your Dad hired you, you're being compensated for the summer, you're getting free room, board, and nursing care.... to me, your parents are showing they DO respect you. If you sue, just to make some kind of "See? I;'m an adult" point, you will regret it for many, many years. The unnecessary rift you cause will not mend as quicker nor as cleanly as your broken leg.

And, I've been there -- that IS the type of point you want to make.

Worker's Comp does not compensate for 'pain and suffering.' If you want to sue your father, go ahead, but it's a little unrealistic to expect money beyond your medical bills and lost wages because you got a boo-boo (my injury left my impaired for life, by the way).

in exchange, you lose the right to sue other workers AND you lose the right to sue your employer.
WC pays for medical, lost wages and a small percentage if there was a permanent injury, as a percentage of the body as a whole. If you lose an arm, you get so many week pay, a leg, this many.

You would never see a jury in most states, because your case would be laughed out of court. Sorry.

Now about that pain. Think of yourself as lucky that you didn't die or become totally paralyzed. A few inches higher, and bye bye.

Keep it in the family. Get some good drugs and enjoy the
summer. 19 year old bodies heal nicely, don't drag us
in to a family slagging match when you are taking backhanders
already. Maybe that negligent employee has an issue with
the lucky son who gets a high wage because he's a daddy's boy.

Lotsa stuff goin' on there, and growing up is realizing that life ain't fair.

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There are a lot of unwritten things in a family,
and a family business, that simply are way too complex
to make for a fair "advise" here.

You added the "ha ha" in that, sir. Your mind is freeping you.
16 dollars is not a normal summer job wage unless you know
somebody. Likely the coworkers knew this and resented it.

Jerky minds read extra words to fulfil their judgement.
Stuff you "ha ha", and learn to read.

What is the point of bringing up that coworkers may have resented this? Does that make my injury just in your mind because you believe I get paid too much? Do you believe he purposely injured me out of jealousy? What is your point here?

Your post, carries it the a priori presumption that you were horribly wronged and deserve compensation... sounds like you've been compensated, as many of us have had broken
bones in life and they heal, but i've never gotten medical treatment and months of
wages for a broken bone, you're well cared for.

You are clearly proud of the rate, or you would not have told us. Lotsa people
around DU don't make that much money, and are much older than you, with much
more experience. (not my own case, BTW, just in case you think this is personal).
By introducing your rate, you rub peoples nose in it, and as you just did it on DU,
you probably did it at your job too. As well, you being the "son", are an heir
apparent to the business, and stepping in to a political role when you take a
job with the family company.

This context, you've left out, as you don't believe it important, and i'm suggesting
that you are being naive, and your father is, having raised you and supported you,
been very good to you.

The very question of suing your dad, when he's obviously raised you to have the best,
materially, education-wise, and even high paying summer jobs, smacks of arrogance and
poor breeding. So yes, i think your leg is a lesson that life is not fair,
and that sometimes we take pain for the people we love, like your father has done for you.
Moreover, to raise the issue on the democratic underground, to make a public
affair out of it, really shows poor taste.

That is my point. Take it or leave it.

1) I believe I should be compensated for pain and suffering because I would have received my wage if I hadn't been injured anyway. But now I can't move, I'm in constant pain, all of which were not my fault. My life is a huge inconvienice now. I'm sorry, in my mind I should be compensated. You disagree. That's fine.

2) Me bringing up my rate was to give backround to the situation. It wasn't to rub it in your face. Your comment reveals more about you than about me. Stop assuming things. And no, i did not mention my wage to the other workers. Although, it's not like they don't know. Like I said, standard student part-time wage. I wasn't bragging.

3) Have you ever talked to a construction worker before? They don't care about my "politcal role" in the business. They care about being with their family, riding their bikes and getting their pay check.

You need better drugs, your doctor underperscribed you. You should not
have pain. I'm sorry for your suffering, i didn't do it. If you get to a
proper doctor, you won't be in pain.

Whatever your rationalization, you know the wage is 10 dollar/hour over the
minimum wage, and that many folks on DU don't make that, and it was not at all
relevant to the story, the wage. Its a good wage, and you should be proud of
it, but it is unhumble given your audience; and that says a great deal about you.

I know many construction workers, who work by the job, hoping for more work,
wherever they get it. I have also heard the grumbling alcohol-loosened tongues
of construction workers bitching about the lucky kids of family owned
construction businesses.

Turning on your family is not heroic, no matter how much pain. Pain teaches
us what we really stand for.

"My pain, what about me me me me..." is the talk of a child.

imho

If he hasn't, he's breaking the law. Paying your wages for the summer will not help if it turns out you have lost range of motion in your leg or end up with nerve damage or other form of long term handicap. My wife works in Worker's Comp, if you have any problems with your Dad filing the claim, PM me and I'll ask her what the next step is.

Document your experience with photos and journal entries, in case you do eventually decide to sue, but make sure you get that Worker's Comp claim filed, because that will take care of you for the rest of your life -- the few dollars you get for pain and suffering won't.

I was told to tell them I was just visiting the work site when the accident happened. I agreed since he told me I would only get 3/4 pay if I told the truth.

claim, which is understandable. Each incident ups his rate for YEARS to come.

He's being fair to you, imo.

DO YOUR PHYSICAL THERAPY. It's very important, recovery-wise.

Here's what she said:

1. Crush injuries can do nerve damage and circulatory system damage to your leg. She has lots of files of people with the same sort of injury you have that have some degree of permanent damage.

2. You can file a claim retroactively, but it's "red-flagged", meaning scrutinized more carefully. The longer you wait to file, the more difficult it is to corroborate your story, and the more alternate explanations there are for your claim. The earlier you file, the better.

3. If you know your Dad's insurance company, you can simply call them on the phone and say "I'd like to file a worker's comp. claim."

I don't know your Dad, but I'd talk to him and say that you've looked into it and found that there's a potential of permament nerve and/or circulatory damage, and you want to be covered for that. I would hope that if you explain it to him that way, he might care enough to file the claim himself. If he absolutely won't, you have some tough issues to deal with. Can you appeal to your Mom or other family members to stand with you and intervene?

You have to weigh your relationship with your Dad (and how the rest of your family will react) with the potential of living with permanent pain or injury down the road, and not being able to afford treatment for it. You're 19, so it's likely you don't have health insurance, and if you need physical therapy, surgery, or medication to deal with long term effects, how will you get it without Worker's Comp? Will Dad pay for it? If you're on his health insurance, how much longer will he/can he keep you there? These effects can last a lifetime.

All in all, you need to sit down with Dad (and Mom?) and have a real talk about this. Tell them your concerns, listen to theirs, ask Dad how he would feel if you filed a Worker's Comp claim, ask him what he would tell you to do if you'd been working for someone else and this had happened. Family is important, but you are important, too, and there could be real consequences to your injury. I'm sure your folks love you, so hopefully it's just a matter of getting them to see that it's not just a broken leg, it's a crush injury that may impact your life for many more years down the road. I really hope your Dad sees the light and chooses to file the claim himself.

by far.

The best thing is to be informed and to make the case with the father. It's a legit concern. Making a big family scene and suing the dad isn't a good answer, but trying to find some other compromise is.

This seems like a no brainer to me. First of all, if the employer had not been your father, you would probably not be entitled to "pain and suffering" because the injury would be covered by workmen's comp. The entire purpose of that system is to make the system of paying employees who suffer injuries faster, fairer, less litigious and more efficient. In other tort cases, every lawyer knows that the term, "pain and suffering" is code in part for attorney's fees, not for the actual pain felt by the injured person. By eliminating drawn out litigation, workers comp system eliminates most pain and suffering payments.

But more to the point, don't you realize that if you sue, it is your father and not the other employee who pays? Under the doctrine of respondiat superior, an employer is responsible for the torts caused by his employees. If you sue your own family, which is supporting you, aren't you just taking money from one pocket of the family to put in other pocket of the family -- filtered through a legal system that is charging $300-$500 per hour? Why on earth would you do that?

Lastly, you were involved in a family business. Why can't you just suck it up, thank your Dad for supporting you and take your pain medication?

Sorry if that is harsh advice, but honestly I can't imagine contemplating the course of action you are thinking about.

I feel if I let this go I'm just letting him take another injustice on me as as I believe he has done in the past. When he arrived at the hospital, he kept repeating to me it was "only an accident" several times. This showed me he cared more about the liability of his business than the care of his son (At this point we didn't even know the extent of the damage, which could have been as severe as losing all mobility under my left knee).

yourself...which is understandable. Of COURSE he cares about you. A lawsuit isn't going to improve your relationship. Ever.

he needs one about now don't you think. He sounds like a good caring father to me. To sue would be like cutting your nose off to spite your face. You asked, I said.

edit to add: I worked with and for my brother for years and I wouldn't have given it any thought to sue him over anything. I love him, he loves me and we are both growing old with smiles on our faces.

And you say he doesn't care??? Almost everyone's relationship with their parents is rocky when they are 19. It's called growing up... you are responding like your Dad took a crowbar and did a Nancy Kerrigan on you.

When I was 16, I fell off a tractor on the family farm and got run over by the tractor and wagon. No broken bones, but it nearly cut my ear off.
The ear was salvaged and a little redo surgery and it is barely noticeable. This was 30 years ago and I'm sure dad was hit plenty hard with the medical bills.
I am lucky to be alive and I am thankful.
Compensation($) would be great, but the backlash will not be worth it in my opinion.

Had a tractor run over them at least once. It's very interesting...

I mean runover. My accident had several things leading up to it. Rough road, fatique, etc. Football conditioning had just started, so there was a couple of hours of running and then I went home to stack straw bales in a stifling shed with temps in the 80's. We (my cousin, God rest his soul- he died of cancer) and I were going between farms with an empty trailer. I was standing on the rail leaning/sitting on the fender, while my cousin was speed shifting the tractor. He got er up to 4th gear and hit a rumble strip style spot in the gravel road. With all the shaking going on, my butt got too near the tire tread and it pulled me under. When I stood up behind the trailer, cuz asks me if I'm ok and I said yeah, I think so. Then he pointed at my ear which was only held on by about the top inch of skin and flapped like a wing.
Sorry to go into it, but I guess it was time to retell it. Seldom does anyone mention my ear which looks pretty normal except for a little cobbling on the ear lobe which was rebuilt from skin behind my ear. It takes a bold or cold person to point at the ear and ask. Most people just ignore it and assume that something happened.
:hi:

careless working for him though, sounds like he (the negligent worker you described) could just as easily have killed someone.

Don't make a big deal out of this, you only have one Dad.
If you were to file a claim his insurance would be raised.
It wasn't your dad's fault, but some idiot that should be fired.
I hope you heal up, I got hurt when I was 19 and have had 10 surgery's so far, but that was a knee injury.
Take the summer off, use the cast to maximum effect on the girls...I did, and I had alot of fun.;)

If the accident was caused by another employee of your father's company and was not due to the negligence of a third party (like the employee of some other company on the job site or a defect in the equipment or machinery being used) your only legal recourse is workers compensation. Workers comp would pay for your medical bills, temporary disability (according to the formula in your state and usually less per week than your actual wages) and then if you have a permanent injury you would get payment for that, again, depending on a state forumula which usually states a set amount for a certain percentage of disability. However, workers comp does NOT pay for pain and suffering and you cannot collect damages from your employer for pain and suffering due to negligence.

Your father is probably paying you more than you are entitled to if he is paying your full wages, assuming that you have a full recovery and no permanent disability. If you do have a permanent injury then you can file a workers comp claim, for which I am sure he is covered since state laws require all employers to carry comp insurance. If it turns out you have a permanent injury I'm sure your Dad will probably tell you to file as well.

But no matter what, no pain and suffering is covered.

PS - Yes, I am a lawyer and I have handled Workers Comp claims.

for SPOILING you, not for pain and suffering. You are getting 16 dollars an hour for DAY LABOR, living in your Dad's house, hell he might even be paying for your college, you are getting paid for the whole summer to do nothing but heal, and you want to SUE him?

Jesus H. Christ on a purple polka dotted polo stick do you have a lot to learn. Grow up son.

I'd talk to him.

I hope your leg heals well. Personally, I don't think people ought to be paid for "pain and suffering." If so, who the hell should pay me for the bad back, the bad knee, the arthritis? Why the hell doesn't my ex have to pay me for life? His infidelity still causes me pain. I still suffer.

If there is reason to believe that you will be disabled after you have healed, and that you will not be able to work in the career of your choice, you might have a case. If so, shouldn't you be suing the negligent worker? Isn't he/she the one who caused the pain and suffering?

I wouldn't sue my mom if I were injured on her property, or doing something for her. I know that would increase her insurance costs, and guess who is the one taking care of her, and her business, when she can no longer do it herself? That would be shooting myself in the foot, as well as gouging my own mother.

I think your dad was paying you a great wage; day labor around here goes for about $10 an hour. Your dad is making sure that you won't lose any income over the summer while you are recovering. That's good. Is he also helping to pay for any of your university education costs?

Workers comp laws don't allow it. He could only sue if a 3rd party outside of his father's company caused the accident. Otherwise his only recourse is a workers comp claim.

Was it a worker who blatantly does not have near the skills necessary to work in the job he was working in? Was it just a temporary oversight of judgement or has this employee had other incidents that put people in danger?

If this employee is completely incompetent and your father turns a blind eye to his poor performance for sake of cutting corners and getting cheap labor or can be shown to be reckless in his hiring/management/safety policy practices by letting someone that incompetent take part in activities that require skill and pose a risk, then he would bear liability.

But if this is just a worker who generally has the skills to perform the task at hand but made a mistake that he usually wouldn't make, then I'd leave it alone.

It would have to be one hell of a legitimate claim that your father engages in reckless management practices by completely not caring about incompetence at the job site in order for me to recommend something as brutal as suing him. And from one of your replies it seems there is potential for you wanting to do this out of a vindictive nature towards your father for a rocky past. If that's the case I find that deplorable. But if he allows incompetent workers to run rampanat at the job site without any recourse than that may be a different story.

Either way, if your leg is expected to heal fully and you just have to deal with pain for a few weeks, I'd seriously consider not taking an action as brutally disturbing as suing your father. I would like to know what this total neglicence was in detail on the employees part, however.

You are right that recklessness is an exception to the general rule that you can't sue in workers comp situations, but I didn't mention it because it is so unlikely to ever prevail on such a claim. In over 20 years of handling comp claims as a lawyer I never saw a single one that was successful.

A machine operator was moving these hydro poles and slammed a pole with another pole which then proceeded to roll onto my leg. He "didn't see me", even though I was in his clear viewpoint. Yes, an accident, but nevertheless negligent.

It sounds 100% innocent and accidental. It is nothing more than a workers comp case and I find the sentiment to sue your father for pain and suffering to be vindictive, selfish and plain wrong. So I'd advise against it.

Based on your above detail, I'd wager you are just looking for some way to stick it to your father, but it seems like he did nothing wrong here. You should leave him alone.

Suing somebody is a severe and serious act and should be reserved for legitimate cases. In this case, it seems you are just acting immaturely with a pyschological need at getting back at your father and I find that to be shameful.

I hope you heal up easy, have a good summer and that the pain isn't too hard on you. But let your father be ok?

I worked construction when I was in school and every job I had I made certain (and my boss advised me to do so as well) to stay far clear of any heavy equipment operators while they were working their machines.

decide how much money I'm born into. It's not about money. It's about principle. That is why I'm asking for advice. Can we please not get into personal attacks about how I am "spoiled" or I'm "royal" even though you don't have enough information to know the depth and complexities of the relationships in my family. Please try to just understand my viewpoint and not judge me.

your Father and the rest of your family then sue him. If you want to continue to have a Father and family don't sue him. Simple. As I said earlier, maybe even discussing this is why Republicans get the idea we as Liberals have no family values.

rightwingers think poorly of us ...

And I'm sorry but I have judged and continue to hold the judgement that you are just a 19 yr old looking for a payday and a way to get back at your father. In my opinion you were as much at fault in this accident as the employee by not making sure he knew you were there and being in his plain line of sight. You get free room and board, don't even offer to pay rent, and your father has agreed to continue paying you through the summer. And yet though he looks out for you, hires you, lets you live under his roof for free, and probably pays your tuition, you want to turn around and sue your own friggin father for an innocent accident that he wasn't part of but that you bear some blame in?

Sorry bro, I can't help judging that scenario. I think the whole sentiment is disgraceful and pathetic.

Again, sorry you got hurt, but you need to grow up.

than your full wages.

Your father seems to be willing to pay all of your medical bills AND compensate you for FULL wages lost.

That's a better deal than you're going to get anyplace else UNLESS you sue...which seems ridiculous to me, especially when you're talking about your father.

Suing for pain and suffering, especially when your employer is willing to pay full lost wages, is NOT a matter of "principle"...

..it's a matter of greed.

Your Dad handled this better than most Dads or employers would have. He's paying you for the summer. He's giving you room and board, plus nursing care, I expect.

Do you truly want to jeopardize your relationship with your parents, possibly forever, just to make some kind of POINT?

And, juries often don't find for pain and suffering. Or it's a negligible amount. Accident happen, your Dad was a stand up guy about it. Let it alone. This is a road you don't want to start down.

He is your father, giving you a job, paying all of your living expenses and paying you your salary for the remainder of the summer. (Is he paying for college?) Unfortunately you got hurt but nowhere do you suggest that he runs an unsafe operation - just had the bad luck of having a careless employee and you got hurt as a result. Not minimizing your pain but did you father have any clue that he had a significant risk by employing the guy who hurt you? Did he ignore the risk?

Hours working for Dad - $16.00/hr, full employment for the summer - something lots of college student wish they had, bad luck getting hurt but still getting paid - fair and understandable but wanting to sue father for more bucks - priceless. You will never be able to measure the damage you could do to your relationship with your family, his company, etc. - still want the money? Because no matter how lofty you try to pose this as a "principle" scenario - its about money. Period.

And if it is turned over to Worker's Comp expect to be married with a couple of kids and maybe a grandkid or two before the issue is settled. WC insurance companies (at least in the US) can drag it out forever and in the mean time you are wrecking havoc with your family, his company, and maybe even your father's and the family's financial wellbeing.

Nothing good can come out of suing your father and his company unless your pain and suffering compensation means more than a good relationship with you family.

*EDIT* - For clarification - I am responding to OP. Sorry, thought that was clear when I was discussing his father, careless employee, etc. etc.

I could not imagine suing him for an injury but my father sounds like a different man. If my father had been on that construction site the first thing he would have done is go after that negligent worker with a crowbar. At hospital he wouldn't have said anything about how it was 'an accident just an accident' and he wouldn't have basically blackmailed me with the 'you only get 3/4 pay is you tell the truth'.

If this is a break that the doctors believe you will recover from fully then I would let it go and next summer work somewhere else. Your father is a business man from a purely logical standpoint you wouldn't want to loose those connections he will have once you graduate, much less if he is footing the bill for your schooling.

Not worth it to sue.

IF you haven't burned the bridges or broken the bank.

I guess what I am saying is that IF my son sued me under these conditions after I paid his tuition (I assume he is?), gave him room and board, and a good-paying job when he had no experience, I'd sever all ties and change my will to reflect the fact he'd got his pound of flesh out of me when he took me to court.

I'd cut him out of my will and move him out of my house. And he could pay for his own education.

of getting it to a jury would take YEARS. You wouldn't be talking to an injury lawyer, they won't touch it, this is a worker's compensation case regardless of the fact that your father is the employer.

And guess what? Pain is no longer the cash cow it once was. Worker's Comp isn't shit anymore and pain and suffering pays at 8%. That's right, 8% of the total cost of the medical bills. Do the math.

Ka-ching isn't going to happen no matter who your lawyer is. Unless you've lost a limb or are permanently proveably disabled, WC sucks these days, the laws have completely changed.

Take the free ride. Enjoy the summer off with pay. Your leg won't hurt after another 2 days. You can party, enjoy hanging with your friends, picking up chicks on the sympathy git with the busted leg and best of all, you aren't subjected to the lame ass worker's comp docs who are undoubtably the WORST doctors on the planet.

Dude, you have NO idea how lucky you are.... none at all. Relax, chill out, take the ride, keep the peace and appreciate a dad who was willing to give you a job to begin and who's insurance you're still on.

your post rings true to me.

Sorting crabs, etc., as did all of my female and male cousins. Okay pay in cash, outside all day, etc. Occasionally, stuff happened, because that's life: broken legs, infections from rusty metal from the pots, etc. One of my cousins had a finger ripped almost all the way off. NONE of us sued, nor filed any claims, because accidents happen and it was family. The thought never, ever entered our minds, nor our parents. Accidents happen even when you have a desk job.

insurance and a lot of people's Dads might want their son to make the claim. It depends on how much it financially hurts him, and I see the problem with taking all your legal avenues. Taking full advantage of your legal rights might not be worth it if Dad is going to make an issue of it and get all offended.

Meanwhile, maybe Dad might realize he is lucky in a sense, that you got hurt and not some other ordinary employee, who certainly would sue his ass under every provision available in law. Frankly, Dad is looking for a way out from what he is legally responsible for, and has a way out because the "right" employee got hurt. He can bring your personal relationship into it.

Sounds to me like another employer might be a good thing for you. Then you won't have to deal with this emotional manipulation - it could come up with other things, too. Working for family will only work when they keep it professional, looks like so far, your Dad can't do that.

not only that, he told his son to lie about the accident. If this happened to any other employee he couldn't do it, you're right. But also, the son shouldn't try to take his dad to the cleaners either. It's a bad spot all around. The wrong move could ruin family relationships, pretty touchy stuff. I think you hit a good point, in the future it's best to not work for his dad anymore. Sure, it might be harder to find a job, but the risk of any unprofessional mess like this one is a lot less likely to happen again. I don't see how anyone could advocate the father taking advantage of the situation in that manner. Just because it is his son, and the son lives at home for the summer doesn't mean the son doesn't have rights as a worker.

.... training and experience in this area of the law as an impartial arbitrator, and whom you both trust for fairness, expertise, and impartiality.

The entire experience has to be very trying on you and your family. It's one of the reasons I hate to see kids/both under age and young adults working for their parents in jobs where serious injury can take place. It's hard enough when non-family are injured and "encouraged" not to make a claim for workers comp..but at least in those cases, the employer is not someone you love.

My concern is the complete healing of your leg with no continued pain or disability. Right now IIWY, I'd concentrate on letting your leg heal and once the bones mend, doing the proper physical therapy. Make sure you speak to your Dr. about what else may have been injured in the accident and what the long term prognosis is for a crushing type injury.

DO NOT SUE YOUR DAD. DON'T EVEN TRY TO. Some people can't seem to understand that I am saying that.

Find out what you would normally be entitled to. Get some free legal advice on that. Just know what your rights are. Be reasoned and well-informed. Sit down with your dad and talk it out. If he isn't seeing it your way, you have no choice but to let it go. Maybe consult your mom and see if she'll help you with the argument. It was not right of your dad to tell you to lie though. Doing so now allows him to dictate the terms to you, and that isn't good. Just look for a fair, just and equitable solution. But, in the end, if he isn't buying it, you have to understand that you can't rip up your family with something like this. Your dad is your dad. You only have one family. You absolutely do not want to lose them over money. However, you have a serious injury, there is lots of little things that could go wrong with it that could make it even more serious. Nerves and so on. Your dad can't take that lightly, it wouldn't be moral of him to do so. You may only have a Worker's Comp claim, and since your dad already had you lie -which I can't believe some people are justifying - you might be screwed if you try to go back and change your story. I don't know, but that may be a big problem for all parties. Look into what you would be entitled under a Worker's Comp claim, I, personally, do not know. Whatever that allows is what your dad should give you. If that does not include pain and suffering, and he isn't willing to compensate you for it, then don't pursue anything more. Just concentrate on getting healthy and recovering.

Isn't this DU? Don't we lay out all possible options before making up our minds about something? What's with all the criticism.

I'm just making clear what I was saying earlier when I gave some advice. I got torn apart for suggesting you look into your legal rights by others who disagreed with me. I'm saying exactly what you just did. Look at all your options, make sure you are well-informed on what your rights are and try to work something out with your dad. Just because you are his son, does not mean you do not have certain rights as a worker. Regardless of how you got the job or that you live at home or anything like that, you were legitimately working for your money, you not only were robbed of your ability to work for a living -at least temporarily, but you had a serious injury in the process. If your dad is supposed to compensate a worker, any worker, in a certain manner than he should do so. You aren't being spoiled, or a bad son or bad person, by asking to be compensated fairly and by the law. That he made you lie is completely BS. He should not have done that, and if it was to save a few bucks at the expense of his son, well, then that is a pretty shitty thing to do. I don't care what anybody says.

It was just something I wanted to add to your post. I appreciate your support and your non-bias approach to the topic I've addressed.

I just believe you need to be treated fairly, because your health is at stake and so on. Just like any worker would be. And, I don't believe either you or your dad should have a big battle over it all. For everyone's sake. :) Be safe and get healthy!

I'm not entirely sure, but when I read the initial report of his dad saying he would only get 3/4 of his pay if he was honest with the WC official, I didn't take that as a "I'll pay you 3/4 if you're honest, and full pay if you lie." I took it as "If you're honest, your WC claim will yield 3/4 of your pay, whereas I will pay you full pay." This way the son gets more money than he would through WC, and the father doesn't have to pay an increased premium for years. A mutually beneficial scenario.

I don't disagree with other things you said, I just wanted to point out that the father's motivation for the WC deception might not have been purely bottom-line. It's kind of unclear from what was posted.

it may be mutually beneficial, I don't know. Hopefully, that is the case.

you only get 3/4 pay on WC - the amount you would clear with a "normal" paycheck. We all know that we usually pay more than 25% in taxes but in the end you lose because you have to claim the WC "income" on your taxes and THEN pay taxes on the money - with no withholding to offset. I think the father was trying to advise him that if they turn in the claim his benefits would be less than what he would receive if the father continues to pay him. I prefer to think the father was thinking about the son and doing the right thing in addition to avoiding instead WC claims that will reverberate for years to come for the company.

Also, in many states, if a worker contests the WC board's findings all benefits cease while their case is winding their way through the courts. I worked for a WC attorney once upon a time and if we represented the employer's WC insurance carrier the attorneys would often delay, delay, delay just to starve the employee out and forcing them to settle. Hateful system, but that is often the way it is. I've seen terrible cases with grievous injuries to an employee that eventually ended up with the employee walking away with very little to show for it. The dice are loaded against someone making a WC claim - and the WC laws are getting weaker and weaker as we speak. If the father is trying to make the son/employee whole, I say good for him.

you get workers' comp and that is all and there are no payments for pain and suffering in workers' comp. You get a weekly payment that is less (in some states far less) than your wage plus medical bills and a smallish payment for any permanent impairment. If you fully recover (I'd be surprised to see a permanent impairment rating for a broken leg) and your dad pays your medical bills and your wages you're ahead of anything the court would give you. It's called exclusive remedy. Your employer is protected by law from paying any more than that.

The only problem is, if you don't report it as a workers' comp accident and you have problems years later and at that point you dad won't pay you could be in trouble. You should talk to your doctor about the likelihood of that happening. If it is zero or remote, be happy, you've got way more than the law allows. Additionally, if he's only going to pay you through the summer and if you're not able to return to work at the end of the summer, you could get the weekly payments until you can go to work. But, again, with a broken leg (I've seen 100s of them in these types of cases) its unlikely you'll not be ready for school or some type of work come fall.

(I'm a lawyer and practiced workers' comp full time for 10 years and part time for 5 years before that.)

Is he the type that is normally there for you when you need him? If so, then I wouldn't push this. That's just going to strain your relationship.

Heck, the fact that he's your father might be the reason you're being compensated for the rest of the summer. How many employers wouldn't fight that idea?

Old school Sicilian parent who believes in tough love. Is known for his physical, mental, and emotional abuse. He basically coerced me into the job because he thinks I don't work hard enough. Very bi-polar. Very conservative.

Also, I am the first major injury in his companies history.

After healing, I would find another job and move out on my own. Show him you don't need his help in any way. If you sue him, you're just going to re-enforce his ideas.

I had much the same thing going on, at least the abuse. Only thing that eventually worked is that I didn't talk to him much anymore and (this was probably the big thing) his second wife separated from him. Finally went into therapy and is doing much much better. Getting upset with him never worked, he just showed no emotion toward hurting other people, but losing everyone around him was something that could adjust his attitude. I didn't even tell him that I was deliberately avoiding him, because that might have just strengthened his resolve; it might have been a matter of him finding out that people had little reason to want to be around him.

Other DU'ers have suggested that you discuss you concerns with your parents. Others have mentioned getting advice on Workers' Comp; too bad that you lied like a good little boy.

I add my voice to the chorus telling you NOT to sue. At least, wait until you are 100% self supporting--room, board & tuition. (I don't know details of the Estate Tax in Canada; but that will NOT be a problem if you sue!)

that blows me away. I don't see how he could go back and file a claim after he already lied. Lots of problems for him and his dad's business I would think. "So why did you lie in the first place...." Not good.

I'm objecting unwarranted insults and assumptions. Yeah, I was a "good little boy". But what the hell did I know at that point? My leg was just crushed and I just wanted relief. Also, it wasn't worth the consequences of telling the truth. I probably woulda had two broken legs.

shouldn't it? Just like any other employer...

Do not sue your Dad....but, this should be a worker's compensation claim. I hope everyone is thinking this through....and any accident on a job site may also involve whatever OSHA organization may (or may not be)called for.

Medical bills and any lost work should be part of the worker's comp claim...you never mentioned if he had that (he should) or if anyone discussed this avenue?

You've got to be kidding.

But your pain is your pain. It looks like you have more issues than what you posting here. The real thing is no one can be objective but you. It's your life and looking for others to lead you through YOUR decision and dilemma is not a position of strength. You will lose if if you take others advice and not follow your own heart to the place you know as correct.

First off, you were overpaid to begin with. General non-skilled construction labor around Montreal goes at about ten bucks an hour, unless you are in the union. My guess is that he was also paying you under the table, so in reality he was paying you the equivalent of about twenty-five bucks an hour, when you take out the tax bite.

You're getting full pay for the summer, plus free room and board. And of course, your medical expenses are covered by the province.

If you try to sue your father, the first thing his lawyer will order him to do is to stop paying you. Then you will spend the next five years fighting with CSST for a fraction of your pay, and no pain and suffering pay.

Your father sounds like he is trying to do right by you. If you tried to pull that crap on me, I would stop paying you, and kick your tail out of the house.

And as far as him worrying about the liability against his business, he has a valid concern. How many people work for him? Those people all have families to support, not to mention him supporting his own family, including an ungrateful son.

You should take a week's pay and buy your father a nice gift.

for our suffering. Were you not living at home, were you not working for your father at the time of the accident, I'd say you should pursue your claim for pain and suffering. But as it stands, you do injury to your father and make yourself look like an ass to boot, if you sue. Whether or not you are owed money is not the question. The question is, will it be worth it? Eventually the money will be gone, but you will have to deal with your family for years to come.

Just wanted to get back in here and say :hi: to the lounge. Usually the threads I am in fall into the 9/11 dungeon. :rofl: :tinfoilhat:

I think there is a lot of good advice offered here and I think there is some consensus on not suing your father. I was going to add that construction pays maybe 12$/hr unskilled and 15$ for some skills. You are/were doing pretty well at 16$/hr.

Another thing came to mind is --were you standing around not paying attention to equipment and stuff around you. If so, your own negligence could have played a part in the accident. No doubt, any defense in the case would point it out that maybe you were not where you were supposed to be and not paying attention.

:dem:

It seems that he does, but perhaps he does not.
The only thing that a lawyer can do for you is fuck your dad over, and take 40% of what you get.
Is that what you want?