Warehouse and big box store injuries are often more serious and complex than regular work injury cases. These types of injuries usually result from a heavy physical demand level job or tools that are not as common at smaller workplace locations. This can lead to more severe physical and emotional trauma. Additionally, the workers’ compensation system may treat these cases differently, with specific regulations and requirements tailored to the unique risks and challenges faced by employees in these environments.

These types of work locations use heavy machinery to handle large products and service a greater volume of customers. For instance, in Tyson Foods, Inc. vs. Guzman, the employee was injured in a forklift accident. In re Lowe’s Companies, Inc. dealt with an employee who was injured when a sink fell off of a high shelf onto a Lowe’s employee’s head. McEwen v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. involved a trip and fall over the mats at the front door of the Wal-Mart store. In Lacy v. Walmart Stores et al, a worker was actually hit by a car in the parking lot while chasing down a thief. An employee at Target was hit by the guy pushing the carts back into the store (Pineda v. Target Corporation). And, there’s always the story about the delivery driver injured in a motor vehicle accident (Amazon.com Services, LLC v. De La Victoria).

When you are dealing with the types of stores and warehouses that sell and distribute large products, accidents can result in greater harm than you might see in an office setting. Refrigerators fall over (Green v. Lowe’s Home Centers). The bigger the injury, the harder most of these types of companies will fight. That is what adds to the complexities of warehouse and big box store injuries.

The lawyers who advise warehouse and big box stores about injury cases have helped them develop strategies to limit how hard you can hit them for damages. For instance, they generally don’t have real workers’ compensation insurance. They have “accident plans” that they control. They often get their employees to sign arbitration agreements which take away the right to sue. So, it is important to get the best legal counsel you can find to help you fight back.

Just so you understand the power of these warehouse and big box companies’ arbitration agreements, the courts have enforced these with regularity (HEB Grocery Co. v. Perez). In Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Constantine, Wal-Mart was able to get the court to even limit an employee’s heirs to arbitration after the employee died in a work accident.

But, good lawyers can work within the systems we have. In Albertson’s v. Sinclair, great injury lawyers were able to get the court to recognize that the Texas workers’ compensation laws are to be liberally construed. This means that the intent of the statute is for injured workers to get coverage for their injuries and get the benefits that have been designed for them – even after warehouse and big box store injuries. In another case, the warehouse and big box store lawyers tried to limit an employee’s recovery based on how negligent the employee was in causing his own injury (Kroger v. Keng), but the court rightly determined that the law says that the employee’s negligence doesn’t matter as long as the warehouse and big box stores were negligent in any way.

Warehouse and big box store injuries can be brutal. However, knowing the law, and how to fight using the law, can equalize the playing field. At MLF Legal, we fight these battles every day.