Family of Employee Killed on the Job Sues Minnesota City’s Insurer
The family of a Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, a maintenance worker who fatally injured after being struck by a car while emerging from a manhole, sued the city’s insurance provider.
According to a report from the St. Cloud Times, the city employee was killed on June 19, 2006, while employed by the city.
The lawsuit filed in Benton County District Court alleges the insurance provider for Sauk Rapids is breaching its contract by not compensating the family underinsured motorist benefits. The case is scheduled to go to a pretrial hearing in January.
According to the lawsuit, the driver was an underinsured motorist, and her insurer already has paid its policy limit of $100,000 to finalize a wrongful death claim filed by the victim’s family. The driver also pled guilty to inattentive driving.
The decedant’s family has been seeking underinsured motorist benefits from the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, the defendant in the lawsuit and the city’s insurer, but their application was denied. (workersxzcompxzkit)
The accident led to a $25,000 fine against the city from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
According to OSHA, the work area was not properly marked by traffic signs, barricades or other devices.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, health care, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He can be contacted at: [email protected] or 860-786-8286.
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