Asheville UPS drivers bitten while making deliveries can seek help with their medical bills and in supporting themselves and their families while they can’t work. This might include holding a dog owner and UPS liable for a debilitating injury.
Melrose Law of Asheville stands by drivers and helps them earn support that lasts until they are fully healed and able to return to their delivery routes. We offer all delivery drivers in the Asheville Area a free, no-obligation consultation after a frightening dog attack. It’s time to focus on healing while allowing us to fight on your behalf.
How Do I Know If I Need a Lawyer After a Dog Bite?
If your injuries are only minor, just a scratch and some bruising, you may not need the help of an attorney for your case. But when injuries are more serious, like an injured hand or bone fractures, a lawyer may be a necessary advantage and protection. The medical costs will be higher in these cases, and those expenses determine how hard an insurance company or United Parcel Service (UPS) will fight to avoid blame.
Your Asheville delivery driver dog bite attorney would be ready to hold those responsible fully liable for all hardships that you had to face. Your lawyer would provide these and other advantages for your case:
- Fully investigating the accident, the dog owner’s and the dog’s past history, and UPS’s responsibility to its employees to keep them safe.
- Filing a personal injury claim against the responsible parties and backing each claim with evidence
- Negotiating so that injured delivery drivers receive the most possible for their recoveries.
- Monitoring settlement offers and rejecting them when insurers owe the victim more.
- Preparing evidence for a lawsuit in case a dog owner or UPS refused to accept responsibility.
- Offering legal protection when UPS lawyers and insurance providers try to pick your case apart.
- Helping victims file North Carolina Workers’ Comp claims and making sure they receive the maximum in weekly support.
In some cases, injured workers would file Workers’ Compensation claims, but not every dog bite victim receives the same level of support. Workers’ Comp Judges and Administrators must be made aware of the seriousness of an injury and the potential for additional care needed in the future. Our Asheville Dog Bite Lawyers ensure victims receive the right amount on a Workers’ Comp check for as long as needed.
Is a Dog Owner Responsible If I Get Bitten While Working for UPS?
When a dog with a history of aggression or a bite incident on record is involved in an attack, the dog owner is usually financially responsible. The same is usually true when a pet is considered a dangerous dog.
When a dog doesn’t have a past history and hasn’t been deemed dangerous, more effort has to go into proving that the dog owner’s negligence led to the dog bite. Dog owners are required to
These are just a few of the types of ways a dog owner can be held accountable under NC Law:
- The Dog Has Bitten Before or Is Considered a Dangerous Dog: When a dog has bitten someone in the past or has been deemed a dangerous dog by Buncombe County authorities, a legal concept called “strict liability” can be used. Strict liability means the dog owner is generally always liable for any bite and must help almost all victims with recovery. (There are a few exceptions mentioned below.) Strict liability indicates that the dog owner is responsible, and victims don’t have to prove negligence on the part of the owner to get help.
- The Dog Doesn’t Have a Record: In cases involving a dog with no prior record, delivery drivers would face a higher legal standard to show who was to blame. Proof would be needed to show a dog owner was negligent and that the negligence exposed the driver to harm. Strict liability doesn’t apply in this case, so it would be necessary to prove the dog owner’s liability, similar to any other type of personal injury case. Your Melrose Law attorney would collect evidence and testimony to show the dog owner’s negligence. This might include a dog owner who didn’t control pets properly, such as putting them behind fencing that wasn’t secure enough. It might include a dog owner who kept a dog on too long a leash.
- The Dog Attack Doesn’t Involve a Bite: In some cases, UPS drivers can be hurt by a dog without the dog using its teeth. An excited dog can knock a UPS driver down or even push them down a set of stairs unintentionally. Drivers can easily suffer broken bones and head injuries and require substantial support. Strict liability only applies to cases involving bites, so this would be another case that would be settled as a normal personal injury case. The victim would need to show that the dog owner’s negligence in keeping a dog under control caused a knockdown accident and that the fall that resulted caused an injury.
There are a few instances where a dog owner may be off the hook for an attack. Dog owners usually wouldn’t be liable for injuries if a victim was trespassing at the time of the attack.
This generally wouldn’t be an argument in a case involving a delivery driver. Homeowners and property owners are generally considered to have granted permission to enter their properties when they order something to be delivered by UPS. UPS workers usually wouldn’t be considered trespassers.
Victims also can’t have provoked dogs and then expect injury support. It isn’t likely that a delivery driver would provoke a dog. The driver would be expected to make a delivery by the safest means possible.
Can UPS Be Held Liable if a Delivery Driver Suffers a Dog Bite?
In some cases, yes. In many instances, the delivery driver might be directed to file a Worker’s Comp claim. This is an insurance program that employers in each state pay into. It provides help with replacing paychecks and paying hospital bills while a delivery driver is in recovery.
This would usually take the place of a claim filed against UPS. However, if UPS were negligent in its duty to keep employees safe and forced delivery drivers into dangerous situations, earning support through a claim or a lawsuit may be possible.
A skilled Melrose Law Dog Bite Attorney would investigate the company’s policy. If other employees had noted a dog bite danger at a particular address, or if the victim had complained about hazards at a home before, UPS may share some blame.
It can be difficult to determine every party that may be liable after a dog attack. It’s important to discuss your case with a skilled attorney in a free consultation before signing off on any support. In some cases, victims who accept Worker’s Comp can forfeit their ability to sue their employer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a claim after a dog bite in North Carolina?
North Carolina allows injured workers to wait up to three years before filing a personal injury claim. For a Workers’ Comp Claim, delivery drivers would usually need to alert their employer to an injury within 30 days. Then, they’d have the same two years from the date of the incident to file a claim with the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
What if I can’t afford to hire an Asheville dog bite attorney?
You don’t need any up-front money to hire excellent legal representation in Western North Carolina. Anyone can afford Melrose Law’s protection. Melrose Law lawyers work on a contingency basis. It means we only get paid if we win your case. If we lose, you don’t owe anything. If we win, our fee actually comes out of the settlement money that a dog owner or UPS must pay you.
What type of support can I get after a dog bite injury suffered while on the job?
Victims should receive help with all of their medical bills and any care they may require in the future. They should get any paychecks they lose while they can’t work reimbursed. Victims should collect their pay stubs to show what they have earned and what they lose while they are down with an injury. In a personal injury claim, victims could also seek help with the pain they must endure and may continue to experience. They could also ask for support for the emotional trauma of a frightening attack and a debilitating injury case.
Contact an Asheville Dog Bite Attorney
Your Melrose Law lawyer will fully investigate your accident and the dog owner responsible. The evidence gathered can make a big difference in the outcome of your case and the level of support you and your family receive. If your employer also needs to share in the blame, we can file claims against UPS.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a dog bite attack in Asheville, Waynesville, or anywhere in Western North Carolina, please give us a call for a free case evaluation. This call comes with “no strings attached,” and there is no obligation to hire us if you decide to give our office a call.
