My girlfriend fractured her tailbone by slipping and falling at work. She works at a top rated pizza franchise. She said the floor was slick because the restrauant had closed down for about a week to be remodeled and have the floor replaced. The vinyl floor was replaced with a concrete floor that has a shinny surface. The store has cameras and her fall was recorded on tape. She was out of work off and on for about one month and was given pain medication to help her cope. She does not have any serious complications from the fall and injury. She was given the OK to return to work. She received workers compensation for the period she was out of work. They want her to sign a waiver to end the workers comp and I think that she will be offered a settlement of 52 weeks of wages from their insurance. Since that time the pizza franchise has been looking at fixing the floor that my girlfriend slipped on but is not admitting any fault. My question is if she should take the settlement or get a personal injury lawyner and sue. She makes $7.25 per hour and works about 35 hours per week. She will probably receive about $10,000 from the settlement. Should she settle or get a lawyner and sue?

She needs to consult with a workman's compensation attorney - not a personal injury attorney. The workman's comp attorney will review her case, medical records and give a good opinion as to whether she should settle or not. If she is in need of future medical care due to the slip and fall he will be sure to see that the future medicals are included in the settlement.

Sounds like a reasonable settlement to me. With no lasting injury and only losing a month of work, the settlement sounds more than reasonable. I doubt she would get as much in a suit.

It they offer her anything beyod her bills being paid and her work time being paid, she is lucky, They have no need to offer any settlement if there is no lasting injury, normally this never happens on minor injury

In some States you cannot sue your employer - the way around it is to sue a third party which caused the condition (the contractor, for example) and the contractor "brings in" the employer.

As Twinkie said - this is the stuff which a WC Attorney would handle to make sure her benefits are protected.

Otherwise I agree with everyone else - I see no permanent injury, no "substantial" (in the words of the law) injuries.