Resigned on good terms over 3 years ago. Incident occur 6 months prior to my resignation and had NO bearing on me leaving the company. Staff at hospital where incident occurred sues my previous employer. I'm the star witness and I was already deposed. I am not negligent BUT company wants to settle and is under-insured(1M.) Lawyer informs me that company can't settle cause medical bills ,plus attorney fees max 1M+ so a jury trial is likely. If plaintiff wins he can get 1M and is ABLE to get a judgment on me!
Is this true? What about MY legal recourse? Incident occurred in NJ, proceedings in NJ, company located and based in PA.
I have 2 appts with lawyers but NOT until next week. I'm trying to cool my jets about something so ridiculous.
I was an ex-employee who was involved in a patient transfer--part of my job as a Biomedical Tech.All others involved were hospital employees. Patient almost fell off bed. Hospital employee "helped" or shall I say hurt themselves trying to hold up the obese patient. Hurt person sued my ex-employer and has 750k+ in medical bills plus legal fees and the 1m policy from my ex-employer is max out and will not be a viable alternate form of settlement. Since I was present and well exp on bariatric equipment. They (hospital staff) tried to pin negligence on me but in depositions this was unproven. Arbitration may be next then on to Jury Trial. I am NOT at fault as expert witnesses have proven and will prove in a jury trial if needed.
My concern is if the jury awards damages over 1m.the lawyer for my ex-employer said it's remote BUT possible that the injured plaintiff CAN come after me to collect the balance(judgment) if my ex-employer doesn't dip into their personal funds-private held company.
My ex-company and I are defendants in this case and are represented by the same lawyer BUT I am looking down the road to protect MY interests.
I did NO wrong and I won't be found negligent. The hospital employee can't sue his employer so he's suing my ex-company and myself---deep pockets.
Answer by mll804
It's difficult to help you with this question without understanding the full scope of the situation. I can't really decipher your question.
Answer by Chris M
I'm no lawyer, but I read a bit into it. I'm a little confused as to how you are related to the case. Did you do something wrong and your company got blamed for it? Are you a doctor, nurse, what are you? If you maltreated someone I do not think they would sue the hospital. But if the result of this case could reveal that you did do something wrong, I'd say they could sue you as well.
However I'm pretty sure the judgment of a case cannot affect an outside party. They would have to sue you next, which means you get your legal help too.
Answer by sylvia_jean_m
I am not a lawyer but I did work as a legal secretary. If you had your deposition taken, was it as a named defendant or a witness? Were you ever served with the complaint? As a legal secretary and also working in the collection agency field, and if this were me, I feel I could have a problem if the plaintiff wins. Here, in California, if a person loses on negligence it is my understanding that he can't even discharge the debt in bankruptcy. The collector side of me knows they would go for any and all assets any named defendant until the judgment was satisfied (paid). Why would you wait until after the deposition to talk to an attorney? Is it because you were never named in the complaint? What would worry me is subbrogation. In other words, the insurance pays on the policy and then they may look to sue who they think was responsible. Ask your lawyers about that possibility when you go in for your appointments.
Answer by Mel
The short answer is, yes, you can be sued - anyone can be sued for anything. It is unlikely that the plaintiff would collect; however, you would be paying legal fees to and spending time in court to defend yourself.
If you have significant assets that might make it worth his while to sue you (a house, investment accounts, etc.) you are more at risk than if you are renting a small apartment and living check to check. Any plaintiff's attorney is going to look at what the potential gain would be in pursuing a suit against you and if there is not enough there for them to make money off of, believe me, they will not bother pursuing you.
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Orignal From: Any lawyers, legal scholars or anyone with more Employment Law knowledge than me...?
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