Louisiana Workplace Slip & Fall Lawyer
A slip and fall at work in Louisiana usually runs on two tracks at once, and the first one does not ask who left the floor wet. Workers’ compensation pays for most on-the-job falls whether or not anyone was careless, which means a Louisiana workplace slip and fall lawyer has to think about the comp claim first and a separate negligence claim second. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation law firm that represents injured workers across Louisiana and Mississippi, with a focus on denied, delayed, and cut-off claims.
Falls are a favorite target for insurance adjusters because they are often unwitnessed. A worker goes down in a stockroom, on a loading dock, on a rain-slicked stairway at a job site, or on an oily deck, and by the time the adjuster calls, the story has become “the employee tripped over their own feet” or “that knee was already bad.” The strength of a fall claim often depends on what was documented in the first hours and days.
How a Workplace Fall Claim Differs From an Ordinary Slip and Fall
When a customer slips in a grocery store, the case turns on negligence: did the store know about the spill and fail to clean it up? When an employee slips in that same store while on the clock, the claim generally goes through workers’ compensation instead. Louisiana requires nearly every employer to carry coverage, and the system is built so that medical care and wage benefits are owed without proving anyone was at fault. In exchange, the injured worker generally cannot sue the employer for negligence.
That tradeoff cuts both ways. You do not have to prove the wet floor was the company’s fault, but you also cannot collect pain and suffering from your employer. What you can collect are reasonable and necessary medical treatment, weekly wage replacement while you cannot work, supplemental earnings benefits if you come back at lower pay, and additional benefits for permanent disability. Weekly benefit rates are set by the date of your accident and are tied to a statewide average wage, so the numbers are fixed at the time you are hurt.
The second track opens when someone other than your employer contributed to the fall. A property owner who leased space to your employer, a contractor who left debris on a shared site, a delivery customer whose premises were poorly maintained, or a company that made a defective ladder or walking surface can all face a separate injury claim. Those cases are decided on negligence principles, and they can add damages that comp never touches.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for a Workplace Fall Case
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Louisiana, from New Orleans and Baton Rouge to Lafayette, Lake Charles, Shreveport, and communities across South Louisiana and the northern part of the state, as well as workers across Mississippi. The firm’s attorneys bring over 75 years of combined experience, the firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of your case, and there is no fee unless benefits or a settlement are recovered. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and Spanish-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.
Rob Lunsford, the firm’s founding partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Partners Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms in 2026 for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, which matters when a fall involves a third-party negligence claim. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results reflect the kind of injuries falls tend to cause. The firm secured $685,000 for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, $600,000 for a construction worker with a complex back injury, $385,000 for a project manager with back injuries after being struck in his work vehicle, and $221,000 for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns. Clients describe a team that listens, communicates, and stays with them through the insurance company’s pushback.
Injuries That Follow a Fall at Work
- Back, Neck, and Spine Injuries: A hard landing on concrete or a twisting save on a stairway can herniate a lumbar or cervical disc. Insurers frequently point to degenerative disc disease, so the medical evidence has to show how the fall caused or worsened the condition.
- Knee and Shoulder Tears: Meniscus tears, ACL tears, torn rotator cuffs, and SLAP tears are common when a worker catches a railing or lands on one leg. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries, and records of normal function before the fall become important.
- Hip, Ankle, and Foot Fractures: Falls from ladders, loading docks, scaffolding, and truck beds produce fractures that may need specialist surgery and long recovery periods away from work.
- Falls on Oil and Gas Sites: Slick decks, pipe racks, and stairways on rigs and in plants create fall hazards, and a fall can combine with burns or crush injuries in the same incident.
- Warehouse and Port Falls: Wet concrete, uneven dock plates, and cluttered aisles in distribution centers and facilities along the river corridor and Gulf Coast are routine fall locations for hourly workers.
- Healthcare and Hospitality Falls: Nurses, aides, and kitchen and housekeeping staff slip on spilled fluids and freshly mopped floors, often while carrying a patient or a tray.
- Falls Involving a Third Party: A fall on another company’s premises, a defective walking surface, or a hazard left by a subcontractor can support a negligence claim alongside comp.
- Fatal Falls: When a worker dies from a fall, the family may be entitled to death benefits under comp and may also have a wrongful death claim against a negligent outside party.
What to Do in the Hours and Weeks After You Fall at Work
Report the fall to your supervisor right away, and do it in writing if you can, even a text or an email. Louisiana law ties your right to compensation to notice given to your employer within thirty days of the injury, and waiting invites the argument that the fall never happened or happened somewhere else. Be specific about the body parts that hurt, even if one of them seems minor. Adjusters later treat any body part not mentioned early as unrelated.
Get medical care and tell the provider the injury happened at work and how. The way the fall is described in the first chart note tends to follow your case for years. If you can, photograph the spot where you fell: the liquid, the debris, the missing mat, the broken step, the lighting, the footwear you were wearing. Write down the names of anyone who saw it or arrived afterward, and ask whether cameras cover that area, since footage is often overwritten within days. A hazard that “was always like that” is useful evidence, and so is any earlier complaint someone made about it.
Be careful with recorded statements. The insurer’s adjuster may call quickly and ask open-ended questions about your history, your prior injuries, and whether you were rushing or distracted. Those answers get used later. You can speak to an attorney before giving a recorded statement.
The filing clock matters too. A formal claim in Louisiana generally must be filed within one year of the accident, though that period can stretch to three years from the last compensation payment if benefits have been paid. You choose among the parish where the injury happened, the parish where you lived when hurt, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business.
If the insurer refuses a treatment your doctor recommends, a short deadline applies. A dispute over denied medical treatment must be filed on LWC Form 1009 within 15 calendar days of receiving written notice of the denial, and the medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. If you disagree with that decision, you have 45 days from the date it was issued to file Form 1008. A final judgment by a workers’ compensation judge can be appealed to the appropriate Louisiana court of appeal, generally within thirty days when the appeal is meant to suspend the judgment. Missing these windows can cost you the treatment, so do not sit on a denial letter.
For the outside-party claim, a Louisiana injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years of the day the injury occurred when the injury happened on or after July 1, 2024. Older injuries stay under the former one-year period. Fault also matters more than it used to: for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and lesser fault reduces the award proportionally. How the fall is described, and by whom, can decide that percentage.
How Insurers Attack Fall Claims
Insurance carriers have a familiar set of arguments, and falls invite most of them. They may say the fall did not happen at work, that you slipped because of a medical condition rather than a hazard, that the injury is degenerative, or that you were cleared to return before your doctor said so. For a fall that happened off the clock, in a break room, or in a parking lot, they may argue you were outside the course and scope of your job.
A pre-existing condition does not automatically end a claim. If the fall caused, worsened, or accelerated a back, knee, or shoulder problem, benefits may still be owed. The answer is medical evidence: imaging, treating physician opinions, and work history showing you were doing the job before the fall. Witness accounts and surveillance footage fill the gaps when no one saw you go down.
Retaliation is a separate concern. Louisiana protects workers from being fired for filing a comp claim. If you were disciplined, written up, or let go after reporting a fall, tell your attorney during the consultation.
Questions About Workplace Slip and Fall Claims in Louisiana
Can I sue my employer if I slipped and fell at work?
Generally not. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer for most on-the-job injuries, which means you receive medical and wage benefits without proving fault but cannot sue the employer for negligence. You may be able to pursue a separate claim against a third party whose carelessness contributed to the fall.
Does it matter whose fault the fall was for my comp claim?
Mostly no. Comp is designed to pay regardless of fault. What matters is that the fall arose out of and in the course of your work. Intoxication or deliberate misconduct can cause problems, but ordinary carelessness on your part does not defeat the claim.
How soon do I have to report a fall at work in Louisiana?
Report it to your employer as soon as you can. Louisiana law requires notice within thirty days of the injury, and delay gives the insurer room to question whether the fall was work-related.
How long do I have to file a workers’ compensation claim?
A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident. If compensation has been paid, the deadline may extend to three years from the last payment. Because exceptions are narrow, speak with an attorney early.
What if my employer says I fell because of an old injury?
A pre-existing condition does not automatically bar a claim. If the fall caused, worsened, or sped up the problem, benefits may still be owed. Medical records and a treating doctor’s opinion are usually what resolve the question.
What if the insurer will not approve the surgery my doctor recommends?
You have 15 calendar days from written notice of the denial to file Form 1009 with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration. The medical director then has 30 calendar days to rule. Do not wait for the next phone call from the adjuster.
Can I recover more than comp if a contractor or property owner caused my fall?
Possibly. A negligence claim against someone other than your employer can include damages that workers’ compensation does not pay. The comp claim and the injury claim have to be coordinated so that settlements and reimbursement rights do not collide.
What if I was partly to blame for the fall?
For comp, partial fault generally does not reduce benefits. For a third-party negligence claim, Louisiana’s comparative fault rules apply: for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant at 51 percent or more at fault takes nothing, and lesser fault reduces the award by that percentage.
Will I have to go to court?
Comp disputes are heard by a workers’ compensation judge at the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration rather than in a jury trial. Many claims resolve through negotiation or settlement before a hearing. Third-party injury claims are filed in court and may be tried before a jury.
Can I be fired for filing a claim after a fall?
No. Louisiana prohibits retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go, demoted, or punished after reporting the fall, tell your attorney.
Does the firm charge anything up front?
No. Consultations are free, the firm advances the costs of your case, and fees are collected only if benefits or a settlement are recovered. Attorney fees in comp cases are also limited and approved under state law.
Serving Louisiana Workers Injured in Falls Across the State
The firm represents injured workers wherever in Louisiana the fall happened. In the New Orleans area, that includes clients in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines parishes, along with Metairie, Kenner, Harahan, Gretna, Slidell, and Covington on the north shore. Toward the capital region, the team serves workers in Baton Rouge, Gonzales, Denham Springs, and the surrounding parishes. In Acadiana and the southwest, it handles claims from Lafayette, Lake Charles, and nearby communities, and in the northern part of the state it serves workers in Shreveport, Bossier City, Monroe, and Alexandria.
That reach follows the industries that generate fall injuries: refineries and chemical plants along the river, port and warehouse operations, offshore support and oil field work, construction sites, hospitals, and distribution centers. The firm also represents injured workers across Mississippi, from Jackson and Madison to the Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, Southaven, and the Delta.
Talk to a Louisiana Workplace Slip and Fall Attorney Today
If you fell at work, the insurer’s version of events is already being written. A Louisiana workplace slip and fall attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, tell you which deadlines apply to you, and handle the insurer while you focus on treatment. Call to schedule a free consultation. Phones are answered 24 hours a day, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers benefits for you.
