Miccosukee, FL Personal Injury Law Firms & Lawyers

Legally - there is a strong argument the answer is yes as it was your negligence, at least in some part, in not closing the door allowing the dog to get out that caused the event. 

She can put in a comp claim. Worker's comp will cover her medical expenses and time out of work. She cannot sue her employer for negligence (even if they were negligent) and damages for "pain and suffering" is not available. If it turns out that she has a permanent injury, (which sounds likely, but will depend on treatment and recovery) she may be able to get a "schedule award" which is based on a formula depending on the extent of the disability and rate of pay, offset by payments received up to that point. If that comes about, she should get some advice as to whether the schedule award is her best option. Depending on the situation, she may be better off getting disability payments and having her medical expenses taken care of. There may be another possibility, depending on what caused the accident and exactly how it happened. Sometimes, industrial accidents come about because a machine was defectively designed or manufactured. If that is so, then she could bring a "products liability" case against the manufacturer of the machine. There could also be a possibility that a repair company other than the employer worked on the machine but did not fix it correctly. Obviously, professional help and extensive investigation will be needed.

You need to sue the other driver if you can't get a fair settlement value from the insurance company.  Remember that the law in Florida requires you to prove a permanent impairment or disability from a motor vehicle accident in order to qualify for pain and suffering type damages. The likelihood of success in proving a permanent injury is much better if you suffered an objective injury.  That would be be something like a fracture, a disfigurement or a scar.  These injuries are clearly observable.  On the other hand, the likelihood of success is much lower in cases where there is only a subjective injury. That would be a situation where the evidence of injury is mostly your complaints of pain.  Most studies of verdicts in Florida show that juries find no permanent injury in over 80% of cases involving purely subjective complaints.  You need to speak to a personal injury trial attorney in your area to review the specifics of your situation.