FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 24, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 41
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS
Q: At work, a leg of my chair came out, and I fell to the floor. I have witnesses. My friends took
photos, and they show that the leg had come out of its dowels.
A: Defendants that come to mind include the manufacturer of the chair and the entity in possession
of the premises, i.e. the owner or tenant. However, the receipt of workers' compensation benefits is the
exclusive remedy that a worker may obtain against his or her employer for losses suffered as a result of an
injury sustained in the course of employment. So, assuming that your employer was the owner or tenant, and
you were covered by workers’ compensation, then your employer seems not to be an option.
The manufacturer’s attorney will hope to show that the chair’s collapse was caused by a
circumstance like the age of the chair, damage during storage, or misuse. He or she might even have an
engineer visit the defendant's plant to be able to testify that the processes, quality control, testing and
inspection were up to snuff, and that a defect in gluing would have been readily identified at several stages of
the manufacturing process, so that it was virtually impossible for a chair with such a fault to leave defendant's
plant.
At the outset, your attorney may want to obtain a court order or otherwise make sure that your
employer does not allow this chair to be repaired or discarded. Otherwise, the manufacturer may contend that
it is entitled to an ‘adverse inference’ that the gluing was fine. If somebody now repairs this chair or discards
it, the Court may well penalize you for the destruction of evidence – by precluding you from offering evidence
of the condition of the chair at the time of your accident.
Surely, a critical phase of a chair’s manufacturing process is the uniform and adequate
application of glue in order to create a strong joint. With proof that the dowels were inadequately glued –
indicating that the manufacturer failed sufficiently to coat the dowels and corresponding holes – you can hope
to win.
Call Now & End Your Tax Nightmare!
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Co-Author of the
best selling book
“Breaking the Tax Code”
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Salvatore P. Candela, EA, ATA, ABA
Enrolled Agent - Tax Advisor
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JOIN US TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH
7:00PM — 9:00PM
SCHWARTZ BROTHERS–JEFFER MEMORIAL CHAPELS
and FOREST PARK FUNERAL HOME
114-03 Queens Boulevard (76th Road) Forest Hills, NY 11375
RSVP by November 8th to Jennifer Martin 718-263-7600 @ Ext. 103
Facilitated by Lorraine (Fitzgerald) Grossi, LCSW-R
This educational seminar has been designed with the
knowledge gleaned from 20 years of facilitating bereavement
support groups helping the bereaved navigate their grief.
Some of you may be feeling lost, overwhelmed, exhausted,
perplexed by your indecisiveness and grief intensity. From
this seminar, you may gain insight to your very personal grief
journey and have the option to share your normal unique
grief with others during this seminar.
We hope you consider the opportunity of joining this and one
of our future ongoing bereavement support groups.
Honoring Your Grief,
Heal Your Heart Lorraine (Fitzgerald) Grossi, LCSW-R
Free to attend — Light Refreshments will be Served!
Hosted by Jennifer Martin, Community Relations
/WWW.QNS.COM
