Plaintiff, an employee of a glass bottle manufacturer, suffered significant burns when a piece of molten glass came into contact with her leg and ignited her pants.
The employer contracted with a vendor to provide flame-resistant uniforms to the facility, and it was determined that the delivered pants were not flame-resistant. The employer provided Plaintiff significant treatment through the workers’ compensation system.
Under Colorado law, employers have a statutory lien for medical and indemnity benefits provided to an employee who suffers a compensable injury caused by the negligence of a third-party. C.R.S. § 8-41-203(1)(b).
The employer retained our office to intervene in Plaintiff’s claim against the uniform distributor to recover the benefits provided to the Plaintiff. Our office filed intervening claims of negligence and breach of contract against the uniform distributor.
After eight months of discovery including over 7,000 pages of disclosures, multiple depositions, expert opinions, pre-trial motions, and two settlement conferences, our office obtained a favorable recovery of $170,000 for the client which was approximately 70% of the statutory lien while avoiding the costs of proceeding to a five-day jury trial.
If you have any questions about subrogation claims in Colorado, please contact Jessica Grimes (jgrimes@pollartmiller.com) and Robbie Morrison (rmorrison@pollartmiller.com) and we would be happy to set up a meeting.
