[mkerpics]

My question involves workers compensation law for the state of: Fl

So here begins my lengthy story. I'm hoping someone can advise about what to do. Long story short......my brother-in-law died about 6 mos ago while on the job from electrocution. My sister was contacted by the worker's comp person at his former job after his death about funeral expenses and weekly benefits. She accepted the payment to help cover funeral expenses and a weekly payment since she could not afford to live without his income. She has never signed anything because she was very suspicious about the circumsances related to his death. She has been anxiously awaiting the results of the OSHA report which was just released a couple weeks ago.
The report stated that my brother-in-law died due to brain death from electrocution due to defective equipment at his work. The report continued to state that the equipment was faulty and had actually shocked other people in the past. She received additional paperwork from OSHA about various fines the company received due to their investigation and my brother-in-laws death.

So my question pertains to the weekly payments she is receiving from Worker's Comp. She was never asked to sign anything from them at all. She just receives the $ by electronic payments into their banking acct. Now that it is obvious that this company is definitely responsible for his death, will she not be able to sue them because she receives these small weekly payments from them? Any help would be much appreciated.

MK

[LawResearcherMissy]

It's my understanding that a workers comp settlement precludes your ability to sue. HOWEVER - if she hasn't signed any paperwork, I'm not really sure what's going on there.

Do two things: talk to the nice folks over here, and consult an attorney.