My employer failed to offer adequate coverage..

Rendering1

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
Sorry Lengthy but accurate..
My statement of events are exactly how they happened.

On 3/24/2017 at time of me being hired I was given my hourly rate and told I'd be paid mileage for delivering materials to and from job sites. I was hired to install wood flooring around the So Cal area. Traveling around in my vehicle was what was expected of me. 3/28/17 the 2nd day of work I shared a conversation with another employee about compensation and length of work. This employee had been there for 5 yrs and barely making over the minimum wage. I shared my rate w/ him which was double that. That afternoon the owner calls me and tells me not to share my compensation with them..He says, we don't usually start people out that much. On 3/31/17 just 3 days later while at a the same job, I return from lunch as usual 11:30a. After 40 min into laying floor 12:10, the co worker begins screaming at me. They spoke broken English at best so at times it was a challenge understanding them. I jumped up and ran to the entry way of the home.. I noticed my truck on fire and proceeded to extinguish the truck but it was too late. I now had just lost my paid off truck and thousands of dollars in tools.. The fire dept came out and helped me finish extinguishing the fully engulfed truck. Then the fire fighters made a relatively speedy investigation. The report shows undetermined across the board for the cause. He did say it was an extremely hot fire due to the damage it had caused. That following Monday 4/3/17 I returned to work and shared a conversation w/ the co-worker at lunch time. He said there could have been rags soaked in paint thinner used to clean up glue off the flooring thrown away. Along with the rags were multiple bags of dry flooring which was tossed in my truck bed to be properly disposed of. My first question was, who throws away soaked rags in paint thinner? My 2nd was how would he know that? That very night after work I looked through the burned wreckage and sure enough I found evidence of burned up rags still smelling of paint thinner on them. I took several photos of the rags. I asked him if would write his statement down and date and sign it to protect myself. He never did. On 4/6/17 2 days later I was asked into the office to fill my w4. I showed up at 3p to fill out my paperwork. I sat with the owner and not once did he show any concerns about my well being or my situation. I began explaining to him how I had just lost everything, my paid off truck and thousands of dollars in tools I use to complete jobs asked of me. His response was,"WHAT HAVE YOU LOST? His next words were, I'm letting you go for being unethical and immoral by asking his employee to sign a statement... WOW! Now I'm out my vehicle, tools and a job. My insurance thru Geico carried liability only and Im sure my employer failed to cover his employees with proper insurance coverage. It wouldn't be a surprise one bit if he also hired illegal aliens to perform contract work.. Which I feel is really why he fired me. In any event I'm now at a complete loss to provide for my family.. I've estimated the loss in damages to be around 20k and accumulating as my truck continues to sit and be charged daily for storage fees. I am also looking for lost wages as a result of wrongfully terminating me. Is that reason for termination? Shouldn't my employer have had adequate insurance coverage for employees using their own vehicles to deliver material and from job sites? This happened while his company was benefiting from work I was doing. Surely this case has red flags all over the place. As a previous employee , can't I file a claim against his bond to start the ball rolling? Any positive feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading...
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Sorry Lengthy but accurate..

Lengthy with mostly irrelevant information. Most people are not going to want to even begin reading that.

My insurance thru Geico carried liability only and Im sure my employer failed to cover his employees with proper insurance coverage.

Did you discuss that with him when you got hired?

Secondly why are you using a vehicle that you say your livelihood depends on without more than liability coverage? You refer to is as being paid off as if it's fairly new.
 
You may or may not have been unfairly terminated but you were not wrongfully (illegally) terminated.
 
Lengthy with mostly irrelevant information. Most people are not going to want to even begin reading that.



Did you discuss that with him when you got hired?

Secondly why are you using a vehicle that you say your livelihood depends on without more than liability coverage? You refer to is as being paid off as if it's fairly new.
I didn't want to leave out anything... I never discussed insurance coverage with him at time of hire. This was a new job and liability insurance was within my budget when I purchased it 6 months earlier..
 
Insurance for the vehicle was your responsibility. Only liability coverage when you depend on the vehicle and carry all your tools in it? That's a tough lesson learned.
I'm not sure you have a good claim against the employer's insurance, but you can certainly make one and see what happens.
 
So you just assumed that he would provide full coverage for your vehicle and all your tools, without ever discussing it with him?

You know what happens when you assume, don't you?
 
I didn't want to leave out anything...

You should have SOME clue about what IS and what IS NOT relevant to the situation. The time you took lunch, for instance, is a detail (along with many others) that add nothing to the story, do not assist anyone in answering you, and just make reading your tale a chore.
 
You should have SOME clue about what IS and what IS NOT relevant to the situation. The time you took lunch, for instance, is a detail (along with many others) that add nothing to the story, do not assist anyone in answering you, and just make reading your tale a chore.

Many people don't know how to write or recite a simple narrative.

It is an acquired skill to be sure.
 
You are responsible for the coverage on your own vehicle. It isn't clear why you think your employer would have any liability here at all.

You can legally be fired for asking your coworker to write some kind of statement. I'm not sure what you think the statement would accomplish, but i tis not illegal for your employer to take issue with this and fire you for it.
 
I doubt if your employer would be able to cover your personal vehicle on his business policy even if he wanted to. Insurance companies usually don't do that. Since you never discussed the matter with him, you were apparently assuming that he would. Bad assumption.
 
You are responsible for the coverage on your own vehicle. It isn't clear why you think your employer would have any liability here at all.

You can legally be fired for asking your coworker to write some kind of statement. I'm not sure what you think the statement would accomplish, but i tis not illegal for your employer to take issue with this and fire you for it.
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You are responsible for the coverage on your own vehicle. It isn't clear why you think your employer would have any liability here at all.

You can legally be fired for asking your coworker to write some kind of statement. I'm not sure what you think the statement would accomplish, but i tis not illegal for your employer to take issue with this and fire you for it.

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Maybe this will help!
 
Even if the employer isn't responsible for proper coverage on my vehicle, he's damn sure responsible for his employees gross negligence.. yes, while during their scope of duties.. Someone please argue that!
 
You are stuck in the position of having to prove that an employee engaged in misconduct.
You suspect an employee but lack evidence.
You would certainly need legal counsel to pursue this. Have you spoken with any local attorneys yet?
 
Even if the employer isn't responsible for proper coverage on my vehicle, he's damn sure responsible for his employees gross negligence.. yes, while during their scope of duties.. Someone please argue that!

Suspicion doesn't amount to proof.

The rags in the truck, the ensuing fire, the destruction aren't acts of negligence.

If the acts are pursued, they might amount to criminal activity.

Unless one of the other workers admit to something, or saw something illegal, no one can say with any certainty HOW the fire started.
 
Suspicion doesn't amount to proof.

The rags in the truck, the ensuing fire, the destruction aren't acts of negligence.

If the acts are pursued, they might amount to criminal activity.

Unless one of the other workers admit to something, or saw something illegal, no one can say with any certainty HOW the fire started.
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Found in truck bed underneath the burned material after I was told they were thrown away..



IMG_0635.JPGIt's negligent if the company fails to give employees any kind of instruction or basic training in dealing with hazzerdous chemicals..
 
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Found in truck bed underneath the burned material after I was told they were thrown away..



View attachment 1288It's negligent if the company fails to give employees any kind of instruction or basic training in dealing with hazzerdous chemicals..


You need to prove that the fire was started by one of the employees.

Even if you could, it wouldn't prove negligence.

It would likely prove criminality.

If it was an easy task, you'd have proven already to the people who matter: the police and the prosecutor.

Proving on the Internet by alleging it, no matter how many times you say it, isn't proof.

Plus, the employer could allege you did it.

If that could be proven it also wouldn't amount automatically to negligence.

It might amount to an intentional act, as in a crime.
 
Dude, you are taking that legal concept way out of context. It in no way means that your employer is responsible for anything and everything a coworker may or may not do. Not even close.
 
Dude, you are taking that legal concept way out of context. It in no way means that your employer is responsible for anything and everything a coworker may or may not do. Not even close.
Really? Hmmm It pretty much says it right there.. Why, because it happened to be a truck that caught fire and no 3rd party injuries? Seems like everyone on this site is against the fact my employer is an ass hole cutting costs by hiring illegal aliens to preform work.. That in itself speaks volume about his character and the way he does business. Im not coming up with some b.s story, this f'n happened cause they didn't know what the fuck they were doing. As a result I am having to start over from scratch and my employer knows it.. Thanks for all the advice... I'll be sure to post my claim once it's been awarded!!
 
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