Recently a public relations disaster sprang from out of nowhere for the city of Houston. The background is that a major fire had occurred in the last few years which resulted in the deaths of several firefighters and injuries of others. It was the worst event in Houston Fire Department history. The worst part was that the fire was preventable, occurring only as a result of the negligence of a third party.
HOUSTON (AP) — An attorney for the families of a group of firefighters who died after battling a 2013 Houston hotel fire accused the city on Friday of trying to recoup medical costs and other expenses from the families by filing liens against them, calling the action "heartless."
However, Houston City Attorney Ron Lewis said the city never put any liens on the firefighters or their families but has instead sought to regain these costs from those responsible for the fire.
The May 31, 2013, fire was the deadliest day in the Houston Fire Department's history. Four firefighters were killed while battling a blaze that started at a restaurant but spread to an adjoining hotel. More than a dozen firefighters were injured. A fifth firefighter died from his injuries in 2017.
Ben Hall, an attorney who represents the families of the four firefighters who died the day of the blaze and another firefighter who was severely injured, alleged the city had initially requested between $50,000 and $96,000 from each of his clients. The liens were first filed in court documents in 2015, during the administration of Mayor Sylvester Turner's predecessor.
The families and injured parties filed suit against the responsible parties for damages sustained as a result of the fire. In the meantime, the city of Houston paid workers' compensation benefits both to the survivors and to the injured firefighters. These benefits include medical benefits (payment for medical bills, surgeries, hospitalization, and rehabilitation), income benefits (both to surviving spouses and children and to injured firefighters who are disabled from the accident), and burial benefits (reimbursement for burial expenses for the deceased firefighters).
By law, the city has a legal right to recoup these monies paid out on behalf of those workers and their families if it is determined that the injury or death occurred as a result of the negligence of a third party and the survivor or employee obtains a monetary settlement or judgment against the responsible party.
Sec. 417.002. RECOVERY IN THIRD-PARTY ACTION. (a) The net amount recovered by a claimant in a third-party action shall be used to reimburse the insurance carrier for benefits, including medical benefits, that have been paid for the compensable injury.
This is another situation where it is not only strategically wise, but financially worthwhile to retain an attorney to pursue an action because the attorney is entitled to 1/3 of the amount of the insurance carrier's interest as a fee for helping to recover it:
Sec. 417.003. ATTORNEY'S FEE FOR REPRESENTATION OF INSURANCE CARRIER'S INTEREST. (a) An insurance carrier whose interest is not actively represented by an attorney in a third-party action shall pay a fee to an attorney representing the claimant in the amount agreed on between the attorney and the insurance carrier. In the absence of an agreement, the court shall award to the attorney payable out of the insurance carrier's recovery:
(1) a reasonable fee for recovery of the insurance carrier's interest that may not exceed one-third of the insurance carrier's recovery; and
(2) a proportionate share of expenses.
Thus, for an injured employee or surviving family member of a first responder, the first thing to note is that while you may have to pay back the city for its workers compensation payments, you can reduce the amount paid to the city by having an attorney, just straight off the statute. The attorney gets 1/3 of that amount. Second, the attorney can negotiate with the city or insurance carrier to reduce the amount of the lien in the event that the recovery from the third party is not sufficient to cover the damages incurred. This specifically will likely be the case with the firefighters' claims against the third party in the fire referenced above. While there should be liability coverage for the fire, with so many deaths and firefighters being relatively high wage earners with family left behind, plus survivors, it is highly probable that the damages will exceed the liability coverage, and it will be necessary for an attorney to negotiate down the workers' compensation lien to make the best possible outcome for the settlement.
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