“Can I sue my cleaning company when they send me to unsafe cleaning environments?” It’s uncommon for cleaning companies to send employees into dangerous work environments.
Maids should already be wearing protective equipment for cleanings, like shoes or gloves. You can win a work injury lawsuit, but if the cleaning business has no money you won’t get anything out of it.
Learning how to handle cleaning safety hazards will be better for you in the long run. For cleaning safety information, check out OSHA (Occupational Safe and Healthy Act).
Listen: Can I Sue My Cleaning Company?
Watch: Can I Sue My Cleaning Company?
Can I Sue My Cleaning Company?
“Can I sue my cleaning company because they sent me to an unsafe workplace?” One house cleaner had an unfortunate situation which was:
“I’m an employee of a cleaning company. And I wanted to know whether I could sue this company because I had been dispatched to an area that was deemed unsafe. Because when I went to clean an area, I ended up finding a needle that was used for drug habits and I almost stepped on it.
So, I wanted to know if that was something that I could legally sue for.”
You Can Sue But You Might Not Win
First and foremost, can you sue? The answer is yes, you can because we live in an era where you can sue anybody for just about anything. Yay.
But will you win? Probably not. That’s a different story. The question you need to ask is, is your employer cash positive? Do they have a lot of money that you’re going to be able to get from them? Because if they have no money, what are you going to walk away with if you win the suit, a vacuum, and some cleaning supplies? There are probably not a lot of house cleaning companies that have the resources to pay out on a lawsuit.
So even if you were to win, it would probably be an attaboy, you won kind of a thing. And that’s all you would get out of it in exchange for a whole bunch of legal fees that you would probably end up paying.
Who Deemed Your Work Unsafe?
So the second thing is you are deemed unsafe in this workplace. What does it mean deemed unsafe? For example in the state of California, there are placards on the sides of buildings that say this building has been deemed unsafe. Then it gives you the reasons why.
There’s asbestos or there’s some chemical in the air, sick building syndrome, something that is unsafe. When it is stated on the wall, then you are entering at your own risk.
So, did you go into a workplace that was officially deemed unsafe, or did you assume it was unsafe? Because there are not many cleaning companies that are going to send you into a place that they know is unsafe. There’s a lot of liability in that and it’s good for business morale. So that’s issue number one.
Don’t Assume About the Area You Clean
The second thing stated was that there was a needle used for drug use and how do you know it was used for drug use? What if it was used for insulin for someone who is diabetic?
How do you know these things? Now the next thing said is that you almost stepped on this needle. That’s kind of scary. But you didn’t step on it.
You almost stepped on it, so you wouldn’t be suing for actual it went into your foot. If it did it might have caused you some ailments or maybe it was infectious or any of those things. You might have stepped on it. So you won’t win a law case there either.
Follow the Rules of OSHA
So, if you are following all the rules of OSHA and your Occupational Safe and Healthy Act information, you learn to recognize sharps. These are needles and there’s a proper way to deal with those needles and you’re wearing shoes as personal protective equipment.
It’s not like it’s going to go inside your shoe if you stepped on it. Anyway, what training do you have and what exactly happened here? And if there’s a situation that was unsafe, instead of suing the company that you work for. A better solution would be to go back and say, “Listen, I don’t have the proper training and I went to this situation.”
“And I kind of didn’t know what to do, so I’m a little concerned that here I was and I was like, ‘Oh dear, what do I do now?’ So can you give me the proper training that is required, so I don’t find myself in that situation again?”
Take a Proactive Approach to Unsafe Situations
Talking to your company is going to be a much more proactive approach and it’s going to get you further down the line. You are not going to hang on to the company if you feel that they’re sending you into unsafe places.
But if you try to sue them, they’re not going to want to hang onto you either. So your job will be in question if you go down that route.
But if you go down this other route where you say, “Hey, can I get proper training?” You might elevate everyone in your company and help them become more aware as a group.
What is the Bottom Line on Suing Your Company?
So, can you sue them? The bottom line, yes, you can. Are you going to get anything out of it?
Probably not. You may have to ask yourself if that’s the way to go. The judge is most likely not going to side with you if you say that your company is sending you to an unsafe place.
Resources
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My House Is Killing Me! – A Complete Guide to a Healthier Indoor Environment – https://amzn.to/2yqEUWu
LAWSUITS: All You Need To Know About Why, When, and How To Contact An Attorney – https://amzn.to/2xI33aU
How to Win (& Survive) a Lawsuit: The Secrets Revealed – https://amzn.to/2yu3NR4
Avery SDS Binder Ring Binder, 3″ (18952) – https://amzn.to/3bmKxDO
Occupational Health and Safety Management: A Practical Approach – https://amzn.to/2wXSPD8
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