Wife Files Lawsuit Against SpaceX After Husband Sustains Head Injury

The wife of a worker whose skull was fractured during a 2022 rocket engine malfunction has filed a personal injury negligence lawsuit against Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The incident occurred on January 18, 2022. According to reports, SpaceX has at least 600 previously unreported workplace injuries including crushed limbs, amputations, electrocutions, head and eye injuries, and one death.

The worker’s wife filed the lawsuit in state court in Los Angeles, California last week on behalf of her husband who is still in a coma more than a year after the accident. According to the lawsuit, the worker was injured when part of the Raptor V2 engine broke away during pressure testing at the SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, California. A fuel controller assembly cover flew into the SpaceX technician’s head, causing a skull fracture.

Former SpaceX employees indicated that the incident illustrated systemic problems at SpaceX.

Can I sue my employer in California? 

Generally not. Generally speaking, employers are entitled to workers’ compensation immunity if they carry workers’ compensation coverage. Part of the “grand bargain” or workers’ compensation, is that employees are prevented from filing personal injury lawsuits against their employers. A worker who is injured on the job due to the negligence of his employer would be prevented from filing a personal injury lawsuit unless their employer did not carry workers’ compensation coverage. Only a few states allow companies to get away with not carrying workers’ compensation insurance. California is not among them.

Contractor lawsuits and on-the-job injuries 

While you can’t sue your employer, you can sue another company that contributed negligence to your injuries. These are generally known as contractor lawsuits. Such injuries occur while the worker is on the job. Another company or the employee of another company does something negligent. This results in injury to a worker. So long as that worker is not an employee of the company they are suing, they are entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit against the company that caused their injury.

It’s unclear if the injured worker whose wife is filing a lawsuit against SpaceX is technically considered an employee of the company or a contractor. If he is considered an employee of the company, then the wife would not be able to file a lawsuit directly against SpaceX.

Elements of negligence 

SpaceX is allegedly a dangerous place to work. Attorneys for the family will find every incident in which a SpaceX employee or contractor was injured or killed as a result of some form of negligence. They will argue that SpaceX is attempting to move the project forward on an accelerated timeline and this is resulting in shortcuts to safety protocols, and putting workers’ lives in danger.

Talk to an Oakland, CA Personal Injury Lawyer Today 

The Oakland personal injury attorneys at Venardi Zurada represent the interests of those who have suffered injury due to negligence. Call our office today to schedule a consultation, and we can begin discussing how you could recover damages for medical expenses, lost wages, and reduced quality of life.

Source:

reuters.com/legal/musks-spacex-sued-negligence-accident-that-led-workers-coma-2024-01-26/