Thursday

BEE STINGS

I am a 20 year old nanny/babysitter. Last week, I was bit seven times by bees swarming on the property of my employer. This happened at the end of the day when I was leaving to go home. The initial pain of the bite did not compare to the pain of the bites fifteen minutes later. The bites got bigger and then seemed to swell.
StreetandStage.com

I went to Urgent Care. I incurred a bill for this and it is a big bill.

I told my employer and she told me to tell the hospital I have no means and they will just write it off. Shouldn't they be trying to make this right for me? I came back to work the next day and worked, even though I was still in discomfort. I even had to go back to the DR on Friday and pay for a doctor visit out of pocket because two bites went into cellulitis.

My boss told me that people are either prone to cellulitis or not, but that it had nothing to do with their house.

By the way, I had told them about the bees a month ago, and atleast two times since then.

Shouldn't their homeowners cover this? I don't know why I had to go through the pain and inconvenience and my boss is just looking at me like "don't even".

What are my rights? I don't have money for an attorney, obviously.

10 comments:

CleaverJune said...

First, let me just say that as someone who is deathly allergic to bee stings (and carries Epi-Pens wherever I go,) I know how very expensive and serious this can be for you. Are you paid on the books? If so, this is a workers comp thing. It occurred on the job, and on the premises of the job. Put in a Workers Comp claim.

If you aren't on the books, I would make sure that you have copies of the bills for all of the meds, urgent care and any follow up visits. I would make sure that you put in a business letter that you informed your employers several times (include dates if possible,) about the hazard and that because it was not taken care of, you incurred injury and correlating expenses. Politely yet firmly, state that you expect reimbursement for all medical costs that you incurred, with copies of the receipts for said expenses. If they wish to reimburse you out of pocket great, if they wish to file a homeowners claim that's fine too. All that matters is that you don't have to eat the costs associates with them not making their place safe for you after you told them TWICE about a safety issue.

What you are asking for is NOT unreasonable. You told them about the potential problem and they did nothing to remedy the situation. It was a serious safety hazard and now they are responsible for rectifying the situation. Full stop. THEY are responsible for rendering their property safe. THEY are responsible for providing a safe environment for their employee. You did your due diligence and informed them of the problem on multiple occasions. As they did nothing to fix the problem before you were injured, it is on them. If you hadn't mentioned it at all in the past, and they did not know of the potential problem I might have a little sympathy for them - after all accidents do happen. But their blatant attention to and disregard for the safety of you their children, and anyone else who is on their property as well as their inappropriate attitude and attempt to not pay for what they are required to is reprehensible.


They owe you for the costs that you incurred. Do not settle for anything less than full reimbursement.

Some Young-Lady said...

CleaverJune is correct. I do hope that you are paid on the books. Keep us updated!

Lifelong New Yorker said...

Agree with above. However, do not expect to continue your employment with them if you make a claim against their homeowners' insurance or workers' compensation. That'll be the kiss of death for your relationship with this family.

Jill said...

Everything she said but expect to be unemployed after filing. Not that you'd want to keep working for jerks. Feel better

Anonymous said...

Just wondering...is the nest on their property? We have a terrible wasp problem and no nests on our property....the neighbors apparently have them and the mild winter has produced a bumper crop of those horrible things. If it's not on their property maybe they couldn't do anything about it....?

To get workmans comp you have to prove that the nature of your job increased the risk of this happening and it needs to happen while you were working (coming and going doesn't count). I don't know the rules about homeowners covering this though I think it's "no fault" if someone is injured on their property so it should be covered without costing anyone anything...


CleaverJune said...

I forgot to mention earlier... your employer is WRONG about the hospital or Urgent Care Clinic writing off what you owe for your bill. They may be willing to negotiate the total bill, but they will not just waive the cost entirely. They will bill you repeatedly, then put you in collections and that will be horrible for your credit.
DO NOT follow your employers advice on that.

Anonymous said...

Unless you were stung doing your job, because of the nature of your job, you will not win a workmen's comp claim. If I was stung at work, I would never get a dime from my work, unless I was a bee handler or something.

Also, yes if you bring any kind of trouble, expect to be let go.

Is it worth it to you?

Julie said...

If you told your employer about a safety issue several times and they didn't take care of it, it IS a Workers Comp thing. It is also an OSHA thing. It may be your employer's home but it is YOUR WORKPLACE! The anonymous person above is wrong.

If you stand up for yourself, it will likely stick in your boss' craw. Don't let yourself get shafted. Be firm about them paying the bills, but it wouldn't be a bad thing to also start looking for a job where your boss isn't a tool that screws you. They might not fire you , but do you really want to work for assholes like this?

Anonymous said...

It is not workmans comp. it can be a homeowners claim. She was leaving work. Workmans comp is on the job injury. If you break your ankle in the parking lot after work it's not workmans comp either but is covered by property insurance.

DJM

this_nick said...

They sound awful. Hope you're looking for new employers!