Getting attacked by a dog while doing your job making a delivery in your job with Fed Ex or the United Parcel Service (UPS) can be a traumatic experience that can lead to severe injuries. If you were attacked by someone’s dog while making a delivery to their home or business, you could have a dog bite claim against the dog owner.
If your injuries from the dog attack require medical treatment you may wonder how your bills will be covered. Since the dog attack took place while you were working for FedEx or the UPS, typically these bills will be covered by those companies’ workers’ compensation insurance. Any bills paid by that workers’ compensation insurance must be paid back out of a settlement or verdict in your dog bite claim. So those bills covered by workers’ compensation will be part of your damages claim from the attack. If you have any out-of-pocket medical expenses, you can also include those bills as part of your damages.
If you were attacked by someone’s dog when making the FedEx or UPS delivery, depending on the state you are in you may have to prove negligence against the dog owner to receive compensation for your injuries. For example, in Pennsylvania if a dog does not have a history of attacks and is not considered dangerous you will have to prove your dog attack was due to the dog owner’s negligence. These types of attacks in Pennsylvania are covered under 3 P.S. § 459-305 – Confinement and housing of dogs not part of a kennel. This statute prohibits an owner of any dog from failing to keep the dog at all times either: “(1) confined within the premises of the owner; (2) firmly secured by means of a collar and chain or other device so that it cannot stray beyond the premises on which it is secured; or (3) under the reasonable control of some person.”
Therefore, if a dog owner is letting their dog run freely outside of their home or beyond their property limits, and that dog attacks you while making your delivery unprovoked, the dog owner could be liable for the injuries the dog caused you. Another example where a dog owner could be held liable under this statute is if the dog owner leaves the door to their home open, the dog is not secured in its home, and the dog is free to run out of the home and attacks you while you are making your delivery.
Dog Bites in Pennsylvania and Liability
In a state like Pennsylvania, if the dog is considered a dangerous one – meaning it has a history of attacking other people or caused serious injuries after attacking other domesticated animals – you will not have to prove negligence against the dog owner. Instead, the dog owner will be strictly liable for any injuries the owner’s dog caused you when it attacked while you were making a delivery for FedEx or UPS. You can prove a history of attacks by the dog through police reports about the attacks, or testimony from people who live in the dog owner’s neighborhood if they witnessed the dog attacking others before.
Even if the dog has not attacked anyone before, the dog owner may still be strictly liable for your injuries if you can show the dog has a propensity to attack others. Evidence of this propensity is if the dog is regularly chasing people in the neighborhood, or tries to bite people when passing by while it is being walked. Sometimes the nature of your attack can be evidence that the dog is dangerous and that the dog owner should be held strictly liable for your injuries.
Some states will always hold a dog owner strictly liable for the injuries their dog causes you while you were making a delivery for FedEx or UPS. One such state is New Jersey. New Jersey’s dog bite statute is § 4:19-16. “Liability of owner regardless of viciousness of dog.” Under this statute, “The owner of any dog which shall bite a person while such person is on or in a public place, or lawfully on or in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, shall be liable for such damages as may be suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of such dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.” What does this mean? If someone’s dog bites you while you were making a FedEx or UPS delivery, that dog owner is liable for your injuries for that bite regardless of how vicious the dog was or if it attacked someone in the past.
What type of damages can you recover? As noted above you can recover any out-of-pocket medical expenses. You can recover damages for the pain, suffering, scaring, and life changes the dog attack injuries cause you. If you have any lost wages not covered by Workers’ Compensation insurance you can also recover those. If you will need medical treatment in the future you can recover the costs of that medical treatment. The same goes for any wages you will now not be able to earn in the future. If you have psychological injuries because the attack was a vicious one you can also include those injuries as part of your claim for damages.
The Thistle Law Firm is experienced at handling FedEx and UPS delivery dog bite and dog attack cases. If you suffered a dog attack while making a delivery in your job with FedEx or UPS, the attorneys at the Thistle Law Firm are here to take your call and answer your questions at 215-568-6800.