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Building renovations causing problems
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Building renovations causing problems
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My company rents office space in one of the buildings in a four-building executive complex. The property management company that manages the buildings has been doing renovations inside the buildings f
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Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » Building renovations causing problems
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Building renovations causing problems
posted at 8/2/1999 4:03 AM EDT
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Posts: 12
First: 6/20/1999 Last: 2/3/2004 |
My company rents office space in one of the buildings in a four-building executive complex. The property management company that manages the buildings has been doing renovations inside the buildings for some time. Recently, they painted the stairwells of our building. Unfortunately, they did this overnight and did not allow the stairwells to "air out" by propping the doors open on any of the floors. Consequently, the fumes created by the paint were extremely strong and did escape into some of my company's office suites. Now I have one particular employee who is suffering asthma attacks whenever she "is exposed to" the fumes. She has only missed one or two days (so far)from work as a result. Today, I received a phone call and a note from her physician requesting information on what we are going to do to rectify this problem. She has requested that this time off from work be submitted as worker's comp. I agree that it should be, and I believe it should be covered under the property management's WC insurance. My question is, what is my obligation to respond to the inquiries made by this employee's physician? What is my obligation and what steps should/could I take to ensure that more caution is taken in this and other types of renovations in the future. What is my obligation to this employee (and potentially others) who may experience similar side effects? Any guidance you can provide would be most appreciated. Thanks! |
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Building renovations causing problems
posted at 8/2/1999 4:42 AM EDT
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Posts: 16
First: 7/29/1999 Last: 10/23/2002 |
First, I think you are right to allow the employee make a comp. claim, seeing that the reaction was due to the work environment. However, I think that you would be hard pressed to get the property management people to accept the claim on their own WC insurance. You may be able to go after them for what was paid for your employees claim afterwards.
The physician's request is strange though. I feel that you would have an obligation to your employee, but not to their doctor. You may want to have a conversation with the employee regarding accomodating her request for time off, or giving her advance warning when remodeling will be done, but I would not feel obligated to answer the physician's request. You may also want to have the employee evaluated at your own company chosen doctor (if legal in your state). I would want to sit down with property management and maybe the other tenants and get consensus that before this kind of thing is undertaken, they advise the tenants in advance. This would allow employees that know they will be affected to deal with the situation and stay off your comp. claims. good luck |
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Building renovations causing problems
posted at 8/2/1999 4:28 PM EDT
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Posts: 833
First: 6/11/1999 Last: 8/23/2001 |
Since the woman is YOUR employee and is on the affected site as a result of her work schedule for you, it is also in the course of her employment. Chances are the claim should go against your WC carrier, who will subrogate the claim to the landlords' liability carrier.
You need to take a look at the lease, to see if there's any recouse or any notification procedure for the landlord to follow when making renovations. If OSHA was to stop by, even though it is not your building, the employees at risk are yours, and as such, you would be blessed with the fine and the penalties. At this point, explain your situation to the prop. mgt. company, and ask them what they will do about it, since their activities are putting your people at risk. Even if it's providing you with fans or ventilators, they should be able to do something. Also, see if you have "business interuption" insurance, in case the situation gets worse.. a claim there can also be subrogated to the mgmt company's general liability coverage. |
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