Were you severely burned and now want to know more about burn injury claims? While the skin (the body’s largest organ) is generally resilient and heals quickly in most cases, burns can be an exception. Burns can cause long-lasting pain, and leave you seriously disfigured. Severe burns can require expensive medical treatment. Pain from a burn can make it difficult for you to do your job, and if you’re seeking a job, disfigurement from a burn can be a very real barrier to employment, sapping your confidence and triggering bias. It’s important to understand the types and classifications of burns, and the ways in which you might be entitled to compensation.

Burn Injury Claims | Light Burns

Everyone knows what a sunburn feels like: skin turns red and becomes sensitive to the slightest touch. If you spend a day outside and come home with a sunburn, you have only yourself to blame. However, if a caregiver leaves a child or an elderly person in the sun too long due to carelessness, the child or elderly person might be entitled to compensation. If you were burned in a tanning bed, you might also be able to pursue a successful claim, depending on the frequency, scope, and detail of any warnings, and in any case of faulty equipment.

Burn Injury Claims | Thermal Burns

You can also burn your skin from direct exposure to high temperatures – for example, touching a stove. The most famous example of a personal injury case resulting from a thermal burn is Liebeck v. McDonald’s (1994), in which a 49-cent cup of coffee led to an undisclosed settlement probably between $400-600,000. While the “hot coffee” case remains controversial, still the poster child for tort reform more than 20 years later, it offers valuable lessons about claims for thermal burns. Liebeck’s attorneys won the case in part because the jury deemed the coffee to be unreasonably and dangerously hot, and the warning on the cup to be inadequate. If you’ve suffered a thermal burn, dangerous temperatures, unsafe conditions, and inadequate warnings could all entitle you to a claim.

Burn Injury Claims | Electrical Burns

Electric burns result from high-voltage electricity traveling through the body. Lightning could be a cause, but more commonly electrical burns come from contact with an electrical outlet, wire, or appliance. Beyond burns, enough voltage could damage internal organs and even cause the heart to stop. The most severe electrical burns usually occur in a construction or industrial site.

Burn Injury Claims | Chemical Burns

Most chemical burns result from household products like bleach, chlorine, and other cleaning solutions. These burns can be devastating, affecting the deepest layers of your skin.

If you want to discuss burn injury claims with an experienced Rochester personal injury lawyer, please call our office today to set up a consultation.

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