Samer Habbas Settled a Dog Bite Case for $300,000.

Murrieta, Calif. — Senior Partner, Samer Habbas, of the Law Offices of Samer Habbas & Associates obtained a $300,000 settlement for a dog bite case. The plaintiff held employment as a transportation driver for a local school. As she was making route stops for passenger pick up, a dog ran out of one of the homes the bus was parked in front of. The dog bolted towards her and attacked her. The dog bit her in the hip causing her to suffer serious dog bite wounds. 

Habbas filed suit against the homeowner. The claim was covered under the homeowner’s insurance policy. Due to Habbas’ diligence and aggressive representation, the matter was settled for $300,000. 

It is important to remember that although you are injured on the job and you present a worker’s compensation claim, you still have a claim against a third party if the injury occurs as a result of their negligence. Here, our client pursued a worker’s compensation claim against her employer. However, because her injuries were caused by a third party not her employer, she had a right to pursue an independent action against the homeowner. Therefore, injured workers need to make sure they are pursuing a third party claim when it is applicable. Had our client not pursued a third party claim, she would have failed to collect a significant amount of money in her pocket from the homeowner’s insurance coverage.

Sometimes it is difficult to identify the third party or you may not realize that it was the third party’s negligence, not your employer’s negligence that caused the injury.