One of the reasons that business owners take out liability insurance is to protect themselves from financial ruin if they get sued. These policies don’t cover every potential concern, though. Even if they were to do so, damages are capped. While the likelihood that a company will be sued varies depending on the industry that they operate within, there are some common reasons that many businesses end up facing lawsuits.
Most lawsuits companies face come from their employees. An employer who fails to adhere to federal, state or local wage and hour laws may be sued for having violated them. One of the most common reasons that these types of claims are filed is that an employer fails to pay their hourly employees overtime or they pay less than the state minimum wage.
Another reason that employers get sued is over discriminatory treatment of their employees. Federal and state laws exist that protect certain classes of workers from being discriminated against or harassed. Even if an employer isn’t directly involved in discriminating against their employees, they may still be held financially liable if a plaintiff can prove that they knew about it but did nothing to stop it.
Wisconsin employees, fellow companies and customers can sue a company for breaching a contract that they have with them. If any of these parties contracts with you to provide them with a product or service and you fail to uphold the terms stated in the legally-binding document, then you run the potential of being sued.Customers in Oshkosh can also file a discrimination lawsuit against you for various reasons. Any company that is required to yet fails to make their place of business more accessible to all under the Americans with Disabilities Act runs the risk of being sued.
If there’s one thing seasoned business owners could relay to ones that are just starting off, it would be that the longer a company is in operation, the more likely it is that it will face many lawsuits that it has to address over time. It can be beneficial to have a business law attorney that you can trust at your side no matter what legal challenges you’re presented with in the future.