I didn’t know…

Over the course of my career in law, I’ve had hundreds of opportunities to be involved in a wide variety of matters. Throughout the many cases I’ve handled and observed during that time, one phrase has managed to pop up with comically concerning consistency: “I didn’t know…”

Under the guise of this unfortunate preface, I’ve heard a number of admissions and acknowledgements such as: “I didn’t know the speed limit was only 55,” “I didn’t know this was considered a school zone,” “I didn’t know that was cocaine in my car,” “I didn’t know that cigarette had marijuana in it,” “I didn’t know that was meth,” “I didn’t know she was underage,” “I didn’t know it was loaded,” or “I didn’t know that was illegal.” This troublesome little phrase is not limited to quasi-criminal issues either. Tell me if any of these sound familiar: “I didn’t know he was hurt,” “I didn’t know that car was there,” “I didn’t know he was in the back of the truck,” “I didn’t know he was behind the tree,” “I didn’t know he couldn’t read.”

It turns out the old idiom “what you don’t know can’t hurt you” is absurdly misleading and can have dangerous consequences. Indeed, what you don’t know CAN hurt you. If you or your management team find yourself using this magical phrase of misery, then perhaps it is time to take a good, hard look at yourself and your practices. If you go back and look at each time someone said “I didn’t know” the next two questions should be “Why not?” and “How do we avoid finding ourselves in this situation again.”

If saying “I didn’t know he was even hurt” means you’re now facing either a civil lawsuit or a workers’ compensation claim, the next question should be why didn’t you know. For many, it seems obvious that any injury should be reported up; but, is it explicitly stated in your handbook? You need to know when something has happened, and you need to know as soon as possible. You need to make sure you take all appropriate steps to document any incident. Or better still, you need to have enough information to reach out to your counsel so that they may direct what steps you should take. Consider this as an opportunity to take stock of your action plans in the event of an incident. What is the chain of command notification? Who has the authority to take or direct action? Take this note as a reminder to look at training materials and make sure the obvious is actually stated. If you find yourself relying on common sense, you run the risk of discovering how uncommon it can be.

While this note has probably given you a little bit of a laugh, it should also be considered an invitation to look at your practices over the past year. How many times have you or your team said “I don’t know” and how many times did you take the opportunity to try and address the root of the matter? What you don’t know may hurt you, but why allow that risk in the first place. It is well known and expected that accidents will happen. We have insurance for that. It is also known that insurance expects to be notified in the event of an incident. They may have other obligations but at the end of the day, they need to know, and depending on your policy, you need to tell them or else you may jeopardize your coverage.

As a final note: If you find yourself saying things like “I didn’t know it was cocaine” or “I didn’t know that was illegal” please jump down to the end of this note and go ahead and add our office phone number to your cell phone. You will need it.

If you find yourself facing these situations or others related to business and safety practices, the procedures in your employee handbook, or even creating an employee handbook, or if you have specific questions related to this article, please contact John Stacy (jstacy@setlifflaw.com) at (804) 377-1263, or Steve Setliff (ssetliff@setlifflaw.com) at (804) 377-1261.