93.1. Kiss FM – Ask A Lawyer – Part 2 – Aug 28, 2025

(0:00:00) Wake up with Iris and Grizz in the morning. Weekdays on 93.1 KISS FM and the 93.1 KISS FM mobile app. It is Ask a Lawyer with Michael Gopin joining us live in the studio. Let’s get to some more of your questions. This one is from Tim, who writes, My wife and our 33-year-old special needs son were in a car accident July 25th here in El Paso. The other driver was at fault.

(0:00:27) They both had minor injuries and emotional distress, especially my son, who now refuses to go near the crash site. The insurance company offered $1,000 for him, $500 for my wife, plus future medical bills. But that does not seem like enough. Do we have a case? That does not seem like a lot. Well, Tim, it all depends. I mean, you certainly have a case. The question is, is what the damages were just because you were in an accident.

(0:00:53) It doesn’t mean you’re entitled to this much because I was in an accident, or 3,000 if I was in an accident, or 5,000. It depends on the injuries that you did suffer.

(0:01:02) And you know, when the insurance is working with you and not an attorney, what do we always say? The insurance is not your friend. Nope. No, no, no. My wife even uses that expression now when she talks to her friends about it. We need to make shirts that say that. My insurance friends are not going to like that. They’re going to be like, we’re not going to hang out with you. I know, right? But it’s true. So what they’re trying to do is resolve that

(0:01:27) the case quickly. I don’t know if you incurred medical bills or not. I don’t know if you went to the hospital to the doctor, follow-ups and so forth. You talked about your son not being afraid to go near the site. I don’t know how old he is or anything, but some of the ways that you can prove that type of injury is have him talk to a counselor or something.

(0:01:47) about that to document the fear that he’s having and the anxiety he’s having. So it all depends upon what type of injuries you actually suffered here. And we’d be happy to look at it for you and look at it and tell you what’s going on. If you didn’t treat or something and didn’t go to the doctor at all, you may want to

(0:02:09) Tell them, well, pay me three times what they’re asking and see what they tell you. And they may be able to resolve it on their own there. But that’s kind of what you’re looking at. So the real question is, did you treat and for how long? Okay.

(0:02:25) Next question comes in from Yesenia, who writes, A drunk driver crashed into my mom’s and my parked cars around 4.30 a.m. No one was in the vehicles, but the driver fled. His mother, however, showed up to handle everything. When police arrived, hours later, she wouldn’t let them talk to him. His insurance is now only covering one of the cars, and we’re being told to use our own coverage for the second one. That doesn’t seem fair. Do we have any legal options here? Yeah, that does not seem fair. Yeah, and the question, Yesenia, is…

(0:02:54) how much damages were caused to these vehicles because they have limits also. The property damage has limits as well. So typically on a small policy in Texas, the total that they can pay out is $25,000. So if the damage for the first vehicle, for example, was more than $25,000, maybe it was totaled, maybe it was worth more, took a lot of money to fix. That’s the situation where there wouldn’t be enough money

(0:03:23) to pay. So you’d have to use your own insurance. It’s not fair, but sometimes that’s the way it works with coverage. That’s why you have uninsured motorist property damage also. Same kind of coverage we’re talking about with injuries, but for property. In the same kind of case, if they didn’t have enough coverage to fix your car, to pay for your car, this would kick in. So that’s maybe what’s going on here. I’m not sure. They could be just telling you

(0:03:52) whatever they want to tell you, just not to pay. Because we know… Insurance? Not your friend. Not your friend. Nope. No, no, no. And if after this Ask a Lawyer with Michael Gopin, you don’t remember that phrase, what are you nuts? All right. Next question comes in from Tomas, who writes, I was involved in a multi-car pileup near the spaghetti bowl. The driver who caused it fled the scene, but a few of us got partial plate numbers. If they find the driver, how does liability work when multiple cars…

(0:04:21) are involved. Same exact thing we’re talking about here. So let’s just say we get lucky and we find this vehicle and they have $30,000 worth of injury coverage per person, $60,000 maximum for everybody. So if there’s seven cars and there’s two people in each car and they all got hurt, you’re splitting the $60,000 14 ways. Wow. So yeah, that could be a real issue, which is why you need that uninsured motorist coverage.

(0:04:51) for yourself because that only protects the people in your vehicle, nobody else. So if you’re in this multi-car accident, which we see those accidents all the time. A lot. Even if it’s two cars and there’s four people get injured in one car, they still split in the $60,000. If there’s uninsured motorist coverage, they have additional coverage.

(0:05:14) So it’s really, really important. It’s not that expensive. And I tell all my clients, get it. It’s worth it. And it only protects the people in your car.

(0:05:24) Yeah, I mean, you don’t want to plan for something like that to happen, but it’s better to be safe. Yep, exactly. Better to be safe than sorry. It’s Ask a Lawyer with Michael Gopin, and we’re getting to our last question. That comes in from Nina, who writes, I just got fired from my job, and it wasn’t because of my performance. My ex-girlfriend has been spreading false claims about me that has nothing to do with my work, and my employer let me go without even giving me a chance to explain. Is this considered wrongful termination, and do I have a case?

(0:05:53) Unfortunately, in the state of Texas, it’s at-will employment. So you can fire your employees at will for any reason, any time, day or night, whether it’s fair or not fair. There are certain exceptions to that rule, but gossip by your ex-girlfriend would not be one of them. If you were injured in an accident that was work-related and they fired you,

(0:06:18) in retaliation for that, that would be a case that you would have a case. Sexual discrimination, age discrimination, things like that. Those are things that are exceptions to the rule at will. So in this case, unfortunately, even if everything the person said was false and you could prove it, doesn’t mean the employer can’t. And then, of course, the employer may say, well, I didn’t fire for that anyway. But

(0:06:44) Either way, the employer would be safe in this case and you wouldn’t be able to sue him.

(0:06:49) That’s some ex-girlfriend drama. Right? But you can get unemployment if they didn’t have a good reason. Okay. Well, I mean, there’s some silver lining to it, I guess. That is a silver lining. All right. Remember, Ask a Lawyer with Michael Gopin every Thursday, the last Thursday of the month. So if you have a question, a legal question you need answered, you have time, download the KISS mobile app, go to our website, kissalpaso.com, click on the Must Read tab where it says Ask a Lawyer, Michael Gopin, and send it that way, and Michael will answer it live on air.

(0:07:19) Thank you so much for joining us. You’re welcome. Thanks for having me. Have a safe and happy Labor Day, everybody. You as well. Thank you. Thank you. And remember, this Labor Day insurance company, not your friend. Not your friend. Not your friend. So drive carefully. It’s Iris Ingers in the morning on 93.1 KISS FM.

Michael J. Gopin

Michael J. Gopin has practiced law in El Paso since 1987. Even after more than 30 years, he still remembers his first jury case. It was two weeks after receiving his license, when he represented a person whose life had been forever changed after being blinded in a work-related incident...