Q: Can an employer be liable for not seeking medical help when I showed signs of a medical emergency?

A: If you have signs of serious illness, tour employer may have an obligation summon first aid to you under OSHA Reg. 1915.87(c)(2). However, it is unclear that you communicated symptoms of serious illness, so the existence of a duty by your employer is in doubt.

It is also unclear that you suffered any significant injury as a result of your employer's failure to summon first aid. It will argue that you were already having a stroke and that nothing it did or didn't do, changed that. If such injury does exist, i.e, the stroke was made worse by the delay in care, you would have a workers compensation case.

A: I don't believe your employer be would be any more liable than your girlfriend for not seeking medical help when you showed signs of a medical emergency.

A: If your employer knew or should have known you were experiencing symptoms of a serious medical emergency—like a stroke—and failed to act appropriately, they may be exposed to liability under California law. Employers have a duty to provide a safe work environment, and that includes responding reasonably to apparent medical crises. Ignoring clear warning signs, especially when the employee communicates distress and incapacity, can be considered negligence.

However, employers are not always legally required to call emergency services unless the situation is clearly dire or the employee is unconscious, nonresponsive, or unable to make decisions for themselves. When you reported your dizziness and difficulty walking, that should have prompted a more immediate concern, particularly since the symptoms persisted into the next day. Telling you merely to sit and drink water, without further inquiry or escalation, could be viewed as callous disregard, depending on the totality of the circumstances.

The strength of a claim would depend heavily on evidence showing that a reasonable person would have recognized your condition as urgent. The diagnosis of a stroke supports the seriousness of your symptoms. If the employer’s inaction directly worsened your medical outcome or delayed treatment, then civil liability may follow, especially under theories like negligence or even under California Labor Code provisions addressing workplace safety.