PRESS RELEASE: A personal injury lawsuit has been filed in Travis County for injuries and fraud against La Barbecue and its owners, Leanne Mueller and Alison Clem

  • October 9, 2023

Attorney Jon Clark of the personal injury law firm of Glasheen, Valles & Inderman Injury Lawyers, announced the filing of a personal injury and fraud lawsuit Tuesday morning on behalf of Aaron Gomez, a married father of 6, who lost four of the fingers on his dominant hand in a work-related incident.

“This injury changed the lives of our client and his entire family,” said Jon Clark, attorney for the plaintiff. “They hurt him twice—first with the loss of his fingers due to unsafe working conditions and training and second, by committing fraud to prevent Aaron from holding them accountable for their actions. We believe the evidence will show that the Defendants engaged in a scheme to keep Aaron from presenting his case in front of a Travis County jury and recovering his full damages. This lawsuit empowers us to conduct a full and thorough investigation to get to the truth of how the injury occurred, why the Defendants sought to prevent our client from filing suit, and to hold those responsible accountable.”

A file-marked copy of the lawsuit is available here.

The attorney for the case, Jon Clark, will hold a press conference Tuesday morning, October 10th at 11:00am via Zoom. The client will be present to answer questions.

The Initial Injury

Aaron worked for La Barbecue as a cook. One of the tasks assigned as a part of his work was to prepare sausage overnight. To do so, the restaurant told him to use a faulty grinder without a functioning on/off switch or a push stick and tray, which is essential safety equipment. While performing this job, Aaron’s glove got caught in the faulty grinder. It pulled in his left hand and destroyed all the fingers on his left hand except for his thumb. This picture shows his hand after several years of healing:

The Fraud

After his injury, La Barbecue and its owners tried multiple times to get Aaron to sign documents falsely stating the injury was his fault. He refused and sought the assistance of a lawyer to seek recovery for his injuries. After Aaron refused to sign the papers and retain counsel, La Barbecue and its owners purchased a workers compensation policy, but they had back dated to before Aaron’s injury, which they did not disclose to the insurance company. La Barbecue or its agents then informed Aaron’s lawyer that La Barbecue had workers’ compensation at the time of the incident, which was untrue.

The lawsuit alleges that after knowing of the potential that Aaron could file a civil suit to seek damages for his injuries, the co-owners of La Barbecue fraudulently obtained a workers compensation policy to prohibit Aaron from filing a lawsuit against his employer. Carrying workers compensation insurance protects employers from civil suits in situations such as this, and in a workers compensation claim, Aaron would be limited to recovering medical bills and 70% of lost wages.

In August of 2022, the State of Texas charged La Barbecue, Mueller, and Clem, with criminal insurance fraud, related to their conduct in obtaining this workers’ compensation insurance policy. The lawsuit also names as a Defendant, the insurance agent believed to have conspired in the alleged fraud.

About Glasheen, Valles & Inderman Injury Lawyers

Glasheen, Valles & Inderman, LLP is a personal injury law firm that focuses on cases involving catastrophic injuries and death. The law firm has offices in Austin, Lubbock, El Paso, Odessa and Albuquerque. More information about the firm can be found at www.gvilaw.com.

Email: j.marquez@glasheenlaw.com for Zoom link information.

Figure 1 – Aaron, his wife Destiny and their daughter Valentina, announcing that they were expecting Javier
Figure 2 – Aaron with his 3 daughters: Abigail (left), Dazie (right), and Valentina (center)
Figure 3 – Aaron and his two oldest sons, Aaron (left) and Gabriel (right)
Figure 4- Aaron, his wife Destiny, and their son Javier

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