I fell on ice in a parking lot where I was working as an independent contractor and now have medical bills and a painful sprained knee.

Dear Susan: I am terribly sorry to hear about your incident.  It is certainly unfortunate.  Even more unfortunate is the law on this topic. Under Ohio law, a property owner or occupier has no duty to warn or remove dangerous conditions which are open and obvious to a reasonable person.  In Ohio, natural accumulations of ice and snow are, as a matter of law, open and obvious dangers.  This is because, according to the case law on the issue, a reasonable person knows of the dangerous nature of ice and snow, and knows that it should be avoided or proceeded across with extreme caution.  Unless the property owner/occupier did something to create the icy conditions (i.e. dumped water on the ground that froze, pointed a downspout into the area, etc), he has no duty to clear the ice/snow, including shoveling and/or salting.  Even if a local ordinance requires the property owner to clear sidewalks/driveways/parking lots, a violation of the local ordinance does not create civil liability to the property owner under Ohio law. You said that you were working as an independent contractor for the owner/occupier.  As an independent contractor, you are not entitled to workers' compensation through the person you were serving as an independent contractor (known as a principal), unless you have a contract that provides that the principal will cover your workers' compensation. If you are employed by a company and were working for them at the time of your slip and fall, you may be entitled to workers compensation through that employment.  If that is the case, you need to report the claim to your employer as soon as possible.  But, if you were a self-employed independent contractor, you would not be entitled to workers compensation unless you paid for the premiums for that coverage yourself. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done to help you in this situation.  If you need further advice, I would suggest that you contact an experienced attorney to assist you.  Best of luck.