Under restricted instances, you can sue your employer if you have been wounded on the job. But, in most cases, workers’ compensation is the only available remedy. You may be able to sue your employer if the employer purposefully causes the injury, fraudulently hides their relationship to the injury, acts in a dual capacity, or does not carry workers’ compensation insurance.
Read on to learn more about how you may also be eligible to bring a personal injury case against a third party who was liable for your injuries experienced on the job. Then contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation.
Suing your employer for a workplace injury
Generally speaking, in order to receive compensation for injuries sustained at work, you must file a workers’ compensation claim. There are four significant exceptions to this rule that may apply depending on the state. If one is at issue, you can file a lawsuit against your company rather than getting workers’ compensation.
If your employer intentionally caused the harm, falsely disguised the injury or its relation to the workplace, hurt you in a role other than as your employer, or does not have workers’ compensation insurance you might be able to sue your employer.
If you were wounded at work by a third party, you could also be entitled to make a personal injury claim against that person’s employer.
What it means for your employer to have intentionally harmed you
Workers’ compensation regulations are intended to compensate you for damages resulting from workplace accidents. If an employer affects you maliciously, it was not an accident. Instead of a workers’ compensation claim, you might sue your employer for personal injury.
Examples include assault and battery, sexual assault, or purposeful infliction of emotional distress. In some areas, the employer may be held accountable in a personal injury case if it confirms, acquiesces in, orders, or permits the infliction of harm on you by a coworker or superior.
Examples of employers intentionally hiding their responsibility in an injury or damage to an employee
If your employer dishonestly hides the damage, you might also be entitled to sue them. This frequently involves a condition brought on by chemicals in the job. Although workers’ compensation will pay for the underlying condition, you can sue your employer for deceitfully keeping the issue from them.
You might have a case if your employer has dual capacity
Employers occasionally deal with you in two different capacities at once—as an employer and as something else. If you are wounded by your employer outside of the scope of your employment, you may be able to sue them without going through the workers’ compensation system in several jurisdictions.
Examples of interactions between an employer and an employee in a capacity other than that of an employer include owning the property where you slipped and fell, functioning as a vendor at work, such as running a cafeteria for employees, giving you negligent medical treatment after a working injury, and injuring you when you use a product that was made incorrectly by the employer.
What if your employer did not have workers’ compensation insurance?
If your company does not offer workers’ compensation coverage, you may sue them for a working injury. This may occur if you do not qualify for the employer’s workers’ compensation coverage, frequently because you are an independent contractor or subcontractor, the employer has chosen to self-insure for workers’ compensation, the employer is in violation of state law by not carrying coverage, or the employer is not legally required to carry workers’ compensation insurance.
The employer cannot assert that the state’s workers’ compensation act is your only available remedy if they do not offer workers’ compensation coverage.
If you believe you might have a right to file a personal injury claim against your employer, contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation.
