Injured at Work: Workers Compensation and Lawsuit. Can You Get Both? Know Your Rights and Remedies. More Help for the Injured and In Need.

Injured People Have Access to Workers Compensation and Lawsuit Remedies.

Anyone hurt in an accident must meet with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible to protect all of their rights and prevent irresponsible people and companies from repeating negligent behavior.

Every meeting is confidential and the consultation with a personal injury attorney is free because injured people usually need funds.  Inability to pay should not prevent a person from getting justice.

What is Workers Compensation?

Workers compensation is a bargain between employees and employers.  The deal says: when an employee (the worker) gets hurt at work, the employer (the boss/company) must pay for the medical care, a portion of the worker’s lost income, and benefits. The employee does not have to prove the employer is to blame for the injury to receive workers compensation benefits. The injured person only needs to prove that the injury happened in the course of employment.

Since employers must pay (or buy insurance to pay) for work-related injuries and accidents, employees usually cannot sue their employer for money damages.

If you were hurt at work, you should speak with a personal injury attorney who will refer you to a skilled workers compensation attorney in your area.  You can also file a claim for workers compensation benefits yourself here.

Do I Have Rights to Workers Compensation and a Lawsuit? 

Yes. Workers Compensation Law generally prevents you from suing your employer.  But you can still make a claim against another person or company who injured you.

I got Hurt at Work.  How Can I File for Workers Compensation and a Lawsuit?  

Sometimes workplace injuries and accidents involve people or companies outside of the employer or involve special laws that still permit injured employees to file lawsuits.

Below are some examples of cases where an injured person can file a lawsuit even though he may also try to collect workers compensation benefits.  The list is not exhaustive.  Only a personal injury attorney can truly assess what legal rights you may have in addition to your rights to workers compensation benefits:

1) Vehicle Accidents: A bus driver, truck or cab driver, or delivery bicyclist is in an accident caused by a careless driver. That injured person can collect workers compensation benefits from his employer and still file a lawsuit against the negligent driver who caused the accident.

2) Construction Injuries: A construction worker on a job site in New York is not given proper safety equipment and falls from a poorly built scaffold. The worker can collect workers compensation benefits from his employer and file a lawsuit against the general contractor and site owner for violations of Labor Law Sections 200, 240, and 241(6).

3) Police Injuries: A police officer falls over a negligently kept piece of property as he chases a suspect. The officer can file a lawsuit against the property owner for negligence and collect workers compensation benefits from the police department.

4) Firefighter Injuries: A firefighter runs into a burning building and gets hurt because the building is not built up to code. The firefighter may sue the building owner and also collect workers compensation benefits from the fire department.

5) Defective Products or Machines: A building’s maintenance man injures his hands in a negligently designed trash compactor or other machine. The maintenance man can collect workers compensation benefits and file a lawsuit against the manufacturer and seller of the defective machine or product.

6) Assault and Battery: An employer attacks an employee and injures that person.  The injured person can still sue the employer for battery despite the workers compensation law’s usual bar against lawsuits by employees against employers.

7) Independent Contractors: Independent contractors technically are not employees so may not qualify for workers compensation benefits at all.  If that is so, then the contractor can sue the hirer, who he might have thought was his employer, for negligence.

8) Employees of Uninsured Employers: Any worker in New York who is hurt on the job can sue their employer if the employer chose not to purchase workers compensation insurance.

9) Asbestos and Dangerous Chemicals: A worker inhales asbestos dust because he is not properly warned or protected from its deadly effects.  He contracts mesothelioma.  He can collect workers compensation benefits and may have a claim against certain device and product makers.

Why Collect from Workers Compensation and a Lawsuit?

Workers compensation benefits will not give complete relief for the injuries.  You can read more about workers compensation and lawsuit benefits here.  Workers compensation will not pay full wages.  Workers compensation may not completely pay for medical care you need. Workers compensation will not pay for pain, suffering, or lost enjoyment of life.  Workers compensation will not right a wrong that was done to an injured person.  Only a lawsuit can achieve complete justice.

Moreover, states are making serious cuts to workers compensation and lawsuit benefits even though the average cost of workers compensation insurance is low and going down.  Overall, New York has cut benefits to these needy workers.  New York has capped wage-loss benefits for workers with permanent partial disabilities.  New York has also limited some workers’ ability to choose their own doctors.  New York injured workers need access to resources, fairness, compassion, and full legal rights, not just a safety net with widening holes.