If you were injured because of your co-worker’s negligent actions, you might be entitled to more than workers’ compensation. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 800, 000 American employees suffer from workplace injuries. One of the leading causes of workplace injuries is employee negligence. With that being said, what steps should you take if you are injured by a co-worker?
File for Workers’ Compensation
If you are injured while at work, you have the right to receive workers’ compensation benefits regardless of whether the accident was due to negligence or not. Workers compensation should compensate you for lost wages, out of pocket expenses and medical bills.
Additionally, you can still be compensated if you were injured outside of working hours provided you were performing work related duties when the accident happened.
You Can File a Third Party Lawsuit.
While you might get compensated through workers’ compensation, about a third of your wages will be lost. Additionally, your recovery time might be much longer or your injuries might leave you with a disability.
Since your injuries were caused by a negligent employee, you can file a third party lawsuit to receive full compensation for your injuries. Workers compensation doesn’t recover all your damages and therefore can seek to recover all damages including but not limited to:
- Pain and suffering
- Future and past lost wages
- Consortium claims
- Replacement services
- Medical bills
Keep in mind that just like any other personal injury lawsuit, you will have to prove that your coworker’s negligence is what led to your injuries. Unfortunately, even if you do win the case against your coworker, they might not have the financial capacity to cover all your damages.
You Can Also File a Lawsuit Against Your Employer
If your employer has workers’ compensation insurance, then you can’t sue him. However, there are certain situations where you can sue an employer. For instance, if you suffer serious injuries such as scarring, serious burns, amputation or fractures, you can sue then you can sue them. However, soft tissue injuries like bruises don’t warrant a lawsuit.
Before you file a lawsuit against your employer or your co-worker, it’s a good idea to first consult a workers comp attorney to ensure that you have a case.
Your lawyer will first establish if the employer owed you duty of care. An employer is not legally obligated to terminate or discipline an employee for work related errors. However, they owe you a duty of care if they become aware that an employee’s negligence might lead to serious harm or injury to coworkers.
Your lawsuit will therefore be based on evidence that your employer’s negligence in not taking measures to correct the workers’ negligence did in fact jeopardize your safety and caused you harm.
Should You Reimburse Workers’ Compensation Benefits if You Win a Personal Injury Claim?
You are legally obligated to reimburse workers compensation if you are compensated from a lawsuit for the same injuries. The good news is that courts tend to award much higher settlements than what you would typically receive in a workers’ compensation claim.
Courts are aware that lawsuits take some time before they are settled. During this time, you will still have medical bills to pay, daily expenses and you will still lose out on your wages if you are recovering from your injuries. Workers’ compensation will cover all these costs for you as you wait for your personal injury case to settle or go to trial.
How Can You Get More Compensation?
You won’t need a workers’ compensation attorney if you decide to file a workers’ compensation claim. The process is usually easy and straightforward. However, if you sustained serious injuries then you need the services of an attorney.
If you decide to file a claim against the negligent co-workers, your attorney can do an assets check to find out if they are able to pay for your damages.
If you do decide to sue your employer too, your attorney can build a winning case using their expertise and knowledge.
It doesn’t hurt to know how much you are entitled to in compensation if you feel the insurance company isn’t paying you a fair amount.
We can help evaluate how much your claim is worth. Contact any of our Hyannis workers’ compensation lawyers by calling 508-775-1660 to schedule your free initial consultation.
