Can You Sue Your Employer For A Work Injury?

Oct 24, 2024 | Employment Concerns, WC & Other Laws

Can you sue your employer for a work injury? – In general, if your employer has Workers’ Compensation insurance you can’t sue them. This is because the system covers all on-the-job injuries even if the employee was at fault. Additionally, the employers get immunity from lawsuits for injuries they caused through their negligence. This is called the exclusive remedy doctrine.

If your employer doesn’t carry Worker’s Compensation insurance and you’ve been injured on the job you have a choice. One, you can sue them under negligence or you can still ask for Workers’ Compensation benefits. Or two, you’ll have to get the employer to pay because they don’t have an insurance company to pay.

Some intentional injuries, like sexual harassment and assault, are not covered under Workers’ Compensation and you can sue.

Pros and cons of Workers’ Compensation

A huge benefit of Workers’ Compensation is that you don’t have to prove fault and your benefits aren’t reduced or even denied if you’re also partially at fault.

The disadvantage is that benefits are limited, and sometimes you can recover more damages under a lawsuit for negligence, for example, in a lawsuit you can recover partial lost wages after MMI and you can get pain and suffering, in Workers’ Compensation you can’t.

Pros and cons of filing a lawsuit

You have access to more damages, the problem is that it’s harder to prove negligence, and your recovery can be reduced or denied if you assumed the risk or if you were partially negligent.

Also, they might not have enough insurance to cover the damages, and a lawsuit is a long process, typically it will take 2 to 4 years before you see anything, and that’s assuming there’s an insurance company that will pay.