- Workers’ compensation pays for an injury that occurs as long as you are in the course of your employment
- They pay temporary benefits, your medical, and you can also get a measure of compensation based upon the fact that you have some permanent injury that’s left as a result of the injury
- If you’re on the job and you’re injured because of someones negligence not related to your employer
- If someone else is negligent such as another contractor or an owner or controller of the property where you happen to work, you have the right to make a negligence claim against that individual or company
- In that case, you can demonstrate the person exposed you to an unreasonable harm, and that you were injured by that unreasonable harm.
- You can collect for your pain and suffering, economic damages, and any future loss in terms of loss of earning capacity. These types can be collected through the negligence claim.
- It is important to keep in mind that workers’ compensation and negligence are intertwined in the sense that if you collect money in the negligence claim, you must reimburse your employer
- Keep in mind, your employer’s paying you regardless of negligence
- This means that if you’re able to recover from someone who caused the employer to pay you, then you have to reimburse them
- This is called your employer’s workers’ compensation lien, which has to be satisfied.
- The intricacies of the workings between the workers’ compensation lien and the recoveries in negligence are confusing and highly technical
- It often takes a great deal of finesse in negotiating liens and in dealing with the adjusters and those responsible for collecting those liens
- It is important that you consult a personal injury lawyer who has some expertise and who has handled such cases in the past. It is to your benefit
