When a worker is injured on the job, it is often said that his or her sole remedy is to collect worker’s compensation benefits. However, a number of situations exist in which the injured worker can sue another party for his or her injuries without the worker’s compensation limitations on recovery.
Worker’s compensation prohibits an injured worker from suing his or her employer or a fellow employee for injuries caused by their ordinary carelessness (“negligence”). Worker’s compensation even covers injuries to the worker that are caused by his or her own carelessness.

Where the injuries are due to the carelessness of a third person or company that does not employ the worker, the injured worker is free to sue such third person or company without being limited by worker’s compensation laws to the amount he or she can recover. For instance, if a worker is injured in an automobile accident while running a job-related errand, he or she has the right to collect worker’s compensation benefits from his or her employer. If the accident was the result of another driver who does not work for the same company, the injured worker can sue the driver of the other vehicle for all of his or her injuries and damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.

Many work-related injuries are caused by machines that are defective in their design or operation. In such a case, although the injured worker is barred from suing his or her employer, he or she would have the right to bring a products liability lawsuit against the manufacturer, distributor, and seller of the defective and dangerous machine. In such lawsuit, the injured worker would be entitled to recover all damages he could prove that were caused by the defective machine, without regard to any limitations imposed by worker’s compensation laws.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed in a workplace or work-related accident, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately to see whether there is a third party who is liable for the full amount of the injured victim’s damages, or whether the injured victim or the survivors of a killed worker are limited to worker’s compensation benefits.