Employees can suffer injuries in workplace accidents or other situations, and depending on the severity of an injury, they may require extensive and costly medical treatment, they may be temporarily unable to work while recovering, and they may suffer permanent disabilities.
In most work injury cases, workers’ compensation benefits are available, no matter whether the employer or employee was responsible for a workplace accident. However, there are some situations where other parties may have been at fault for an accident or injury. In these cases, injured workers may be able to pursue additional compensation from these parties by filing a personal injury lawsuit.
When addressing the effects of a workplace injury, a person can work with an attorney to make sure they fully understand the forms of compensation that may be available. At the Law Office of Shane R. Kadlec, we have extensive experience in matters involving serious injuries, including non-subscriber work injury cases where an employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance.
Attorney Kadlec, our firm’s founder, has been working in this field for over 25 years, and with his record of success representing injury victims, he can ensure that all issues related to a workplace injury will be addressed correctly.
Pursuing Compensation From Third Parties Responsible for a Workplace Injury
All work injury cases will involve two parties: the injured worker and their employer. When filing a workers’ compensation claim, a person will not need to establish whether either of these parties was at fault, and they can receive benefits that will cover the costs of medical treatment and a percentage of the income lost while recovering from their injuries or because of permanent disabilities.
If any other parties were responsible for an injury, a victim can pursue additional compensation from these parties. The compensation available in these types of lawsuits may exceed what is available through workers’ compensation. A victim may be able to recover the full amount of income they have lost, as well as compensation for their pain and suffering.
There are multiple situations where third parties may be held liable for workplace accidents and injuries. These parties may include:
- Negligent drivers: If a person is injured in a car accident while working, they may be able to take legal action against the driver who was at fault for the collision.
- Subcontractors: Construction accidents may occur because parties involved in work at a construction site acted negligently. Subcontractors hired to perform certain types of work may cause injuries due to the failure to follow the correct safety procedures, negligent operation of construction equipment, or other actions that put people working on a construction site at risk.
- Product manufacturers: Workers may be injured by defective tools and equipment, including ladders, scaffolds, power tools, landscaping tools, construction equipment, or materials. In these cases, a person may be able to pursue a product liability lawsuit against a product manufacturer or distributor or a person or company that failed to ensure that equipment was properly maintained.
- Property owners: When injuries occur while a worker is on someone else’s property, they may be able to pursue a premises liability lawsuit against the property owner. For example, an employee of a gas or electric company may seek compensation for a slip and fall accident or dog bite injury that occurred when they were visiting a private residence to perform maintenance.
