I Got Hurt At Work. Do I Have A Personal Injury Case, Too?
An employee who sustains an accidental injury arising out of his or her employment is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. These are typically wage loss payments and medical expenses. The nature of workers’ compensation cases is explored and discussed elsewhere on this site.
The thorough Baltimore personal injury lawyer will always explore a possible “third-party” component to any workers’ compensation claim. [ e.g. a car accident in Baltimore where the injured person is ‘on the job’].
In a straight workers’ compensation claim, it does not matter if the employer was at fault for the accident. Benefits are payable if the injury occurred in the course of employment. But what if the injury was caused by a negligently designed machine or piece of equipment? What if the workers’ compensation injury was a car accident with an “at-fault” driver that did not work for the employer- or even one that did work for the employer? If the injury-causing event is due to the negligence of a party other than the direct employer of the injured worker, then a third-party negligence-based claim may be possible. The frequently encountered downside here is that the workers’ compensation insurance company will have a claim against any such third party recovery, up to the amount of workers’ compensation benefits provided.
I Attorney Eric T. Kirk have frequently been able to make two-cases-out-of-one, collecting wage loss and medical benefits for my clients under the workers’ compensation scheme, and separate damages for pain and suffering via a personal injury action.
