“Workplace accidents can have lasting consequences. Trust J.A. Davis & Associates, your local Texas work accident injury lawyers, to handle your case with the attention and care it deserves.”
WORKPLACE ACCIDENT INJURY / WORKERS’ COMP
The Single Exception That Allows Injured Employees to Sue Workers’ Comp Subscribers
Did You Know? Our work injury attorneys have won thousands of cases. Call us today to discuss your case. We’ve told you that employers get far more than quick, no-fault, and “capped” liability protection when they subscribe to workers’ comp insurance. They are also virtually bulletproof when it comes to civil lawsuits. They cannot be sued unless the employer has committed gross negligence that caused a wrongful workplace death. In one case, our attorneys were hired by the loved ones of a construction worker who died after a fall from a crane.
The employer had ordered the worker to work atop the rig without the mandatory safety harness. When the victim plummeted to his death, his employer rushed to a construction supply store, purchased a safety harness, attached it to the dead man, and then reported the accident to the authorities. Our investigators uncovered this willful deception by interviewing the co-workers and hit him with a costly (and successful) gross negligence and wrongful death lawsuit. So there’s truth to the saying that it’s not the act that gets you in trouble; it’s the cover-up. However, if ordinary negligence applies to wrongful death, subscribing employers are off-the-hook. The facts of the case must be overwhelming to prove gross negligence. So whichever contributing insurance company is responsible for negotiating a settlement; again, with benefit caps, the odds are improbable that the victim, or the victim’s survivors if a death has occurred, will receive the equitable compensation to which they are entitled if they go it alone. In a perfect world, insurance providers would be concerned with tending to the legitimate needs of injured parties. Victims would receive fair compensation for all medical bills, lost salary, pain, and suffering. But this is the real world and far from fair or perfect: despite what some of these insurance companies who participate in workers’ comp try to say in the charitable tone of their advertising and public relations campaigns. Insurance companies are in business to generate profits, not help people. Those who underwrite the workers’ comp pool are no exception. Insurance companies try to avoid fairly compensating injured employees every day. Insurers participating in the state’s workers’ comp coverage pool are just doing it – while the legislature looks the other way.
There’s another very effective avenue to receiving fair workplace injury compensation. It calls for the injured employee to file a claim or civil action against someone other than the subscribing employer, commonly known as a third-party lawsuit: In many cases, someone besides the employer may have done something negligent to cause a workplace injury. If a faulty piece of machinery caused a serious mishap, the manufacturer might be held accountable through a defective product lawsuit. If the property owner did not provide safe working conditions, he or she could be held accountable. If another employee, a visiting contractor, or one of the contractor’s employees negligently caused the injury, they could be held accountable. In such a case, you can sue the responsible party or parties but not your subscribing employer. Experience and the ability to properly investigate the accident scene and the roles these third parties played in the calamity are required to properly identify the parties responsible and make them pay for the injuries they caused. A skillful work accident attorney can devise a plan of attack for workplace injury cases that offer the best opportunity to secure compensation in a complex Texas work accident claim like this.
More great blogs on Work Injury Law – Workers Comp here:
https://www.devineandfanning.com/contact-fatal-work-accident-attorneys/
https://www.nancysearerattorneyatlaw.com/is-my-employer-a-workers-compensation-insurance-subscriber/
https://www.prestilaw.com/workers-compensation-what-can-i-do/
https://www.bethkrulewitch.com/workers-compensation-osha-cannot-help-you/
https://www.nbalawblog.com/workers-compensation-what-is-a-contract-employee/
https://www.jdavidmarkham.com/frequent-problems-in-nonsubscriber-work-injury-cases/
https://www.clarkbyarlay.com/workers-compensation-non-subscriber-employers/
https://www.lawofficeofkarenross.com/workers-compensation-law/
https://www.sainilawyers.com/workers-compensation-attorney/
https://www.hensleylawteam.com/legally-pursue-damages-arising-from-an-injurious/
https://www.ftlauderdaledefense.com/workers-compensation-non-subscriber-lawsuits/
https://www.fastinjuryclaims.com/the-complexity-of-workers-compensation-insurance/
https://www.car-accident-lawyers-today.com/understanding-your-rights-after-a-car-accident/