How to Know If I Should Sue for a Work Injury
If you are an employee and are injured at work, chances are you don't have the right to sue. Worker's compensation insurance trades the right to sue for prompt payout without a trial. The problem is that worker's compensation benefits often don't fully compensate a worker, especially for permanent or long term injuries. Despite the restrictions of worker's compensation, there are times when you actually can bring a suit to collect more on your damages.
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Determine employment status. In many cases, you will know for sure that you were an employee of a particular company. In other situations it might not be so conclusive. For example, if you were working on a contract basis or as a day laborer, you might not be covered by worker's compensation at all. This means you have no special restrictions on who you can file suit against.
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Assess adequacy of worker's compensation. If you are in fact an employee and receive worker's compensation benefits, assess the adequacy of those benefits. Are they covering your actual medical bills? Are you compensated for lost wages and inability to work? It's probably not worth bothering with a suit if your benefits are covering most or all of your damages.
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Sue for failure to carry insurance. Another possibility is that you were injured on the job and are not receiving worker's compensation benefits because your employer did not carry the proper insurance. In these situations you are not prevented from suing your employer directly for full recovery of your damages.
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Consider intentional torts. Worker's compensation only prevents you from suing your employer for negligence, which is the failure to take adequate precautions given foreseeable potential risks. But you can always sue your employer for intentional harm you've suffered if you can show they were aware of the specific danger or risks that befell you.
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Consider suing another employee. If your injury was caused by the negligence of another employee, you may have the option to sue that employee. This is usually not a favored option because the employee might not have enough resources to make suing them worthwhile. You also might not want to sue them for personal reasons.
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