Suffering an illness or injury at work likely creates an anxiety-riddled time for you. Lost wages, the costs of medical treatment and lasting side effects can weigh heavy on your mind even if your employer has workers’ compensation insurance. You may want to explore possible legal recourse in Pennsylvania after a work injury.
Third-party accidents
The most common way in which a lawsuit comes into play during a work injury is as a result of a third party. Third-party accidents are incidents where an individual or business other than your employer is responsible for causing your injury. Some examples of work injuries involving third-party claims are:
- Car accidents during work hours
- Property owner negligence
- Exposure to harmful chemicals
- Defective products
- Assault by a customer or client
For third-party liability to exist, your workers’ compensation attorney must show that an incident occurred where you suffered an injury as a result and that a third party’s intentional or negligent acts played a role in the incident.
Compensation and subrogation
You may be able to recover lost wages, lost overtime, medical costs and damages for pain and suffering. This stands true even if your employer provided you with worker’s compensation benefits during and after the incident. You may have to repay any benefits that you already received from the compensation awarded to you by the court in a process called subrogation.
Only an experienced workers’ compensation attorney will be able to evaluate your specific incident and determine if third-party liability exists. Even if it does not, you might still be able to file a lawsuit for damages incurred as a result of your employer’s negligence, their failure to maintain workers’ compensation insurance or several other scenarios.