If you get injured in a car accident while driving to the grocery store, it definitely matters who was at fault. If the other driver ran a red light and hit your car, then they are liable for the accident. They are responsible for the costs you are facing, such as medical bills and lost wages.
But what if you get injured at work, and the accident was your own fault? Maybe you were using heavy equipment improperly or you were rushing through a job and made a mistake. Maybe it was just bad luck; you didn’t do anything intentionally that would qualify as a mistake, but you simply got injured while you were working. No one was at fault. What does this mean for your right to seek workers’ compensation?
A no-fault system
This should not change your options very much at all. In the majority of cases, workers’ comp is a no-fault system. Workers aren’t allowed to sue their employers for injury, but employers have to provide workers’ comp benefits to anyone who gets hurt on the job. It doesn’t matter if it was the employee’s fault, the fault of a coworker or the employer’s fault. All that matters is that the worker gets proper compensation for medical bills, lost wages and related costs.
In some rare cases, there are exceptions that could lead to a workers’ comp denial. For instance, if you were under the influence of alcohol when you made an avoidable error, leading to your injury, your impairment could be used as grounds to deny your claim.
But in the vast majority of cases, fault doesn’t matter and you are simply eligible for benefits if you’ve been injured during your employment. That’s why it’s so important for you to know exactly what legal steps you can take moving forward.