Third Party Liability Cases

"Second party" workers’ compensation claim against the employer

A worker who gets hurt on the job has a workers’ compensation claim against the employer. The good news is that the worker doesn’t have to prove that the employer was negligent or otherwise at fault in causing the injury. S/he has to prove only that the injury happened on the job while s/he was working for the benefit of the employer. However, the remedy the worker can recover is limited to medical benefits, lost wages, and a payment for permanent disability under the workers’ compensation law. That is the only remedy against the employer. The worker gets nothing for pain and suffering or the effect of the work injury on the rest of his life—only for the effect on his ability to work. That’s the workers’ compensation tradeoff for not having to prove the employer was at fault. But workers’ compensation is the only claim the injured worker has against the employer.

Kinds of claims against third parties

There are any number of ways a worker hurt on the job might be able to recover damages against someone other than his employer. Maybe the worker drives a delivery van, and another driver runs a red light causing a crash; the worker may have a third party claim for negligence against the other driver. Maybe the worker runs a machine on the job, and that machine has a dangerous defect that injures the worker; the worker may have a third party claim for products liability against the manufacturer of that machine. Maybe the worker is a painter on a construction job and falls from a scaffold because the scaffolding subcontractor failed to attach a railing properly; he may have a third party claim for negligence against the scaffolding subcontractor. In a third party negligence claim, the injured worker is entitled to damages for pain and suffering and the effects of his injury on his personal life, in addition to medical expenses and lost wages and earning.

The workers’ compensation lien

When a worker gets injured, s/he usually needs to file a workers’ compensation claim. If the claim is accepted, medical expenses and wage losses will get paid much more quickly than in a third-party claim, which may take years to resolve. (In car collision cases, Personal Injury Protection [PIP] benefits will pay medical and wage loss benefits promptly, up to a limit.) If the worker then makes a successful third party claim for damages, the workers’ compensation insurer that paid workers’ compensation benefits has a right to be repaid some or all of those workers compensation benefits out of the recovery the worker makes against the third party.