If My Work Related Injury Is Caused by a Third Party Do I Also Have a Personal Injury Claim?
People who suffer work related injuries that were caused, at least in part, by someone other than your employer may have a viable personal injury claim as well.
Some examples include:
• While driving a company owned vehicle in the course of your duties you were injured in an accident caused by the negligence of another driver.
• You slipped and hurt yourself when you stepped onto a slippery surface at a customer’s facility.
• You were injured as you worked on the assembly line by a machine tool that was defectively designed or manufactured or defectively repaired by an outside contractor.
If you exercise your right to file this lawsuit, your employer (or its insurer) has a right to collect a percentage (based on a formula) of what you collect from this third party in order to be paid back what it paid to you. This is known as subrogation.
Your employer or its insurance carrier cannot directly sue the third party to be reimbursed what it paid out, the injured worker needs to be part of the litigation, according to a state Supreme Court decision, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Domtar Paper Co.
In this case, George Lawrence worked for the trucking company Schneider National, Inc., at a facility leased by Domtar when he slipped and fell in the parking lot, injuring himself, resulting in a payment of $33,929.23 in workers’ compensation benefits. Liberty Mutual sued Domtar and the owners of the facility claiming they were responsible for the injury. Lawrence never filed his own suit, assigned his legal rights to Liberty Mutual nor did he join their lawsuit.
The lower court ruled Liberty Mutual did not have a right to sue on its own a third party alleged to have caused the work related injury and dismissed the case. On appeal the Supreme Court disagreed with Liberty Mutual’s interpretation of state statute and prior court decisions and agreed with the trial court.
If you find yourself suffering from a work related injury caused by another party, the workers compensation and personal injury attorneys at Louis P. Lombardi II & Associates, P.C., can help you navigate through the complex legal system. The firm helps those in the Philadelphia area with offices in Philadelphia, Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County and Chalfont, Bucks County. Call (610)239-7600 or (888)818-4343 today to schedule a consultation.