Georgia Injury Lawyers Blog
In our last post, we focused primarily on the options that are available to you if you are injured on the job. In this post, we’re going to focus on when you may be able to pursue a personal injury claim in addition to your workers’ compensation benefits.
Third Party Liability
You may be able to pursue a lawsuit in addition to workers’ compensation benefits if your injury was caused by a third-party who is not an employee of your company. In these cases, whatever you are able to recover through your lawsuit will be offset by what you received from workers’ compensation. However, the principal benefit here is that you would be able to be compensated for those losses that were not covered by workers’ compensation.
Injury Caused by Another Person on the Jobsite
You may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit if your injury was caused by another person unrelated to your employer. For example, maybe you were injured by an independent contractor who was negligent. Another common scenario is when workers are injured in a car accident while on the job. In these sorts of situations, you may be able to receive workers’ compensation benefits (assuming that you were working when injured) and sue the at-fault party for your uncovered losses. As explained above, you will have to prove your claim and that the other party’s negligence caused your injury.
Injury Caused by Defective Equipment or Product
If your injury was caused by defective equipment or a defective product, you may be able to sue the manufacturer for your injuries in addition to workers’ compensation benefits. Here are some common defective products that can lead to injury on a job site:
- Defective safety equipment
- Defective machinery
- Defective tools
In your lawsuit, you will be alleging that the manufacturer knew or should have known that product or equipment was unsafe and would leave to possible injury. It’s important to realize that you will be suing a corporate entity, who will aggressively defend itself against any such claims. Product liability cases are extremely difficult for non-lawyers to pursue.
Injury Caused by a Toxic Substance or Chemical
Some injuries or illnesses are caused by exposure to toxic chemicals or other substances. There are two basic types of illnesses or injuries caused by toxic substances:
- An acute injury or illness that immediately follows exposure (e.g. burns, rashes, blindness, etc.)
- An injury or illness that is the cumulative effect and result of prolonged exposure to the substance (e.g. cancer, heart defects, etc.)
Similar to a product liability lawsuit, you will have to prove that the manufacturer knew or should have known that the chemical or substance was dangerous and would lead to illness. And again, you will have to sue a corporate entity that will likely be more inclined to litigate than settle your claim.
Slappey & Sadd – Georgia Injury Attorneys Helping People Injured on the Job
The attorneys at Slappey & Sadd have been helping people across the state of Georgia since 1992. We pride ourselves on providing personalized, high-quality representation to make sure our clients understand their options and pursue the course of action that works best for them. If you’ve been injured on the job and need help sorting through your options, call us at 888-474-9616 or contact us online in order to schedule a free consultation.