Why Can’t I Sue My Employer When I Was Hurt At Work?

The Indiana workers compensation laws are a tradeoff.  They are intended to provide immediate benefits in the form of lost wages and medical treatment to injured workers without regard for fault. In turn, the worker cannot sue the employer even if the employer is at fault.  If you are injured at work, therefore, you are entitled to benefits set under the law, but are not entitled to file a lawsuit against your employer.  These benefits include lost wages, medical expenses, and impairment.  You may also be entitled to total disability.

Can you sue anyone for the accident?  Maybe.

When you are injured at work, you or your attorney need to look at fault in who caused the accident.  If your accident was caused due to the fault of the party or person other than your employer, you may have the right to sue that “third party.”  Attorneys call these cases third party cases because they are a case filed against someone other than your employer.

Examples of third parties might be

• motorists in a vehicular accident,
• machine manufacturers,
• the employee of another company working where you work,
• a general contractor on a construction site,
• the manufacturer of a forklift, and
• any other person or company other than that for which you work.

If you have questions on whether you have a third party case, please let us know.  The primary advantage of having a third party case versus workers compensation case is that they can be worth a lot more money.  Workers compensation limits your recovery, but third party cases are worth money for future wage loss, pain and suffering, and future medical expenses.

Please contact one of our attorneys at 1-800-809-3776 for further help.