Workplace Injury: Who’s Liable?

If you suffer an injury from work, it doesn’t matter who caused it—you should still be paid workers’ compensation. That’s because you should be guaranteed coverage from an employer’s insurance. Whether your injury is the result of employer negligence, co-employee carelessness, or your own fault, employers are still responsible for ensuring worker’s safety as long as the accident occurred on company property or during company time.

Since workers’ compensation is almost always the only legal remedy that injured workers have, shared fault (actions or inactions from both employer and employee which led to the latter’s injury) does not affect the employee’s right to benefits. For instance, if you get injured because of improper use of company equipment, your own misuse of the machine will not reduce the workers’ comp benefits you are entitled to.

Nevertheless, there are exceptions to these general guidelines. Examples of offenses that preclude workers’ comp benefits include intoxication, violation of an express company safety policy, and injuries that were intentionally self-inflicted. Should you be found guilty of these offenses, you may have your benefits greatly reduced or taken away completely.

If you want to understand and defend your rights to workers benefits, schedule a free initial consultation and case evaluation with a personal injury attorney today.