Rather than Collecting Workers' Compensation, May I Bring a Lawsuit Against My Employer?

Did you know that by the 1920s almost all US states had some type of workers' compensation system? To learn more about your state's workers' compensation laws, contact an experienced attorney.

What Are the Vocational Rehabilitation Rights of Injured Workers?

After a workplace injury, notify your employer and get the medical treatment you need. Next, talk with a lawyer before you talk to the insurance company. Let us help you preserve your rights by calling us toll free at 866-763-6433.

Vocational rehabilitation is the process of rebuilding work skills as part of recovering from an injury or illness. Sometimes an injured individual can eventually return to his or her previous job. If an injury places long-term or permanent limitations upon the person, retraining for a new type of job may be necessary. Depending upon the law of your state, if you require vocational rehabilitation after a job injury or industrial illness, your employer or its workers' compensation insurer, or the state, or some combination of these three resources may be required to pay for your vocational rehabilitation services as part of your workers' compensation benefits.

If you or a loved one was injured or sickened on the job, consult a knowledgeable attorney as soon as possible at The Hoffmann Law Firm, L.L.C. in Saint Louis, MO, to learn what types of workers' compensation benefits your state allows, including vocational rehabilitation.

Examples

The amount and types of vocational rehabilitation provided to injured employees vary from state to state. Some of the vocational-rehabilitation services to which an injured worker may be entitled include:

On-the-job training
Transferable-skills analysis and testing
Resume and job-application services
Interview coaching
Labor-market surveys
Job analyses
Job-search assistance
Wage-assessment evaluations
Counseling
Ergonomics assessment
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) reasonable-accommodation assistance
Education and tuition payments for retraining

The actual vocational-rehabilitation benefits to which an injured employee will be entitled are determined not only by the employee's specific situation, but also by state statutory and regulatory limitations.

Employee Responsibility

In many states, employees have a responsibility to accept appropriate vocational rehabilitation services. Inherent in this responsibility is the requirement that the employee cooperate with vocational-rehabilitation efforts and make a valid attempt to return to suitable employment. Other states have different types of requirements. In certain states, for example, an injured employee is not required to participate in either physical rehabilitation or vocational rehabilitation, but a refusal to participate may affect eligibility for other workers' compensation benefits.

Warning to Employees: Depending on the state, if an employee does not cooperate with rehabilitation service providers, the workers' compensation carrier may reduce, if not suspend, wage-loss benefits during the time the employee refuses services. There may also be other negative consequences.

Employer Responsibility

Employers or their workers' compensation carriers may have statutory and regulatory responsibilities related to vocational rehabilitation. For example, a state may require an employer to offer rehabilitation counseling services to any employee who has injuries that result in a particular amount of lost time from work and the offer must be made within a certain number of days after the threshold has been reached. The details of such requirements may vary depending on the type of injury.

In some states, an employer may be required to pay for items such as tuition, living expenses, room and board, child-care expenses and travel expenses in addition to regular wage-loss benefits while an employee is participating in certain vocational-rehabilitation programs. Sometimes only specifically qualified individuals are allowed to provide vocational rehabilitation assistance to injured workers. For example, only individuals who are Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRCs), Certified Disability Management Specialists (CDMSs) or Certified Case Managers (CCMs) may provide vocational-rehabilitation assistance to injured employees in some jurisdictions.

Conclusion

The laws regarding the vocational-rehabilitation responsibilities of employers, insurers and claimants vary by state. If you or a loved one has a work-related injury or disease, a skilled lawyer at The Hoffmann Law Firm, L.L.C. in Saint Louis, MO, can answer your questions about the right to vocational rehabilitation.

DISCLAIMER: This site and any information contained herein are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Seek competent legal counsel for advice on any legal matter.

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Rather than Collecting Workers' Compensation, May I Bring a Lawsuit Against My Employer?

Workers' compensation is usually the only legal remedy for an employee injured or sickened in the course of employment. The public policy behind workers' compensation envisions a bargain between employers and employees in which workers give up the right to sue their employers in court in exchange for the guaranty of workers' compensation benefits. This reduces tension in the workplace by creating a predictable method for resolving employer-employee conflict. Although workers' compensation awards tend to be smaller than those in lawsuits, employees are not left without support during drawn-out court proceedings with unsure outcomes.

However, some exceptions to the exclusive remedy of workers' compensation exist. Because these vary widely from state to state, seek advice from a workers' compensation attorney familiar with your jurisdiction. To learn whether you can bring a lawsuit for your work injury or industrial disease in addition to or instead of filing a workers' compensation claim, consult a lawyer at The Hoffmann Law Firm, L.L.C. in Saint Louis, MO

Exceptions

In most states, a worker injured by the intentional action of his or her employer can sue the employer for the harm in addition to filing for workers' compensation. Examples of such deliberate employer behavior triggering the right to sue may include assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress or known exposure to hazardous conditions. On the other hand, instead of allowing an additional lawsuit, some states have included in their workers' compensation law an additional monetary award when an employer acts intentionally or maliciously to injure an employee.

Employees can also usually sue their employers for other types of harm not covered by workers' compensation, such as illegal discrimination, defamation, invasion of privacy, harm caused by a dangerous co-worker negligently retained by the employer, sexual harassment or damage to property.

Another legal basis for an employer lawsuit available in a few states is the dual capacity or dual persona doctrine, allowing a worker to sue his or her employer when the employer has a second legal relationship to the worker and has harmed the worker in the context of that second affiliation. For example, an employer may injure an employer outside the employment relationship when it commits medical malpractice in the provision of services through a company doctor, when it defectively manufactures a product for public sale that injures the worker or when it allows a dangerous condition on its property in violation of its duty as a landowner.

In addition, an employer may be subject to a separate lawsuit for either bad faith processing of a workers' compensation application or for retaliating against an employee for bringing a workers' compensation claim, such as by demotion or termination.

Co-Employees

In most, but not all, states, lawsuits against co-workers causing injury in the workplace are banned because co-employee injuries are included in the workers' compensation system. Even so, workers' compensation immunity from lawsuits is rarely extended to co-workers who intentionally or maliciously cause injury to others in the workplace.

Third-Party Suits

Even if an injured worker may not be able to sue his or her employer directly, he or she may be able to sue a responsible third party. For example:

An inspector who fails to require the correction of a dangerous situation
A doctor who exacerbates a work injury by negligent treatment
A manufacturer, distributor or seller of a defective product that causes a work injury
An employer's landlord who fails to correct an unsafe condition on the property

Speak to a Workers' Compensation Lawyer

Because legal remedies for work injuries vary widely among jurisdictions, it can be crucial to speak with a workers' compensation attorney such as one at The Hoffmann Law Firm, L.L.C. in Saint Louis, MO, to understand your rights.

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