What Are The Top 3 Signs I Should Contact A Personal Injury Attorney After A Work Injury In Massachusetts?

If you were hurt on the job, workers’ compensation will typically pay a portion of your lost wages and medical expenses. However, a workers’ compensation claim is not typically as valuable as a so-called third-party claim because workers’ comp does not cover pain and suffering. It also does not cover 100% of your lost wages. As a result, it is important for you to understand if you have a third-party claim and a pathway to a higher level of compensation.

Third-party claims are different from standard workers’ compensation claims because they target someone other than your employer. Typically, you cannot sue your employer for a work-related injury. (You also do not need to prove your employer was to blame for your injury in order to claim workers’ compensation.) With a third-party claim, however, you must prove that someone other than your employer was to blame for your injury. Third-party claims are common in construction and other industries where multiple businesses work together on a single project.

Finally, because third-party claims follow the rules for personal injury lawsuits, rather than the rules for workers’ compensation, you want to work with a personal injury attorney to pursue your claim. Here are three good signs that you may have a third-party claim worth pursuing.

Someone Else Caused Your Injury

It is possible to get workers’ compensation for work-related injuries when no one was negligent or even if you were partially to blame. With a third-party claim, you need to prove that another business or individual neglected their duties and that their neglect caused your injury, at least in part.

Accordingly, the first sign that you may have a third-party claim is that you were injured due to the negligence of someone other than your employer. The good news that may surprise you is that you can also bear some responsibility under the Massachusetts Comparative Negligence statute and still recover.

Your Injury Is Severe

If your injury is severe and is likely to keep you out of work for an extended period of time, especially if you’re going to require surgery and a long recovery period, you should consult with a lawyer to learn about your options.

It is not always obvious at the time of the injury if another party caused your injury. Sometimes, you need an attorney to investigate the matter. Very minor injuries may not be worth the time it takes to contact an attorney and conduct an investigation, but the more your injury disrupts your life and livelihood, the more important it becomes to pursue full repayment. This is especially the case with injuries that can disable workers or prevent them from returning to the same line of work.

You Were Injured While Working At A Construction Site

Construction workers are not the only workers who can pursue third-party claims, but they do suffer injuries that involve third parties more often than other workers. Due to the nature of these injuries, they can also result in substantial recoveries.

Construction sites often involve owners, general contractors and multiple subcontractors. If you work for one of the subcontractors, you cannot sue that particular subcontractor for your injury, but the law allows you to hold the general contractor or other subcontractors and even the owner of the property responsible for any part they play in your injury.

Naturally, each of these parties typically wants to argue they weren’t to blame. To get them to take responsibility and repay you, you need to work with an attorney who can investigate the accident and compile strong evidence against them. It is also common for general contractors to argue that they weren’t responsible for your injury because the subcontractor who employed you was responsible for what you were doing. To counter this argument, you need an attorney who understands contracts that may obligate the general contractor or a particular subcontractor for safely overseeing the site.

Moreover, there are other factors that can assist your case:

• OSHA regulations
• Massachusetts Court-imposed laws of the past four decades (often referred to as the Corsetti doctrine on retention of control of the work by the general contractor)
• Good industry practice

Workers’ Compensation Is Not Always Adequate

Workers’ compensation serves as your first path to recovery after a work-related injury. However, as stated above, it does not cover all the expenses you may incur due to your injury. A third-party claim can help you recover those expenses.

Accordingly, if you were injured, especially if you were injured on a construction site, you may want to contact an experienced personal injury attorney, specifically one with a proven track record in this area of law. A third-party claim may be the key to helping you get the recovery you deserve.