Some workplace accidents can leave you with relatively minor injuries and result in just a few days or weeks out of work. Even in those “minor” cases, it is often a good idea to hire an attorney to help you with your workers’ compensation claim, because you likely don’t have any additional options for compensation if your claim gets denied. In Connecticut, workers’ compensation is typically the “exclusive remedy” for workplace accidents and injuries.
Hiring an attorney is even more crucial when your workplace injuries are debilitating, life-threatening or likely to result in permanent disability. Not only can a workers’ compensation attorney help you claim the benefits you are entitled to, he or she may also be able to examine other avenues for compensation, such as suing a third party who caused or contributed to your workplace injuries.
As a firm offering comprehensive representation to clients, we can help you pursue what’s known as a third-party liability claim. Workers’ comp laws typically prevent you from suing your employer – a tradeoff for receiving workers’ compensation insurance benefits. But any third parties who may have played a role in your accident/injuries can be held liable through litigation.
Here are just a few of the many scenarios in which third-party liability could be a factor:
- You are a commercial driver, and you are involved in a car accident with a drunk driver while you are “on the clock”
- You are a construction worker injured by a faulty power tool made and sold by a major tool manufacturer
- You work in an office building where the facilities are cleaned by an outside contractor, and you slip and fall on wet floors because no warnings have been posted
In all of these cases, you may be able to both claim workers’ compensation benefits and seek additional financial damages from the third parties that caused or contributed to your injuries. Our firm can help you with both claims, maximizing your opportunities for compensation and minimizing the time and energy you need to spend on legal matters.
To learn more about this subset of workers’ compensation law, feel free to visit our third-party liability claims page.
