Exclusive Remedy

Exclusive remedy is a provision of workers' compensation law which allows that a worker's remedy for a work-related injury includes only workers' compensation benefits and limits or eliminates a worker's right to file a personal injury lawsuit if they are injured at work.

Under exclusive remedy, the worker forfeits their right to sue their employer, and instead, does not have prove negligence to receive medical care, wage replacement benefits, or other payments for their work-related injury or illness.

Exclusive remedy benefits the employer, who is protected from personal injury claims; it also benefits the employee, who immediately receives compensation for their loss without a lengthy and protracted court battle.

When is the employee eligible to file a personal injury claim for a work-related injury?

Exclusive remedy, however, may not always eliminate an employee's right to file a personal injury case if they are injured at work. Although exclusive remedy may protect the employer, if a third party was involved or the worker's injury is the result of a defective product, the injured employee may be allowed to file a personal injury claim against the negligent party or parties.

Additionally, employees may have the ability to seek additional compensation from the employer if they can prove the employer intentionally caused them harm. There are also some states which do not require employers to carry workers' compensation insurance to cover injured workers. In this case, if the employer decided not to purchase insurance or an employee opted out of the work comp system and was not protected, exclusive remedy might not apply, and the injured worker could file a personal injury claim against the employer.

Common personal injury cases after a work injury

As mentioned above, personal injury claims may be filed for specific work-related injury cases. The most common is a product liability case where the worker is injured from a product, but there are other times when an injury lawsuit may be filed. Examples are listed below:

• Product liability cases can be filed if the product is defective, unreasonably dangerous, or contains dangerously deficient instructions or warnings for its use.
• Third party injury claims may be filed if the employee is injured at work due to the actions of a person who does not have a relationship with the employer. For instance, a delivery drivers runs over an employee who is unloading boxes outside of their office. The delivery driver is a third party who is visiting the premises but who is not an employee of the injured worker's employer.
• Injury while on someone else's property – If a worker is injured by a third party while they are off-site they may file a claim against the third party. For example, if you are delivering flowers and you are hit by another driver you may be able to file a car accident claim against the negligent driver.
• Intentional torts – If an employee is injured from the intentional actions of an employer who intended to cause harm the exclusive remedy provision of workers' compensation laws may not apply. This exception to exclusive remedy is rare.