Injuries from defective equipment can allow workers to file Workers’ Comp claims to get compensation. However, they can also qualify for third-party personal injury claims.
In a Workers’ Comp claim, your employer pays for your medical care, plus they cover a portion of your lost wages for as long as your injury keeps you from working. However, because an outside party may be responsible, lawsuits can also be filed. These suits can recover the rest of your lost wages, plus additional damages for pain and suffering.
For your free case review, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
Who’s at Fault in a Defective Equipment Injury Case?
Fault is an element in personal injury lawsuits, but not Workers’ Comp. Understanding fault is important when filing your claim.
Who Pays for Workers’ Comp?
Your employer covers Workers’ Comp damages, usually through an insurance policy. They pay regardless of who was at fault for the injury, and can even be forced to pay when an outside party like an equipment manufacturer causes the injury.
They can even be made to pay if you were the one who caused your own accident.
Worker Fault
You cannot file a Workers’ Comp claim if you caused your own injuries intentionally. If, instead, you hurt yourself accidentally, then Workers’ Comp still has to cover it, but there might be nobody else to sue.
If you were partially at fault but the equipment manufacturer shared a high degree of fault, you can still sue them as long as your fault was 50% max.
Fault in a Lawsuit
When you sue for injuries, you have to prove that the defendant was the one who caused your injuries. In a defective equipment case, you would generally allege that the equipment manufacturer was at fault, but you may be able to sue distributors and sellers.
You cannot sue your employer for work-related injuries, even if they are at fault. If a party you cannot sue (yourself, your employer) shares some degree of fault, you lose their share of the damages.
Requirements for a Workers’ Comp Claim
To bring a Workers’ Comp claim, you must meet these requirements:
Work-Relatedness
Workers’ Comp claims can only be filed for work-related injuries. In the case of dangerous equipment injuries, this would usually arise in four ways:
- Dangerous or defective equipment made your physical workplace unsafe (e.g., electrical hazards).
- Defective equipment that was supposed to protect you from dangers in your workplace failed to do so (e.g., a defective respirator).
- You suffered injuries in the course of your work tasks because equipment failed or broke in a dangerous way (e.g., equipment caught fire, a piece flew off while running).
- You suffered injuries in the course of your work because the safety gear you were using failed to protect you as it was supposed to (e.g., an emergency-stop feature failed, your hard hat had a hairline crack from the manufacturer and failed to protect you).
Injuries outside the workplace cannot be part of your claim.
Timely Notice
You must tell your employer about your injury within 21 days. Even if you think they already know, reporting the specific injury, diagnosis, etc., is part of your claim.
If you don’t do this within 120 days, you cannot continue your claim.
Employee Status
Only employees can file for Workers’ Comp. Independent contractors are not usually covered, but many construction workers are called “contractors” even though they have the “employee” status.
Your status is based on the facts of your employment, including how much control your employer exerts over your tasks, rather than the name of your position or whether you get a 1099 vs. a W-2.
Requirements for a Personal Injury Lawsuit
There are four major elements of an injury lawsuit, but you also need to meet an additional element to sue for a work injury.
Elements of Negligence
Most injury claims say the defendant was negligent, which requires proving four elements:
- Duty – The defendant owed you a legal duty.
- Breach – The defendant violated that duty.
- Causation – The defendant’s actions actually caused your injury/accident.
- Damages – You suffered injuries and other damages that can be compensated.
In a defective equipment case, the duty usually deals with reasonableness in design, manufacturing, or providing warnings for the product’s users.
Third-Party Liability
You cannot sue your employer for a work-related injury. This means that the defendant in a lawsuit must be an outside third party.
Equipment manufacturers usually qualify as third parties. Even if you work for the manufacturer or a subsidiary, you may still be able to sue them because their role here was different than their role as your employer, but discuss that rare scenario with a lawyer.
How Does it Work to File a Workers’ Comp Claim and a Lawsuit?
Our Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp attorneys can help you file both a Workers’ Comp claim and a lawsuit to maximize your recovery, but these cases can create complex situations.
Damages in Workers’ Comp
Workers’ Compensation usually covers three areas of benefits:
- All medical care, though you are required to treat with one of the doctors on your employer’s list for the first 90 days (with some exceptions).
- 2/3 of your pre-injury wages if you cannot work or 2/3 of the difference in pre- and post-injury wages if you can work to some extent (subject to caps and floors).
- 2/3 of your pre-injury wage for a number of weeks if you suffered serious facial scars, amputation, lost function, lost hearing, or lost vision.
There are no other economic damages or pain and suffering.
Additional Damages in a Lawsuit
Lawsuits cover medical expenses, lost wages (in full), and pain and suffering. They also cover any other economic or non-economic damages you suffered because of the accident.
How Overlapping Damages Are Handled
There are some areas – like 2/3 of your lost wages and all medical bills – that Workers’ Comp might pay for first. If they do, your employer can put a subrogation lien on your case.
This says that if you get reimbursed again, i.e., through your lawsuit against the equipment manufacturer, you have to pay back your employer for the amounts they already spent. This ultimately shifts the burden of paying to the at-fault party, but your employer fronts the costs without having to prove fault.
How to File
There are three processes for filing.
Initial Workers’ Comp Claim
Within 21 days, report your injury to your employer. They then take the claim to their insurance carrier and must accept or deny the claim within 21 days of your report (with some exceptions).
Formal Workers’ Comp Claim
If your claim is denied, you can file a formal claim through the state. You file a Claim Petition – which your lawyer should help you complete – with the Workers’ Comp Office of Adjudication.
Lawsuit
Lawsuits are filed by preparing a complaint that lays out all of the facts and damages you are claiming. You submit this through the Court of Common Pleas for the county where the injury happened or where the manufacturer is located or does business.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Attorneys Today
Call Cardamone Law’s Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation lawyers at (267) 651-7945 for your free case evaluation.
