If you have been injured while in the course and scope of your job, you will likely be covered by Missouri’s Workers’ Compensation Law. In essence, workers’ compensation allows employees who were injured while performing work-related activities to obtain medical care, missed wages, and disability benefits from their employer’s workers’ compensation insurer. In exchange for mandating workers’ compensation coverage for employees, Missouri law typically prohibits an employee from bringing a lawsuit against his employer and/or a co-employee for a work-related accident.
However, if you were hurt while on the job due to the negligence of a non-employer or non-co-employee, you may be able to bring a separate personal injury claim against that individual (in addition to pursuing a workers’ compensation claim). A typical example of an accident involving both a workers’ compensation claim and a third party personal injury claim are cases involving an employee who is injured by a third party while the employee is driving a motor vehicle and performing a work related function. For example, let’s imagine an employee is out delivering flowers for a customer while working for her employer, National Flowers, Inc. While employee is making the delivery, she is rearended while stopped at an intersection, leading to a compression fracture in her spine. In this scenario, the employee will likely be able to pursue a workers’ compensation claim with her employer in addition to a personal injury claim against the negligent third-party driver.
In cases involving both a workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury claim, the injured employee will typically have to reimburse payments made by the employer/workers’ compensation insurer on the workers’ compensation claim from the personal injury settlement. This is often referred to as subrogation, whereby the workers’ compensation insurer places a lien on the personal injury claim. Once a personal injury settlement is obtained with the third-party tortfeasor, Missouri law then uses a the “Ruediger Formula” to determine how much money must be reimbursed to the workers’ compensation insurer.
If you have been injured in a work-related accident, it’s important you contact an attorney as soon as possible to assess your legal rights. Oftentimes, there is a third-party liability personal injury claim associated with the workers’ compensation claim. This can come in the form of a motor vehicle crash, a product liability claim, or a premises liability claim. An attorney can work to ensure that you receive maximum compensation on both the workers’ compensation claim and the personal injury claim, and work to ensure that your workers’ compensation lien is properly satisfied from the personal injury claim. At the A.W. Smith Law firm, our attorneys are experienced in handling these types of claims. As such, if you have been hurt while on the job, please reach out to our firm for a free, no-obligation case assessment.
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