Third-Party Workers’ Compensation in Monterey
Personal Injury Lawyers Serving Monterey, California
When an employee is injured while working in California, they have the right to recover monetary damages. Payment for damages for wage loss, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation or job training is covered under the specific law for workers’ compensation in California. If the injury is due to an employer’s conduct , the conduct of a co-employee, or the conduct of the injured employee, then a Workers’ Compensation claim is usually the sole remedy for the injured employee.
What Is Third-Party Workers’ Compensation Law?
Sometimes an employee is injured on the job by the negligence of a third -party. A third party is a person or business entity that is not the worker’s employer or co-worker. This is called a third-party Workers’ Compensation claim. When this occurs, the employee can file a Workers’ Compensation claim and retain a Worker’s Compensation attorney to handle the Workers’ Compensation claim. In addition, the employee may retain a personal injury attorney to proceed with the third – party claim against the person or business entity that caused the employee’s injuries and damages.
Swartz & Kennedy is a personal injury firm experienced in third-party Workers’ Compensation cases. It works closely with an employee’s Workers Compensation attorney who simultaneously handles the Workers’ Compensation case.
Examples of third-party liability for which an employee can file both a workers’ compensation and a personal injury claim include:
- A worker who drives a company vehicle who is struck by another driver while on the job
- A worker driving a personal car who is in an accident with another driver while working or doing errands for the company
- An employee who is performing errands or doing other work-related activities off the job-site has a fall or trip accident due to another person’s or business entities negligence
- Equipment maintained or manufactured by a non-employer company malfunctions and causes an injury to an employee
Contact Swartz & Kennedy to determine whether you have a third-party Workers’ Compensation case.
Why Retain a Personal Injury attorney to make a Third-Party Workers’ Compensation Claim?
Workers’ compensation law and personal injury law have different rules for recovery. The two types of law do not allow double recovery for the same injuries, yet the different laws award different monetary recoveries for the same damages. For example, an employee may have injured a leg. Workers’ Compensation law sets the monetary value of the leg injury according to a specific pre-set rating system; personal injury law permits the monetary value of the injury to be determined by evidence and the recovery may be much higher than the Workers’ Compensation recovery. Additionally, Workers’ Compensation may allow recovery of only a percentage of the workers’ lost wages, while the personal injury case will allow recovery of the full amount of the lost wages.
California law does not allow double recovery, i.e., it will not allow a worker to recover for the same damages from both the Workers’ Compensation case and the third-party case. Yet, in many accident cases, especially serious injury cases, Workers’ Compensation will not pay for certain injuries and related medical treatment and costs, and related work disability. These losses can be recovered in a personal injury case where the attorney proves the injuries denied by Workers’ Compensation were due to the accident . Also, workers can recover non-economic damages such as pain and suffering in a personal injury third-party Workers’ Compensation case.
Monterey Third Party Workers’ Compensation Lawyers You Can Trust
Contact Swartz & Kennedy immediately after your workers accident if you believe a third party caused or contributed to the incident and your damages. It can immediately preserved evidence to prove why that third party is at faulty and should be liable for your damages. Swartz & Kennedy will work you’re your Workers’ Compensation attorney to make sure that you recover all the damages you are due from both the Workers’ Compensation and the personal injury cases Swartz & Kennedy has been handling third party Workers’ Compensation cases since the 1970s. They have assisted injured workers and their families in death cases to obtain compensation for their damages. Both Andrew Swartz and Michele Kennedy are members of the Million- Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum® and, collectively, have won many multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts. It will aggressively pursue compensation for your third-party Workers’ compensation cases and work closely with your workers’ compensation attorney to ensure you recover all compensation that you are entitled to recover.
Swartz & Kennedy proudly serve the California Central Coast, focusing on the Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties. No client pays any fees until Swartz & Kennedy recovers damages.
Call Swartz & Kennedy at (831) 373-3235 for a free consultation today.