Workers’ Compensation: Can You Sue Your Employer For Your Injury?

When you got injured while working on your job, you may wonder if you should sue your employer or not.

12:36 16 December 2019

This is the short answer: you can choose to sue your employer or ask for workers’ compensation benefits from them.

However, as a general rule, you cannot ask for workers’ compensation benefits and sue your employer at the same time (or vice versa). This is because getting a workers’ compensation benefit is a trade-off you make: you claim those benefits in exchange of agreeing that you will not sue your employer.

If you choose to sue your employer, the same trade-off happens: you will lose your privilege of claiming your workers’ compensation benefits.

You may ask, “But why?” This is because by choosing to do one of them, your injury will be (or expected to be) compensated in one form or another. Whether you claim your workers’ comp benefits or sue your employer, it is assumed that your injury is compensated based on your decision.

So, although you have the choice on whether you will sue your employer or claim for workers’ compensation benefits, most employees choose to claim their workers’ compensation benefits because it’s less time-consuming and usually an easier to compensate for their injuries than if they choose to sue their employer – which will take a lot of money and time.

Keep in mind that if you choose to get a workers’ compensation benefit, you can claim it regardless of who is at fault in your case – this is known as the “no-fault system”.

However, there are certain exceptions to this rule.

When Suing is Possible

Again, the general rule is, you are not allowed to sue your employer if you claimed your workers’ compensation benefits. However, if your employer intentionally harmed and injured you, you can usually both claim for workers’ compensation benefits and sue your employer at the same under the case of tort injuries.

Examples of Tort Injuries

If your employer intentionally caused to harm you, this is called “intentional tort”. The scope is not only limited to physical injuries (such as punching you in the face, for example), this also include non-physical injuries (such as psychological trauma).

Here are examples you need to know:

Battery – this is typically a physical assault. If your employer punched you in your face, that’s a typical case of battery.

Defamation – if your employer made false accusations or statements against you in other people (such as your co-workers, managers, supervisors, etc.) that it causes you harm (physical or psychological) in the workplace, this is a case for defamation.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress – again, the injury or harm does not need to be physical. If your employer is inflicting psychological distress to you, you can sue him/her for that. However, unfortunately, this is difficult to prove because there’s a line between psychological distress and simply a rude and offensive act (and of course, you cannot sue your employer over his/her rude actions).

Fraud – if your employer lied you into something (such as luring you to a pyramid scheme or promising you offers that eventually wouldn’t be true), then you can raise a fraud claim against your employer. However, it must be proven that your employer knows that he/she is lying to you because in some cases, they don’t know that they are being “part” of a fraudulent activity. This is often true in pyramiding and investing scams – your “recruiter” probably does not know that his/her “investment system” is a scam, so he/she invites you to join their system purely out of good will.

False Imprisonment – your employer is not allowed to confine you beyond reasonable bounds. For instance, he/she can’t lock you in his/her office beyond working hours (or beyond your job responsibility).

Call Your Workers’ Compensation Lawyer in Los Angeles, California

If you are confused and need legal advice or counseling, our Los Angeles worker’s comp lawyers are willing to help you in your case!

LG Law Offices have the best and most passionate workers’ compensation lawyers who are ready to help you in your case! For more information, you may visit https://lglawoffices.com/workers-compensation/los-angeles-ca-90012/.