The law for Texas work injuries changed in 1991.  The change barred workers from suing their employers for acts of negligence.  Injured workers sole remedy was pursuing benefits through the administrative system.  The only exclusion was gross negligence resulting in death.   

If your employer is a subscriber to the Texas Workers’ Compensation system, and you lived through your injuries, workers’ compensation is your only claim against your employer. 

However, the limitation only applies to the employer.  Injured workers can bring claims against third parties for acts of negligence or product liability.  We call these third-party claims.  In many third-party claims, the injured worker receives treatment and disability benefits through the workers’ compensation system.   

Then when we pursue the third-party claim, the workers’ compensation insurance company will have a subrogation claim against that recovery.  This is because we use the medical records to build our claim for damages.  The insurance company also must help with expenses in the other claim. 

These claims become a little more complex as a result.  Insurance companies and some plaintiff attorneys like to ignore the workers’ compensation claim and only pursue the third-party claim.  This makes things easier for them but limits the injured workers’ recovery.   

Why would an injured worker want less money and want to wait longer to get their recovery?  By only pursuing one claim, you limit your potential recovery. 

I recently attended a hearing where my client was injured when his truck was rear-ended by a tractor trailer.  He had a claim against the other driver, but not a workers’ compensation claim.  

The workers’ compensation insurance carrier denied the claim stating that the injured worker did not want the benefits.  They had not even spoken to him.  They communicated with his employer.  He was owed almost a year of benefits.  His other claim had not settled, and he was struggling to get by financially.  We got him all his back pay and weekly payments from here forward.  He said that he didn’t know he could claim both. 

If you have been injured, do not take advice from an adverse party.  Make sure you contact an attorney who handles both workers’ compensation and liability claims.  The goal should be to get you all the benefits available.  Not to just do what is the easiest.