When a Pennsylvania employee suffers an injury on the job, workers’ compensation offers a no-fault system that provides certain benefits. An employee generally gives up the right to sue the employer in exchange. In some cases, however, employees may also file a negligence lawsuit against a non-employer third party that may have been at fault. Employees who suffer an injury should understand all of their options for getting a full recovery and proper compensation.
How a third-party-over action benefits employees
Workers’ compensation cases may not serve as the final word in an injury case. When an injury occurs due to a third-party relationship with the employer, the employee may also sue the third party for contributing to the accident. The no-fault compensation system that workers’ compensation operates under often doesn’t limit the ability of the employee to seek additional damages.
When a contractual relationship exists between the third party and the employer, the employer may end up with additional liability. As an example, an employee who gets injured at work receives workers’ compensation and then sues the owner of the building where the company maintains a lease. If the owner of the building requires the company to compensate them for any claims brought by the company’s employees, the employer may have a liability to the third party. The employee can benefit from this type of situation.
Employees deserve to be made whole after an accident
A third-party-over action can allow the employee to seek additional damages in certain cases. One example would be filing a lawsuit against the manufacturer of defective scaffolding that caused a worker to fall at a construction site.