If you’ve been injured, and it’s not your fault, you can probably file a claim against the responsible party. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the injury, you may be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim (if the injury happened in the course of your job) or you may be able to file a personal injury claim. Or, in some circumstances, you may be able to do both.
What’s the Difference Between a Workers’ Compensation Claim and Personal Injury Claim?
A workers’ compensation claim can be filed by a worker who is injured in the course of their job, against their employer, for lost wages, medical bills, and lost potential future income. An employer doesn’t have to have done anything wrong, or be “at fault”, in order to be responsible to pay for a workers’ compensation claim. Sometimes, no one has to have done anything “wrong” in order for someone to have been legitimately injured in the course of their work. Here in Ohio, a worker injured on the job has 1 year from the date of the accident to file their claim for workers’ compensation.
Personal injury, on the other hand, does require the other party to be “at fault”, either due to having taken an action that directly caused an injury, or due to negligence in not having taken an action that could have prevented an injury. Most personal injury lawsuits are not related to the workplace — many are related to car accidents, slip and fall accidents, defective equipment or inadequate safety procedures. Personal injury claims can include medical bills and lost wages, as well, but can also include claims for pain and suffering or punitive damages. Here in Ohio, an injured party has 2 years to file a claim of personal injury against someone responsible for hurting them.
But sometimes, these two areas overlap.
When Both Claims May Apply
It isn’t common, but it does happen — in some cases, a worker injured on the job may be eligible for both a workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury lawsuit. When might this happen?
If, for example, your workplace injury was caused by a subcontractor, defective equipment, or a vehicle accident, you might be able to file both types of claims. If a subcontractor employed by your employer failed to secure a load properly, and you were injured, it is both true that you were injured due to their personal negligence and that you were injured in the course of your employment. If, instead, you were injured at work because a piece of equipment you were using was defective, you may be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim against your employer and a personal injury suit against the equipment manufacturer. If you were hurt in a vehicle accident in the course of your work, you can file a workers’ comp claim against your employer and a personal injury claim against the other driver (depending on the circumstances of the accident). The specific situation you find yourself in will determine whether you can pursue a workers’ comp claim, a personal injury claim, or both.
Two Claims, One Firm: Have Both Handled by the Same Law Firm
Generally speaking, if you want to pursue both a workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury claim in Ohio, you need to file the workers’ compensation claim first. It can be tricky to navigate both claims without having the award for one diminish your benefits in the other, so it’s vital to have just one law firm represent you for both. This way there’s no disconnect between your claims or your legal strategy between your personal injury claim and your workers’ comp claim. You need a personal injury lawyer who does workers’ compensation. Here at Clements, Taylor, Butkovich & Cohen LPA, Co., we have a lot of experience with both personal injury and workers’ compensation lawsuits, and we have experience navigating both for injured workers here in Ohio. Call us to find out what your options are, and how we can help to protect your rights, regardless of the circumstances of your workplace injury.