Who Counts as a “Third Party” in a Workplace Injury Claim?
In workers’ compensation law, a “third party” is anyone other than the injured employee and their employer whose negligence or defective product contributed to a workplace injury. This is important to know because workers’ compensation is often the only remedy an employee injured at work has against their employer, but when a third party is involved, they can be sued directly for the full range of personal injury damages.
Knowing who qualifies is often the difference between a claim limited to workers’ comp benefits and a substantially larger recovery. Reach out to our workplace accident attorney in Los Angeles if you suspect you’ve been injured due to a third party at work.
The Basic Rule of Workers’ Compensation
The workers’ compensation system provides employees with guaranteed, no-fault benefits. In exchange, employers are generally protected from workplace injury lawsuits. That protection covers the employer and, in most situations, coworkers acting within the scope of their jobs. Any other person or company whose conduct played a role in the injury remains fully exposed to a personal injury claim.
Parties Who Commonly Qualify as Third Parties
The range of potential third parties is wider than most injured workers realize. Depending on how the accident happened, potentially liable parties may include:
- Motorists: A driver who causes a crash while the employee is driving for work, whether making a delivery, traveling between job sites, or running a work errand, is a classic third party, along with that driver’s insurance.
- Manufacturers: The maker of a defective product involved in the injury, whether it’s a machine, a tool, a vehicle component, or safety equipment that failed to perform.
- Other companies at the worksite: Contractors, subcontractors, and vendors whose employees or work created the hazard. Their presence at the same site does not make them your employer, and it does not protect them.
- Property owners: When the injury happens on premises owned by someone other than the employer, the owner may be liable for dangerous conditions there.
- Service companies: Outside maintenance, repair, security, or cleaning companies whose negligence contributed to the accident.
The common thread is the employment relationship or the absence of one. If the negligent party wasn’t your employer, you can generally file a lawsuit against them.
Can I Receive Workers’ Compensation and File a Third-Party Claim?
Yes. Workers’ compensation and a third-party claim are separate legal remedies against separate parties, and pursuing one does not prevent you from pursuing the other. Workers’ compensation comes from your employer’s insurance and pays regardless of fault. A third-party claim proceeds against the outside party who contributed to your injury and seeks the damages workers’ compensation doesn’t provide. In many serious injury cases, both move forward at the same time.
There is one important interaction to understand. If your third-party claim succeeds, the workers’ compensation insurer typically has a right to be reimbursed for some of what it paid. These rules vary and can often be negotiated, but they mean the two claims can’t be handled as if the other doesn’t exist.
Coordinating them is part of how an attorney makes sure the combined result leaves you with the most recovery possible.
Injured at Work? Find Out if You Have More Than a Workers’ Comp Claim
If you were seriously injured on the job, it’s worth considering whether anyone other than your employer can be held responsible for your injuries. Our firm can evaluate how your injury happened, identify every party who may share responsibility, and pursue your workers’ compensation benefits and any third-party claims together. Reach out to our Los Angeles personal injury lawyer today to schedule your free case evaluation.