If I Got Hurt On The Job, Can I Make A Claim For Negligence Against My Employer?

As a general rule if a worker is injured or killed in a work related accident that injured worker or his or her personal or legal representative, dependents, or next of kin can only recover workers compensation benefits for that injury or death.

Workers compensation is the exclusive remedy and no claim can be made against the employee's employer or any other employee of the employer provided that the injury arose out of and in the course of the workers' employment and was not caused by the other employees' gross negligence amounting to such lack of care as to constitute wanton neglect for the safety of another.

Gross negligence of a co-employee exists when the co-employee has knowledge of the danger to be apprehended; Knowledge that the injury is a probable, as opposed to a possible, result of the danger; and a conscious failure to avoid the danger.

If you were injured at work or you are the spouse, child, dependent, or legal representative of someone who was killed at work because of what you believe was the gross negligence of a co-employee, you should consult a lawyer so that an investigation of the accident can be performed as soon as possible following the accident. Gross negligence is a legal standard which often times is not understood by someone without legal training and experience.