Accidents in the workplace are, unfortunately, more common than any of us would like. Fortunately we live in the United States, and thanks to the Employer Liability Acts of the 1850s every state of the union has a worker\’s compensation program to ensure that any individual injured while at work can be compensated for loss of earnings and their medicals expenses.
So if you find yourself in a position where you\’re filing a Worker\’s Compensation claim against your employer, you might also be wondering if it\’s possible to be compensated for the pain and suffering you endured because of your accident?
The answer to this question is a lot more complicated than you might have imagined. We\’ll need to take a look at the definition of \”pain and suffering\” before we go any further.
Pain and Suffering
This describes a wide range of injuries which any person can claim to be suffering from. It\’s worth mentioning that pain and suffering covers everything from depression to insomnia, or just the general aches and pains you endure as a result of your injury. The vague nature of \”pain and suffering\” makes it almost impossible to quantify in any meaningful way. After all, how can you compensate somebody for worry, when you\’re unable to establish a damages baseline for just how \”worried\” a plaintiff is? Being prescribed medication as part of your injury is the medical definition of \”pain and suffering\”, but the courts won\’t always agree on that.
Claiming For Pain and Suffering
The first, and most important, thing to understand about a Worker’s Comp claim is that once you file for it (Worker’s Comp) you automatically lose the right to claim for pain and suffering. People get confused as to why this might be the case, and it\’s because in a personal injury case you can seek financial compensation for \”pain and suffering\”, whereas with Worker’s Comp claims you cannot.
Workers Comp will only compensate you for your loss of earnings because you\’re unable to work while injured, and your medical expenses. It doesn’t provide for damages for anything else.
The one exception here is that if a third party in the workplace was responsible for your injury you may be able to sue them for pain and suffering damages, but not your employer.
Third Party Claims
Now that we\’ve established that you cannot claim for \”pain and suffering\” as part of a normal Worker’s Comp case, it\’s important that you understand the circumstances where you can sue other people, or companies, for \”pain and suffering\” that are indirectly connected to your own accident.
Here are some examples:
- If you were injured by a third party, while in the workplace, you can sue them for \”pain and suffering\” damages as part of a personal injury claim against them
- If your injury was caused by a defective product of some kind, then you may be able to pursue the manufacturer for damages
- If your employer can be proven to have intentionally caused your injury then you may be successful in bringing a personal injury lawsuit against them
- Any employer who doesn\’t have Worker\’s Comp insurance can be sued in a civil court, with the possibility of a \”pain and suffering\” claim being successful
- If the premises you were working in were deemed unsafe, then you can also sue your employer separately for damages as a result of that
There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but this does vary from state to state. California, for example is one of the few states where you can claim for emotional distress, but these cases are difficult to pursue, and victories are rare.
If your case is handled by a lawyer versed in the finer details of Worker\’s Comp claims then you should be able to negotiate a financial settlement of some kind for \”pain and suffering\”, and if a Third Party claim can be pursued those damages might be a lot higher than you might have expected.