What Is A 3rd Party Claim For An On-The-Job Injury?

Usually, the money for a worker’s compensation comes from the injured worker’s employer. Still, that is not always the case.

Definition of 3rd party claim:

An injured employee must make a 3rd party claim, if the person that was fully or partly responsible for the employee’s injury was not the worker’s direct employer. For instance, an employee at a construction site might be doing a job at the direction of a sub-contractor.

The subcontractor gives directions, regarding how a job should be done. If those directions manage to cause an accident, the sub-contractor might be held responsible.

Actions to be taken by the injured employee in such a situation:

• Determine the identity of the responsible party. If planning to sue, send notice of that fact to the same, responsible party.
• Get together with an attorney. Plan how to show that the responsible party was negligent.
• Did that party have a duty of care? A sub-contractor is expected to care about the health and safety of employees.
• Did that same party breach his or her duty of care? Did the subcontractor fail to make a ladder or scaffold available to a worker that was standing on a platform located 6 feet from the ground? That would qualify as a breach of duty.
• Did the sub-contractor fail to provide every worker on the construction site with a hat? That would be another example of negligence.
• What was the nature of the plaintiff’s injury? Was it a broken ankle, one acquired as the result of a fall? Was it a head injury? Had it been caused by the lack of access to a suitable hard hat?
• Did the acquired injury result in a forced assumption of damages? That would be another proof of the defendant’s negligence.

Special benefits associated with a 3rd party claim:

The Personal Injury Attorneys in Lincoln & Santa Paula for the injured worker could consider going after the client’s pain and suffering compensation. Normally, a worker that has been injured on the job cannot seek such compensation.

In addition, the worker’s attorney would have the right to seek reimbursement for all of the lost wages. That could amount to more than just a portion of the pay received prior to the accident. Those added benefits could be sought, because none of them would place an added burden on the employer. The charge of negligence would be made against a 3rd party.

Moreover, it should not be hard to prove that charge of negligence. The 3rd party would have assumed the role of the employer. Hence, the employer’s duty would have been handed to the 3rd party. Consequently, a failure to acknowledge that fact could be viewed as a breach of duty, a required element of negligence.