Filing a Third-Party Personal Injury Claim for Work-Related Accidents

NJ Workers’ Compensation

In New Jersey, when you’ve been hurt on the job, your first course of action will typically be to file a workers’ compensation claim. In some instances, it may be your exclusive remedy—that means you must look to the workers’ compensation for reimbursement or compensation for all your losses. There are, however, situations where you are not limited to the recovery available through a workers’ compensation claim. Here’s how it works.

Workers’ compensation was implemented in New Jersey (as in other states) as the “grand bargain,” designed to benefit both workers and employers. Workers who successfully file don’t have to pay a lot of attorney fees and other costs, and will generally start receiving benefits within weeks or months. Employers don’t have to worry about sympathetic juries awarding injured workers vast amounts of money.

However, the workers’ compensation system is limited in scope, providing compensation only for negligence by an employer or a co-employee. If your injuries were caused, in whole or in part, by the carelessness of a third party (neither your employer nor a co-employee), those injuries are not limited by workers’ compensation. You can file a lawsuit to recover damages for those injuries. You will have to go through the legal process, which can take months or years, and you’ll have to incur some costs. But your recovery is not limited to the amounts specified in the workers’ compensation laws. In fact, you can file a workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury lawsuit simultaneously for injuries stemming from the same accident. You cannot, however, recover compensation for the same loss twice. For example, if you file a personal injury lawsuit and recover reimbursement of all your medical expenses, you cannot recover benefits for the same medical expenses in a workers’ compensation claim.

Contact Us

If you or a loved one has been injured at work, our personal injury attorneys can help protect your rights. For a free initial consultation, contact us by e-mail or call our offices, in New Brunswick at 732-247-3600 or in Somerville at 908-448-2560.