Published by J.A. Davis & Associates – San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyers – Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ Comp Claim Exceptions

There is only one exception where the family of a deceased accident victim can sue a subscribing employer. That is when the employer’s gross negligence was the reason for the accident taking place that caused the wrongful death. It can be much harder to prove gross negligence, however, than standard negligence. Gross negligence is, in a nutshell, when an employer habitually created an unsafe workplace environment and was aware that an accident would likely happen that would result in either an injury or death. Standard negligence, on the other hand, is the temporary lack of focus or reason of an employee that led to an accident. A subscribing company cannot be successfully sued unless gross negligence can be proven. The oilfield accident attorneys with our Law Office are adept at building rock-solid cases against employers that are grossly negligent in order for the families of deceased workers to obtain the restitution they have coming to them. More about our “Workers Compensation Lawyers San Antonio” here

Companies that are Workers’ Comp Non-Subscribers

The victim, or plaintiff, will more than likely have to file a lawsuit against a non-subscriber in order to obtain restitution after an oilfield injury. The first thing the victim must do is file a claim with the employer that details both the injury and the extent of the monetary damages the victim expects to receive in restitution. The employer then has the choice of either paying you what you demand or attempting to negotiate a settlement for a lesser amount. Most of the time, however, a non-subscriber will choose neither option. When that happens, your only recourse in securing the fair compensation you have coming to you is by pursuing legal action by filing a lawsuit.

A plaintiff can get a substantially higher amount of restitution via a lawsuit than he or she might be able to obtain through a workers’ compensation claim. Also, the plaintiff needs to only prove standard negligence – the aforementioned temporary, solitary error in judgment or the duty to provide a safe workplace – and doing so is fairly simple. When the Texas Legislature enacted workers’ comp in 1992, it did so with the purpose of trying to shield companies from frivolous employee lawsuits. It does not require employers to buy insurance, but it very strongly encourages them to do so. As a result, non-subscribers are “punished,” so to speak, by allowing not only employee lawsuits but requiring that those employees need only prove standard negligence.

There can be extremely large amounts of money at stake, however, and employers will employ a wide variety of tactics – both legal and illegal – in order to keep from having to pay a claim. Through two decades of dealing with workers’ comp claims, the oilfield accident attorneys with our Law Office know the tricks that non-subscribing companies can try to pull. We can protect your right to pursue compensation by putting our experience and track record of success to use for you.

As we stated previously, an injured worker, or plaintiff, has to bear the burden of proof in order to win a personal injury case, and therefore has to be able to provide a convincing argument that will prove the negligence of the employer led to the accident that caused injury to an employee. The plaintiff has to establish that the employer should be held responsible for the pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages, and lost potential earnings due to lifelong disabilities that the plaintiff has incurred. The standard of negligence that must be proven in a case regarding a non-subscriber is quite low, but it can still be very difficult for inexperienced attorneys and nearly impossible for those who have no legal background. But our experience enables us to establish standard negligence in a relatively easy fashion.