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This is the scenario: you are injured at work but the employer is not the only person at fault. Someone else is responsible for your injuries, such as a co-employee. Who do you sue? Can you sue twice? In a nutshell, both the employer, under the Workers’ compensation statute, and the third party (e.g. the co-employee), under common law, will be liable. However, the employer has to break even and the employee cannot recover twice. This is achieved via reimbursement. While the employer must pay workers’ compensation benefits, it will be reimbursed from the amount in common law damages recovered by the employee from the third party. The employee receives any excess of the damage recovery once the amount in statutory benefits has been deducted. The methodology underlying this system is known as subrogation. |
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