We see the same scenario quite frequently. You were working and suffered accidental injury. You were told you only have a workers’ compensation claim. Not quite so fast!

While sometimes the only claim available is a workers’ compensation claim, like the one on this website, the negligence of third parties can often serve as the basis for a separate personal injury claim against other third parties who bear responsibility for your injuries. 

This often happens in the construction field where there are numerous separate contractors, delivery companies and others working closely at one jobsite. General contractors have an legal obligation to take steps to provide a safe worksite for all workers. If they fail to do so, general contractors can be held responsible for injures to a subcontractor’s employees as well as others injured onsite. This same legal principle applies to subcontractors and their employees who have a legal duty to those working around them.

Other examples include:

• A police officer who falls though a rotted porch during a rescue operation
• A factory worker injured by a defectively made or designed band saw
• A travelling sales person who is struck by a forklift operated by the customer’s employee
• A cable installer who trips over hidden debris at the customer’s premises
• A delivery driver whose vehicle is struck by another car at an intersection

If you are injured while “in the course and scope of your employment,” you are entitled to 3 basic workers’ compensation benefits regardless of fault:

1. Medical treatment at no cost to you

2. Temporary disability compensation to replace lost income

3. Compensation for permanent disability.

The New Jersey Legislature long ago created these statutory benefits to provide claimants with a compensation system to assist in their recovery. In exchange for these statutory benefits, a claimant cannot sue his employer or co-workers for negligence, usually even gross negligence, which causes on the job injury or illness.

However, this “employer immunity” does not extend to third parties. If injured while working due to the negligence of a company or a person other than your employer or co-workers, you are entitled to separate personal injury damages caused by that negligence.

These types of claims are not uncommon. At HYBERG, WHITE & MANN, partners Joseph & Daniel White represent injured workers in the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Courts. Partner Patrick Joyce appears in the New Jersey Superior Courts handling personal injury cases against responsible third parties. Joseph White, Daniel White, and Patrick Joyce have decades of combined experience successfully coordinating separate Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation claims so as to obtain the maximum recovery possible for our clients. This collaboration of effort allows us to minimize client costs and efficiently resolve 2 claims stemming from 1 accident.

Call us at 609-407-1000 to schedule your free consultation. We will evaluate your accident and determine whether you may have one accident but two claims.