Workers' Compensation Law
who is covered?
*All employees are covered: white collar, blue collar, EVERY EMPLOYEE, except: 1) Independent Contractors are not covered. 2) Teachers and other white collar workers at NON-PROFITS are not covered. 3) Part-time household employees are not covered. 4) Clergy are not covered.
what type of injuries are covered?
*Any injury on the job, except: 1) Injury solely due to the intoxication of the employee. 2) Employee intentionally injuries himself or others. 3) Any injuries that take place in voluntary off-duty athletic competition. 4) Horseplay: frivolous recreation activity at the job site. -Some horseplay is recoverable: mild horsing around → injury (recoverable) -can't be at the end of the work day, but the boundaries are unclear 5) injuries caused by illegal activity can still be considered within the scope of employment
what can an injured employee recover?
1) All out of pocket medical expenses; plus 2) 2/3 of salary; plus 3) Death benefit + funeral expenses (estate gets if the employee dies).
what is the statutory insurance scheme?
1) Boss must have insurance, and the employee gets automatic recovery. 2) Employer is strictly liable; Employee cannot sue in negligence. - If you are covered, you only get workman's compensation. 3) Proof: Do not have to prove fault. 4) Damages: No pain and suffering; No punitive damages.
note on who can be sued
Workman's compensation frees the EMPLOYER and CO-WORKERS from suit, but the injured party can still sue OTHER PARTIES on any of the theories of tort. Co-workers can be sued if they act outside the scope of their employment or act intentionally. if you are injured on teh job by a machine that lacks a safety guard, you can assert workers' comp and you can ALSO sue the makers of the machine on a products theory
what is workers' compensations?
it is a statutory insurance scheme that is designed to be the exclusive remedy of a covered employee who sustains a job-related injury the key aspect of the scheme is that the employer is liable to the employee through insurance for a fixed amount of compensation in the case of injury, regardless of any fault, an the employee is barred from litigating (so you don't get pain and suffering or punitive damages)
