{"id":16179,"date":"2023-08-15T08:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T12:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.com\/?p=16179"},"modified":"2023-07-25T09:48:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T13:48:13","slug":"can-i-get-workers-compensation-benefits-and-a-personal-injury-settlement-from-the-same-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/article\/can-i-get-workers-compensation-benefits-and-a-personal-injury-settlement-from-the-same-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Can I Get Workers\u2019 Compensation Benefits and a Personal Injury Settlement from the Same Injury?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yes, but as you may expect, it\u2019s complicated. New York, like most other states, has an exclusive remedy law<\/a>. This law states that in most cases, injured workers must file workers\u2019 compensation claims<\/a>. All exclusive remedies have loopholes and exceptions, but New York\u2019s exclusive remedy law has more exceptions and loopholes than the average state law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exclusive remedy law applies to trauma injuries, like falls, as well as occupational diseases, like hearing loss. Personal injury and\/or worker\u2019 compensation benefits are available even if a pre-existing or non-work condition contributed to the risk and\/or severity of injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a catastrophic (life-threatening) injury case, the economic losses alone, mostly medical expenses, usually exceed $150,000. Although insurance companies earn more than $1 trillion a year, they routinely offer pennies on the dollar in these cases. So, a New York personal injury attorney<\/a> is an important partner. The average attorney-negotiated settlement is more than three times higher than the average non-attorney negotiated settlement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers\u2019 Compensation Basics <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aforementioned economic losses are usually overwhelming. Most families have little or no savings. They can\u2019t possibly pay these bills and absorb the losses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers\u2019 compensation pays no-fault benefits that replace lost wages and pay \u201creasonably necessary\u201d medical bills. Both categories appear straightforward and objective, but they aren\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A victim\u2019s AWW (average weekly wage) determines the wage replacement benefit. The \u201cnet pay\u201d figure on a paycheck is often misleading. This figure doesn\u2019t include non-cash compensation, like loan repayment or vehicle allowance. Furthermore, if the victim recently switched jobs or got promoted, the net pay figure from the last few paychecks is almost meaningless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, \u201creasonably necessary\u201d is a very subjective phrase. That\u2019s especially true in New York, since job injury victims can choose their own doctors. Independent treating physicians and company doctors often don\u2019t see eye to eye on what\u2019s reasonably necessary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of these issues, job injury victims without lawyers could get shortchanged. The insurance company uses flawed and one-sided information to determine the amount of compensation, and then makes a low-ball \u201ctake it or leave it\u201d offer. A New York workers\u2019 compensation lawyer challenges these shaky assertions and to work towards obtaining the maximum compensation for your serious job-related injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal Injury Basics <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These injury claims are more complex. Victim\/plaintiffs must prove negligence. However, the payoff is bigger. In addition to compensation for economic losses, a personal injury lawyer can also obtain compensation for pain and suffering, loss of consortium (companionship), emotional distress, loss of enjoyment in life, and other noneconomic losses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, most people have a duty of reasonable care in most situations. People breach their duty of care by driving aggressively, ignoring property injury hazards, or failing to warn people about dangerous products. If the breach causes injury, compensation is available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common negligence defenses include comparative fault and assumption of the risk. Comparative fault shifts blame from the tortfeasor to the victim. For example, a victim might provoke a dog or drive under the influence of alcohol. \u201cProvocation\u201d has a very narrow definition in New York. Additionally, the insurance company must prove the victim\u2019s carelessness substantially contributed to the injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assumption of the risk usually involves a \u201cBeware of Dog\u201d or other warning sign. The insurance company must prove the victim saw the sign, could read the sign, and could understand what the sign meant, or else the defense doesn\u2019t apply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both situations, jurors must divide fault on a percentage basis, such as 50-50. New York is a pure comparative fault state. Victims are eligible for a proportionate share of damages even if they were 99 percent responsible for the injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting Around the Exclusive Remedy Law <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the aforementioned exclusive remedy law, job injury victims may normally sue a defective product manufacturer, a general contractor, a negligent supervisor, or any other third party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturers have a duty to warn customers about dangerous side-effects. Asbestos-laced materials are a good example. Before 1980, almost every physical structure contained asbestos. Manufactures knew of the danger but didn\u2019t warn anyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

General contractors and negligent supervisors are immune from lawsuits in other states. But not in New York. These parties may implead the employer, who usually refers the claim to a workers\u2019 compensation carrier. \u201cImpleading\u201d is a very complex legal process which basically splits responsibility among multiple parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other exceptions to the exclusive remedy rule include the employer’s failure to provide coverage by one of the methods required in the statute and an employer\u2019s or agent\u2019s intentional tort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many injured workers may file workers\u2019 comp and personal injury claims. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in New York<\/a>, contact Napoli Shkolnik. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters and only recover a fee when we win your case. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, but as you may expect, it\u2019s complicated. New York, like most other states, has an exclusive remedy law. This law states that in most cases, injured workers must file…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[778],"tags":[815,878,911,930,964,1253],"class_list":["post-16179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-workers-compensation","tag-general-negligence","tag-insurance-claims","tag-workers-compensation-lawyer","tag-economic-loss","tag-personal-injury","tag-no-fault-insurance"],"acf":[],"page_builder_type":"gutenberg","gutenberg_data":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}