Work Accidents
Work accidents are divided into two categories. The first category includes those accidents occurring on-the-job, but which are caused by some other third-person. A simple example would be a car accident while an employee is on-the-job. In those circumstances, the injured employee would proceed to file a claim through their employer for workers compensation benefits. However, the injured employee would also proceed with a separate claim against the liable person just like any other personal injury claim. If the injured person is able to collect a settlement from the liable party or their insurance company, it may be necessary to reimburse the workers compensation insurance company for the benefits received.
The second category of work accidents are those circumstances where an employee is injured on-the-job, but due to an an incident occurring completely within the workplace or work environment. Under these circumstances, if your employer carried insurance that complies with the Texas Workers Compensation Act, then your claim is characterized as a “subscriber” claim. That is, your employer is a “subscriber” to the Texas Workers Compensation Act. In order to collect benefits, you only need to prove that you were injured while in the course and scope of your employment duties. Your benefits are limited (except for very limited circumstances) to those allowed by the Texas Workers Compensation Act.
However, Texas law does not require that an employer subscribe to the Texas Workers Compensation Act. Thus, if you are injurued on-the-job, and your employer did not subscribe to the Texas Workers Compensation Act, then your claim is charaterized as a “non-subscriber” claim. In these types of cases, you still must prove that you were injured on-the-job, But you must also prove that your injury was the result of some fault of your employer. If you are able to show that your employer was somewhat responsible for causing your injury, then the amount of your recovery is determined by common law and not limited by the Texas Workers Compensation Act.
