Can my husband sue a company for his work injury?
My husband got hurt his back while working while he was 20 years old. He is now 29. He received 20,000 dollars at the time from the company and did not sue. His back is acting up greatly now due to that incident. Is it possible to go back and sue the company?
We live in the state of Texas.
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on Sunday, July 4th, 2010 at 3:10 pm and is filed under Injuries.
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Call Jim Adler… the Texas Hammer.
His workers comp settlement settled it.
Of course he can sue.
I don’t think he has a snowball’s chance in hell at winning any kind of additional settlement, though.
Every state is different when it comes to workers compensation, and for how long you can claim benefits from the injury. Did your husband settle the claim completely? Or did he just settle the indemnity (lost wages) and leave his medical open? If your husband settled with the insurance company for BOTH lost time AND future medical, he gave up the right for future treatment under that claim.
I would recommend that you and your husband find all the paperwork from when that injury occurred and hire an attorney to review and see if medical treatment is still an option. My guess is that there is nothing you can do at this point. More than likely he settled the claim with a C&R, compromise and release, which keeps the injured worker from seeking future medical treatment if the injury still nags.
because of workers comp you can not directly sue the employer only the insurance company in any state, if you settled you can not reopen the case
i’m from California, but our laws on workers’ comp are very similar…Ok, let me just say that if your husband signed a “Compromise and Release”, he should no longer be working for the company.. correct??and he received the $20,000 in a lump sum check.. Alternatively, if he signed a “Stipulation with Request for Award”, that would be because he remained employed with the company he was injured at or he chose to settle with “life time medical”.. a “Compromise and Release” is a final settlement. He would not be working for the same company, received a lump sum settlement and was not entitled to future medical care (meaning the insurance company was not responsible for any medical bills after settlement.. A “Stipulation with Request for Award” would entitle him to future and life time medical treatment.If he settled by Stipulation, he would have received the $20,000.00 settlement in bi-weekly payments, rather than in a lump sum.. he would be able to remain employed with the same company (but that would be his or the employers choice).. if his case settled by Stipulation, he does have the right to life time medical treatment..however, there is a statute of limitations of 5 years, from the date of injury, that your husband had to “reopen” his case and claim for “new and further disability”. Obviously this was not done, so you husband, if he settled his case by Stipulation, would only have life time medical.. he can get treatment, but that’s all. If he Compromised & Released his case… there is absolutely nothing he can do..
P.S. when you say he “did not sue the company”.. Im assuming you mean he did not get legal representation, correct? Just because someone does not retain legal counsel, it doesnt mean you do “not sue”… when u do retail legal counsel, it just means you have an attorney representing you in your workers’ compensation claim. the claim is filed as soon as you report the injury and your employer gives you a “DWC-1 form” (employees claim for workers’ compensation benefits)..
hope this makes sense.. if not get in touch with me by email..
best of luck
No..NO no. Filing a claim for WC benefits is the exclusive remedy.
You cannot sue the employer or the carrier. With the extremely rare
exception, you would only be able to bring action in civil court to
a 3rd party. If that were to be the case, any recovery there would
be reimbursed to the employer for benefits they have paid in the
claim. When you accept a cash payment to close the claim, that
includes the ability to come back later on and claim additional
benefits. IF he has been working for another employer, he should
file a claim there… aggreviation to a prior injury is fully
compensable as a new injury and claim.
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