Personal Injury Claim
If a victim wants to recover damages against a driver in a car accident or product manufacturer, the victim or his attorneys need to establish third party negligence. In other words, the car driver or the product manufacturer needs to have been at fault.
Workers compensation claim and personal injury claim should not be considered one and the same.
A willful misconduct of the claimant need not give way for a personal injury claim. A person, who knows the consequences of falling in front of a moving car, cannot deliberately do that so as to enable him to claim for his personal injuries. Similarly all slip & fall injuries cannot constitute negligence of the property owner. The property owner cannot be accused of negligence if the person fainted and fell down due to low glucose levels. In order to recover damages, the other party must be at fault.
Workers’ Compensation Claim
In order to claim under workers’ compensation insurance, a person need not establish any negligence or fault of the employer. An employee is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits if he is injured while on job. The insurance does not require the employee to establish the employer’s negligence. Furthermore, the insurance pays even if the employee was at fault.
Pain & Suffering
Workers’ compensation insurance does not pay for pain & suffering. The employee is entitled to weekly compensation, permanent disability benefits, medical expenses, and the cost of rehabilitation. The insurance rules ensure that the employee does not sue the employer for negligence, and pain & suffering.
Whereas under personal injury lawsuit, the claimant can recover all damages suffered including pain & suffering, lost wages, medical expenses, cost of medical treatment in future, permanent disability, loss of happiness, and loss of ability to earn in future.
Cash Benefits under Workers Compensation Insurance in New York State
Partially or totally disabled workers can receive cash benefits if the disability extends beyond 14 days. But the worker is eligible to receive medical care irrespective of the duration of the disability.
The cash benefit is calculated based on the average weekly earnings of the worker for the previous year. The formula used to calculate the benefits is:
2/3 x [average weekly wage] x [% of disability] = Weekly benefit
If the worker was earning $500 per week and is 100% disabled [totally disabled], based on the formula, the worker gets $333.33 per week. For more on Workers’ Compensation benefits, contact your highly experienced New York City personal injury attorneys who can help you.
Workers Who can Sue their Employers
Vessel crew members and railroad employees are not covered by the workers compensation laws. The Jones Act is a federal law which authorizes vessel crew members to be able to sue the employers for negligence and that includes for pain & suffering.
Similarly railroad employees are empowered by a special federal law FELA – Federal Employers Liability Act – to sue their employers for damages caused due to negligence.
Call us Now
Our attorneys can help you understand the way the workers’ compensation law or the personal injury laws work in New York. Our New York personal injury attorneys at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff, & Wolff know your pain and can help you win a sizeable personal injury settlement. Our attorneys can let you know how big your settlement could be and the viability of it.
So call 212-344-1000now to speak to someone who knows this field and who wants to see you come out on top.
