Workers’ Compensation vs. Personal Injury Lawsuit in Kentucky

A worker who is injured in a workplace accident, or who becomes ill as a result of the worker’s employment, may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Those benefits may include both wage replacement and coverage of medical care and treatment for the injury or illness. Although a workers’ compensation claim is similar in many ways to a personal injury lawsuit, there are some significant differences as well. Understanding both systems will help you determine whether you have the basis for a workers’ compensation claim, a personal injury lawsuit, or both.

In a personal injury lawsuit, the injured person, or plaintiff, must prove that the defendant’s negligence caused or contributed to the injuries in order to be entitled to compensation. “Negligence” is a legal term that essentially means fault. To prove negligence, the plaintiff must show that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff and that the defendant breached that duty of care.

A personal injury lawsuit may take months or years to resolve. In the meantime, the plaintiff is not entitled to any compensation. For an injured worker, this system may not be advantageous. From en employer’s perspective, litigating a personal injury lawsuit every time a worker is injured is equally problematic. For these reasons, the concept of workers’ compensation was developed.

Each state administers its own workers’ compensation system. In Kentucky, the workers’ compensation system is administered by the Kentucky Labor Cabinet.  Unlike a personal injury lawsuit, a workers’ compensation claim does not require a showing of negligence on the part of the employer. Generally a covered worker must show only that the worker was in the scope of employment at the time of the injury or illness to be entitled to benefits.

An injured worker often begins receiving wage replacement benefits, as well as coverage for medical treatment, soon after applying for benefits. Workers trade the possibility of a larger settlement from a personal injury lawsuit for the certainty of benefits under the workers’ compensation system.

Although employers must bear the costs of workers’ compensation insurance premiums, the financial costs to the employer are considerably less than regular payouts for personal injury settlements or awards. In essence, the workers’ compensation system benefits both parties.

Except in very limited circumstances, a worker cannot file a personal injury lawsuit against an employer or co-worker for a covered workers’ compensation accident or illness. In some situations, however, a worker may be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit in lieu of or in addition to a workers’ compensation claim if a third party caused or contributed to the injury or illness.