Is Pain and Suffering Allowed in Workers’ Compensation Cases?
Personal Injury Lawyer
If you’re struggling with frustration, humiliation, physical pain and other negative emotions because of an injury, you’re dealing with something known in the legal world as “pain and suffering.” While there are other types of cases in which you can receive compensation for this kind of damage, such as in personal injury cases, workers’ compensation is not one of those. Workers’ compensation was designed to quickly resolve conflicts between employers and injured workers so workplace injuries don’t turn into gigantic lawsuits. Claims usually include compensation for medical expenses and lost wages.
If you were injured at work and have been dealing with certain negative emotions, what are your options for compensation? If you already received workers’ compensation, or if you are already in the middle of the claims process, do you have a way to receive payment for pain and suffering? The good news is, you might be able to.
Suing the Responsible Third Party
If you were injured during the course of your employment, but it was a third-party individual who caused the actual injury, you may be able to sue that third party. For example, if you were walking from your car to the office after running a work-related errand and the local pizza boy hit you with his car while pulling out of your office parking garage, it’s possible to file a lawsuit against the pizza company or the boy who was driving the delivery car.
Looking Into Compensable Consequences
Sometimes pain and suffering can be compensated using another name. Under workers’ compensation are items known as “compensable consequences.” These are issues very similar to those counted as pain and suffering in other cases, but the way they are approached is completely different.
For example, perhaps you got injured with something that gives you constant pain, even though you have been to doctor after doctor. That pain could result in sleeplessness. While sleeplessness might not seem like part of workers’ compensation, it could be considered a compensable consequence of the initial injury. In such a case, the injured employee should be able to receive compensation for it.
Learning What Options You Have
You may not realize what options are available to you because you don’t know the details about workers’ compensation. When you contact a workers’ comp attorney, you can learn more about your options, who you can sue, and how you can go about receiving the compensation you feel you are entitled to. Contact a workers’ compensation lawyer, like a workers’ compensation lawyer in Green Bay, WI, to get started.
Thanks to Hickey & Turim for their insight into pain and suffering in workers’ compensation cases.
