Work injuries on the job are almost always caused by preventable accidents where one or more safety regulations or industrial standards have been breached or ignored in some way. Some of the most notoriously dangerous industries employ thousands of workers in our part of the country, where the risk of catastrophic injury or death is shockingly high. Read, What are the Most Dangerous Jobs in Chicagoland? and What Is The Most Dangerous Job in Indiana and Illinois?.
For workers in Illinois and Indiana, there are longstanding legal protections in place to help the injured accident victim and their loved ones after a workplace accident. Two primary ways that the law can help after an on-the-job accident are by workers’ compensation statutes and civil claims filed under personal injury laws.
Workers’ Compensation Systems in Illinois and Indiana
Lawmakers in both states have passed a series of statutes that create workers’ compensation systems in Illinois and Indiana. Both are “no-fault systems” where benefits are defined by the law that are to be provided to the injured employee through a liability insurance policy bought and paid for by the employer.
The Illinois protection is found in the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/) with claims and hearings overseen by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (820 ILCS 305/14). Indiana’s protection is under the Indiana Workers’ Compensation Act (IC 22-3-1 et seq.) with the Indiana Workers’ Compensation Board (IC 22-3-1-1) handling oversight.
Personal Injury Claims in Illinois and Indiana
State statutes and court case opinions work together to define various civil causes of action that an injured worker may pursue against one or more wrongdoers to obtain monetary damage awards. These may be provided through mediation, settlement, arbitration, or jury trial. Claims may be based on various things, such as negligent supervision on a worksite; product liability in a failure to warn; premises liability after a trenching accident; or professional malpractice in project design. See, 7 Different Parties Who Can Be Liable for Indiana Steel Worker Injury and Who Can Be Held Liable for Construction Worker Accidents?
It is possible for the work accident victim to find help from both sources. They are not mutually exclusive. However, workers and their family members will find them to be very different, both in their process and in the help they provide.
Consider these five key differences between workers’ compensation and civil claims for workers hurt on the job in either Illinois or Indiana:
1. Proving Fault After Work Accident
Workers’ compensation claims are most often submitted pursuant to an insurance policy where the employer is the policyholder. The work accident victim does not have to provide any information regarding why the accident happened: even if the worker’s error resulted in the injury, benefits may be paid.
However, if the worker victim investigates the work accident and finds there are third parties who have legal liability, then third party civil claims may be filed against them. Here, the worker must establish by admissible evidence, sufficient to meet the requisite burden of proof, that the third party was at fault and caused the worker’s harm.
2. Compensation: Insurance Benefits or Civil Damages
An important distinction to be made between filing for workers’ compensation after a work accident and filing a personal injury claim is the monetary compensation the worker victim may get. The workers’ compensation benefits are defined by law. They include things like medical expenses; wage loss (a percentage); and disability (temporary or permanent).
Civil claims are wider in scope. They may provide for all of the above, as well as pain and suffering; full wage loss (100%); lost future earning capacity; loss of a normal life; emotional distress; and more.
Read: Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana: Workers Compensation Claim vs. Personal Injury Damages; and The Two Main Differences Between Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Claims for Accident Victims in Indiana and Illinois.
3. Demands For Compensation
Demands for compensation by the worker victim will be filed against the employer or with the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier. The claims process will proceed in accordance with the state workers’ compensation statutory system.
Demands for compensation in a personal injury matter will proceed under the state civil laws including things like the rules of procedure and the rules of evidence. These civil demands may be made against several different parties, including contractors; subcontractors; architects; engineers; product manufacturers; safety professionals; drivers; employers of drivers; and more. Each case is unique.
These civil claims can proceed concurrently with the workers’ compensation claim for benefits.
4. The Decision-making Process
A workers’ compensation claim must be filed according to the directives of state law. The decision making is done by the Workers’ Compensation Commission for Illinois work accidents and the Workers’ Compensation Board in Indiana. There is no jury trial.
Conversely, if there is not a resolution before going to trial, a worker victim has a right to proceed to have his claims heard by a jury in Illinois and in Indiana, when personal injury allegations have been made against various third parties. These jury trials are held in a state civil courthouse before a judge, and a jury verdict decides the outcome.
To learn more, read: Why a Lawyer who is a Trial Attorney Is Important for Accident Victims in Personal Injury Cases.
5. Reimbursement After Injury Claim Award
The worker does not have to reimburse anyone for any valid benefits obtained through the workers’ compensation system after a job site injury. However, if the worker files for workers’ compensation benefits and then files a civil claim against third parties, then the employer or the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier will likely assert an interest in the recovery made in the civil claim.
Depending upon the recovery, the workers’ compensation system may deem the worker victim to owe reimbursement of past benefits paid after a recovery from a third party. A statutory lien may be applied here. See, e.g, 820 ILCS 305/5(b).
Justice for Workers Hurt on the Job in Indiana or Illinois
For those hurt while at work, as well as their loved ones, it is important to begin, as soon as possible after the accident, to learn about legal rights and remedies that are in place to help the accident victim and family members. Both the laws of Indiana and Illinois have ways to help work accident victims and some of this help can be provided promptly.
Workers’ compensation benefits can be of great help to a family where the breadwinner has been incapacitated by an on-the-job injury. Personal injury claims, while providing broader recompense, usually take longer.
Those who are liable under the laws of negligence, product liability, premises liability, strict liability, or wrongful death may not be ready to admit their responsibility until admissible evidence proving their culpability is put on the table.
For more, read:
- 10 Types of Workers Compensation Benefits After a Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana
- 10 Types of Injury Damages That May Be Awarded to Accident Victims
- Worker Dangers in the Steel Mills and Steel Factories of Indiana
- Task List for Chicago Road Construction Accident Victims Seeking Justice for Work Injuries
- List of Possible Warehouse Third-Party Injury Claims in Chicagoland Work Accidents.
Workers in Indiana and Illinois work in some of the country’s most dangerous jobs. Fortunately, there are laws on the books that stand ready to help work accident victims and their families in the aftermath of a work injury. Please be careful out there!
