Recently a report came out about a Memphis man who attacked a coworker by biting off his ear. The assailant was arrested. But the victim still has medical bills to pay and permanent disfigurement to deal with.
While the situation is extreme and very rare, it brought up an important question: What options do you have if a coworker injures you on the job?
Most of the time, when an injury happens on the job, you need to use the workers’ compensation system to get payment. There are very few exceptions:
1) If a third party is involved – like another driver hits your company truck or a piece of equipment malfunctions – you can often get compensation through that third party.
2) If it was a grossly unsafe situation – a situation in which the employer knowingly created an extremely dangerous environment – the courts might decide your case falls outside workers’ comp.
3) If you weren’t actually going about your employment – say, if you were just out on a personal errand and ran into your coworker at the store – the injury wouldn’t be covered by workers’ comp
But in all of these cases, there is some option you can use to get compensation for your injuries.
If you’re ever injured by a coworker – even if it was just an accident – the best thing you can do is talk with an attorney who handles both workers’ comp and regular personal injury cases. That’s what we do, and we can help you figure out the right steps to take. The conversation is absolutely free.