An injury at work can leave you enduring worsening health, financial strain, and reduced quality of life. In Florida, employees hurt on the job often wonder whether to file a workers’ compensation claim or pursue a personal injury (PI) lawsuit.
While both options can provide financial relief for medical bills and lost earnings, they apply to different circumstances and have unique legal requirements. You should, therefore, work with a legal professional to understand and protect your rights.
At Frankl Kominsky Injury Lawyers, our personal injury attorneys can guide you in the aftermath of a work-related injury. We will pursue a fair and just settlement if your accident results from unsafe workplace conditions, third-party negligence, or employer oversight.
Workers’ Comp or PI Key Takeaways
- You don’t always have to rely solely on workers’ compensation after a workplace injury; a personal injury lawsuit may offer broader recovery.
- Compensation for work injuries can include medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.
- You may sue for a work-related injury when negligence, low settlement offers, or disputed liability are involved.
- A skilled personal injury attorney gathers evidence, negotiates with insurers, and pursues maximum compensation for your losses.
- Call a personal injury attorney to understand your options.
Do You Have to File Workers' Comp if You Get Hurt at Work
While workers' compensation is the standard route for workplace injuries, filing is not always your only option. You can file a personal injury lawsuit if your injury resulted from a third party's negligence. Filing a personal injury claim potentially results in greater compensation than workers' comp alone.
When to File a Personal Injury Claim
Consider filing a personal injury claim when your injury involves negligence from contractors, equipment manufacturers, property owners, or other non-employer entities. For example, if defective machinery or unsafe premises caused your injury.
A personal injury lawsuit allows you to recover economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.
How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help
A skilled personal injury attorney can evaluate your case to identify liable third parties. They'll investigate the incident, gather evidence, and determine whether you have viable claims outside workers' compensation.
Most importantly, a personal injury lawyer will handle negotiations and litigation, allowing you to focus on recovery. A personal injury attorney ensures you understand your options and maximizes your recovery.
Compensation for Injury at Work
You can initiate a personal injury lawsuit to obtain compensation for your losses. Some of the damages you can receive from a personal injury attorney include:
Medical Expenses
You may incur medical expenses as you recover from a work-related injury. These include all healthcare costs related to your injury, both immediate and ongoing. Medical expenses damages can cover these costs:
- Emergency room and hospitalization bills
- Surgical procedures and anesthesia
- Prescription medications and pain management
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation services
- Diagnostic tests, imaging, and laboratory work
- Mental health counseling and psychiatric treatment
- Medical equipment, braces, and prosthetics
- Home healthcare and nursing services
- Future medical treatments and anticipated care
A personal injury attorney can use medical records to prove the extent of your injury and support your claim for current and future medical costs.
Lost Income
When injury prevents you from working, you're entitled to compensation for lost income. You can recover income lost during recovery, reduce earning capacity if you cannot return to your previous position, and diminish lifetime earning potential.
A personal injury attorney can also calculate future losses if your injury results in permanent disability.
Out-of-Pocket Expenses
You can also recover out-of-pocket expenses resulting from the injury and accident. Examples of out-of-pocket costs include transportation to medical appointments, home modifications for accessibility, childcare needed during recovery, and assistive devices.
A personal injury lawyer can prove your claim using bank statements, credit card statements, receipts, and medical records.
Pain and Suffering
You can pursue pain and suffering damages as compensation for the pain, discomfort, trauma, and inconvenience you endured during recovery. A personal injury lawyer initiates a claim when you experience acute pain immediately after the injury, chronic pain that affects daily life, or ongoing discomfort from permanent injuries.
Emotional Distress
A workplace injury can cause psychological trauma alongside physical harm. Symptoms of emotional distress after a workplace injury include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social phobias.
For example, you may experience post-traumatic stress disorder if the events leading to the workplace injury were traumatic.
A personal injury attorney can prove a workplace injury using:
- Psychiatric and psychological evaluations and diagnoses
- Medical records documenting mental health treatment
- Testimony from therapists or counselors treating the injury's psychological effects
- Journal entries describing emotional struggles and recovery challenges
- Witness testimony from family and friends about behavioral changes
- Medical professional testimony explaining the psychological impact of the specific injury
- Evidence of sleep disturbances, nightmares, or panic attacks
- Documentation of social withdrawal or isolation following the injury
- Performance records showing work-related difficulties due to emotional trauma
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
Loss of enjoyment of life addresses how injury diminishes your quality of life. You can initiate a claim if your injury prevents you from participating in hobbies, sports, travel, or social engagement you previously enjoyed.
A personal injury lawyer can demonstrate the losses through evidence of activities you can no longer pursue and the lifestyle changes imposed by your injury.
Loss of Consortium
You may recover damages for loss of consortium when an injury affects your relationship with a spouse or family member. These damages compensate for diminished companionship, reduced intimacy, and changed family dynamics resulting from the injury.
The injured party and affected family members can initiate a claim for loss of consortium. A personal injury lawyer can use evidence such as medical records, witness statements, therapy notes, and professional testimony to prove loss of consortium.
Permanent Disability and Disfigurement
You deserve compensation for permanent disability or disfigurement. Whether scarring, amputation, or functional disability, these lasting effects warrant damages reflecting your changed circumstances.
Compensation accounts for the permanent nature of the impairment, ongoing medical management, and the psychological impact.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages punish defendants for egregiously negligent or intentional conduct and deter similar behavior. These damages exceed actual losses, acknowledging that the defendant's actions warranted extraordinary consequences.
A personal injury lawyer makes a case for punitive damages by demonstrating the defendant's conduct was reckless, grossly negligent, or intentional. A personal injury attorney can present evidence showing the defendant knew of dangerous conditions but failed to correct them. They can also demonstrate that they ignored safety regulations or deliberately disregarded worker safety.
Documentation of prior similar incidents, violations of safety standards, or ignored warnings strengthens punitive damage claims.
Can I Sue for a Work-Related Injury
While workers' compensation provides baseline protection, injured workers retain the right to sue for workplace injuries under specific circumstances. The court system offers fairness and accountability, allowing victims to recover full compensation exceeding insurance limits.
Here are a few reasons why you can sue after a workplace injury:
Low Settlement Offers
Workers' compensation insurers sometimes offer inadequate settlements that barely cover your losses. If you receive a low settlement offer, you have grounds to challenge it through a personal injury lawsuit.
A personal injury attorney can use a lawsuit to negotiate for fair compensation. They can use evidence of your losses to challenge the proposal rather than accepting an insurer's lowball offer designed to minimize their costs.
Intentional Misconduct
You can initiate a lawsuit when your employer or a third party intentionally causes your injury. Intentional misconduct includes deliberately creating dangerous conditions, knowingly exposing workers to hazardous substances without protection, or directly causing harm.
A personal injury attorney can pursue damages exceeding workers' comp benefits, including pain and suffering and punitive damages designed to punish such egregious conduct.
Retaliation or Wrongful Termination
You can file a lawsuit when your employer retaliates against you for filing a workers' compensation claim or reporting safety violations. Wrongful termination following a workplace injury violates employee protection laws.
A personal injury attorney can document the timeline between your injury or claim and termination, establishing the causal connection. They can pursue damages for job loss, emotional distress, and career disruption resulting from your employer's unlawful response to your injury.
Disputed Liability
You can initiate a lawsuit when the employer or their insurer disputes liability. A lawsuit is an opportunity to demonstrate that the injury truly occurred at work or resulted from negligence. A personal injury attorney can investigate the incident, gather witness testimony, and present evidence establishing who was responsible for your injury.
Bad Faith Insurance Practices
Insurance companies must handle claims in good faith, investigate incidents fairly, and process legitimate claims. Bad faith practices include unreasonably denying valid claims, delaying payments without justification, or failing to conduct investigations.
If your insurer acts in bad faith, you can sue for damages exceeding the original claim amount, including attorney fees and punitive damages. A personal injury attorney can document the insurer's misconduct, proving they violated their obligation to handle your claim fairly and honestly.
Uninsured or Underinsured Employers
Some employers lack adequate workers' compensation insurance, leaving injured workers unprotected. If your employer is uninsured, you can pursue a personal injury lawsuit to maximize your recovery.
You can also initiate a lawsuit if insurance coverage is insufficient to cover your losses. A personal injury attorney can identify whether your employer carried appropriate coverage and explore alternative sources of compensation.
How to Prove Injury Happened at Work
Proving a workplace injury requires comprehensive evidence establishing that an injury occurred during work. A personal injury attorney can use different sources of evidence to support your case.
Here are different types of evidence to prove a workplace injury:
- Medical Records: Records from a healthcare provider can document the injury, treatment timeline, and causation. A personal injury lawyer can use hospital reports, diagnostic imaging, and physician statements to link your injury to workplace conditions.
- Witness Testimony: A personal injury attorney can use testimony from coworkers or supervisors to support your version of the incident. Eyewitnesses provide credible accounts of the incident, strengthening your claim.
- Incident Reports and Documentation: You can use an incident report to support the claim. Further, a personal injury attorney can retrieve workplace safety logs, accident reports, and OSHA documentation proving the injury's workplace origin.
- Physical Evidence: A personal injury attorney can support your claim using photographs of hazardous conditions, defective equipment, or accident scenes.
Workers’ Claim or PI Frequently Asked Questions
How Does a Personal Injury Case Work?
You typically file a workers' comp claim when injured at work. The no-fault system provides medical benefits and income replacement regardless of fault. However, a personal injury attorney explores alternative options, such as third-party liability.
To maximize your recovery, a personal injury attorney pursues additional damages beyond workers' comp benefits, such as pain and suffering.
What Questions Should I Ask My Personal Injury Attorney?
Ask about their experience with cases similar to yours, fee structure, estimated timeline for resolution, and potential case value. Inquire about litigation costs, communication frequency, settlement likelihood versus trial, and how they handle evidence collection.
How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?
Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency fees, meaning you pay nothing up front. Their fee is a percentage of your settlement value or award. Factors influencing rates include case complexity, required litigation versus settlement, attorney experience level, and the prevailing cost of living.
Additional costs, such as court fees and medical records requests, may apply separately. However, a personal injury attorney can advance these expenses.
How Our Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Can Strengthen Your Claim
A serious work injury can lead to lasting pain and loss of enjoyment of life. For example, a construction worker with a severe back injury may find lifting or playing with their children challenging.
You may also face pressure from insurance companies eager to minimize your payout. At Frankl Kominsky Injury Lawyers, we understand the impact of injuries and know how to fight back.
Our skilled Florida personal injury attorneys can gather compelling evidence, negotiate with insurers, and litigate to obtain maximum compensation for your losses. Call our office at (561) 800-8000 to schedule a free consultation.