Texas Workers’ Compensation:
Third Party Claim
Many employers in Texas are subscribers to the Texas Workers’ Compensation system. This system not only provides for medical care and benefits to the injured worker, it protects the employer from claims of negligence.
Most people spend their work shift interacting with coworkers. Coworkers are all employees of the same employer. Since they are all agents of the same employer, they are all protected from acts of negligence through the workers’ compensation system. This is referred to as “exclusive remedy”, meaning that the injured worker’s only remedy for compensation is through the workers compensation insurance.
But, this is not the case with all employment. At many construction sites, oil fields, warehouses or even when employees are traveling around the general public. Employees will interact with employees from multiple companies and even other private citizens. In most cases workers from other companies are not considered to be agents of the same employer.
If a worker is injured because of the negligence of someone who is not an agent of their employer, they may have a claim for negligence against that person or their employer. This claim is separate from the workers’ compensation claim.
It is called a third party claim. Third parties claims are handled like most general liability claims. However, when dealing with damages, the workers’ compensation insurance carrier will have a subrogation lien against the third party claim, for the benefits they have paid. If your attorney is handling both claims, they can work to negotiate the best possible recovery.