Can your employer deny your workers’ comp claim due to fault?

On Behalf of | Jan 29, 2025 | Workers' Compensation

In many personal injury cases, the most important factor is who was at fault. Take a car accident, for example. If a driver runs a stop sign, they are clearly at fault and are likely liable for the damages they’ve caused.

But say you are driving as part of your employment, whether you’re a commercial driver or an employee instructed by your boss to carry out a specific task. During the drive, you get into a car accident and suffer injuries. You want to seek workers’ compensation benefits, but your boss says they’re going to deny your claim because they believe the accident was your fault. Can they do this?

A no-fault system

In most cases, employers cannot use this tactic to deny workers’ compensation claims. This is because the workers’ compensation system is a no-fault system. If you were doing your job, even if you were at fault for the injury, you should still be covered by workers’ compensation laws. This applies not just to car accidents but to all types of workplace accidents, such as amputation injuries, slip-and-fall accidents and more.

Generally, the only way your employer could seek to deny your claim on the basis of fault is if you did something intentionally dangerous or if you were intoxicated or impaired at the time. For instance, workers engaging in horseplay are sometimes not covered, and you may not be able to seek benefits if a blood test shows you had an elevated BAC at the time of the crash. But in most situations, it doesn’t matter if you were at fault or not.

If you find yourself in a dispute with your employer over what type of compensation you can receive, take the time to carefully explore your legal options.

 

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