Legal Question in Workers Comp in California

Yes,you can sue for full amount of your damages and your employer will either file a lien or take credit for the amounts paid to you. You an also collect from the third party pain and suffering damages.

The best way to approach your situation is to receive temporary disability benefits from worker's compensation carrier and receive medical treatment and settle with your employer. Then also you will have a 3rd party lawsuit against the other driver and you can get a settlement for pain and suffering. Feel free to call us at 213.388.7070 for a free consultation.

You have TWO SEPARATE ACTIONS.

One is a "Personal Injury" claim against the person who struck you... that gets filed in Civil Court.

Next is the Workers Compensation claim with the employer, and that gets filed in the Workers Compensation Appeals Board.

You are not permitted a 'full' recovery from both the comp action and the civil action.

You don't collect "Compensation" from the person who hit you; instead you collect the 'damages' you had that workers comp does not cover.

Workers Comp insurer only pays 2/3 of your average weekly wages, so you can request that missing 1/3 of wages as damages in the civil personal injury action.

Workers Comp has no such thing as 'Pain & Suffering" nor can the spouse collect for not having relations in workers comp. the civil Personal INjury claim can include a spouse deprived of spouse's marital services dubbed "loss of consortium".

WARNING: IF YOU TAKE A QUICK SETTLEMENT IN THE PERSONAL INJURY action you might get nothing in your comp claim... RESOLVE THE WORKERS COMP CLAIM FIRST and only then can you accurately judge what a fair recovery in the personal injury claim would be.

EXAMPLE: a man took a $60,000 settlement in his civil action. The Workers Comp insurer won it's petition for credit for $60,000... meaning the worker couldnt get any benefits from the comp insurer unless and until he showed receipts adding over $60,000...

....and he never could because he Ok'd his attorney taking $20,000 of his money and ok'd giving the doctors $20,000.

If he would have done the comp claim first, he'd get his treatment and his Temporary Disability checks ('on workman's comp' most folks say) until he returned to work, all the doctors would have been paid already by the Comp Insurer,.... and then he could have had the 'pain & suffering" and lost wages and lost future earnings not covered in comp in the Personal INjury civil suit... and not give most of his award to doctors and attorneys.

Finish the treatment in comp and settle the comp action FIRST!!!