Legal Question in Workers Comp in Pennsylvania

Re: Workers comp

No. Never. Except when the Employer (1) does not have Workers' Comp Insurance, or (2) when he exposes you to a known danger or otherwise commits an intentional tort against you.

This is a bright line / Black Letter Law; no if's ands or buts Rule. It is based on the exclusive Remedy provision of the original 1915 Workers' Comp Statute.

Compare the UPS driver who gets in a car crash or the deliveryman who slips and falls or the boiler operator whose boiler explodes. They all can get Workers Comp and then also sue the responsible Third Party. There will be some offsetting and calculations to do so as to avoid a duplication of benefits, but there _can_ be a lawsuit at the same time as WC - the key being that the employer cannot be sued BUT a true Third Party can not similary be shielded by the Exclusive Remedy Rule from Workers' comp Law. So some can collect WC and bring a 3d party civil action - just not one against the WC employer.

Final thought: it happens that an employer who is (or should be) paying WC also violates some separate and distinct federal law relating to Americans with Disabilities or Age Discrimination or related law while dealing with the same nucleus of operative facts as the underlying work injury. In such cases, WC and a civil lawsuit can co-exist as agains the same Employer, but they address different wrongs.

Good Luck

TV