Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD or SSDI) is a payroll tax-funded federal insurance program of the United States government. It is managed by the Social Security Administration and designed to provide income to people who are unable to work full time.
You hurt yourself at work, but you keep your job. You can’t do what you did before so your boss gives you a modified job and you continue to work. But when you returned to work, things have changed. You’re treated differently by your boss and/or supervisor. You don’t feel trusted and you feel disrespected. What happened? Why the change? I see this in my workers compensation law practice all the time.
After work injuries, bosses seem to go from good guy Dr Jekyll into bad guy Mr. Hyde. The change usually comes in the nature of a bad job offer that you legally have to accept. You have to take a job that you completely don’t want to do. Perhaps it seems like a fake offer or setup. Perhaps the offer is insincere; it seems like a punishment because you got hurt; like a demeaning no-duty job. You might feel offended by any of this the strange behavior because you gave your heart and soul to this employer and all of a sudden it’s turning its back on you, playing a game.
We’ve discussed in another video that you can’t sue your employer for work injury, you can only workers’ compensation from your employer. What other benefits are available to injured workers other than workers’ compensation (WC)?
Well, just because you can’t sue your employer doesn’t mean you can’t sue someone else who’s responsible for causing your work injury. Let’s go review some common targets for lawsuits of a work injury.
First, a landlord. The owner of your place of employment might be different from your employer, and therefore, that landowner wouldn’t have immunity. If your injury is caused by a dangerous condition of the property, and the landlord knew, or should have known of this danger, then the landlord is a target.
Lawyers don’t like to sue individuals. They like to sue insurance companies because an insurance company has something called, “a deep pocket.” After you win a settlement or judgement, the insurance company immediately cuts a check; without insurance, most judgements would be uncollectable because individuals usually can’t pay. There’s a part of homeowner’s insurance called, “the liability provision” that follow owners away from the home. It covers not just the owner, but resident relatives. This opens up claims for accidents away from just streets and sidewalks.
You can’t sue your employer for pain and suffering and all the other injuries because there’s an exclusivity provision of a
workers compensation laws which give immunity to employers. The reason why lawmakers put that protection in is so that everyone would get covered — all injured workers, not just the ones in unsafe conditions. But the employees waive their right to sue for pain and suffering.
