Can You Sue Your Employer for a St. Louis Work Injury?

By James M. Hoffmann  May. 12, 2017 8:33a

Due to the high cost of covering injured employees when they were injured on the job, states started mandating that employers carry workers’ compensation insurance. In Missouri, an employer is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance if they have more than five employees.

The trade off to the workers’ compensation insurance is that if you are hurt while on the job, then although you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, you typically aren’t able to sue your employer for things like pain and suffering or any long standing repercussions from the injury.

There are special circumstances, however, where you can sue your employer. In rare instances, if you are injured on the job, and you believe that the injury was intentional, then you may be able to bring an intentional tort civil case against your employer. Tort injuries are those injuries that cause physical or emotional damages that were intentionally inflicted on an employee while on the job. The most typical types of intentional torts are:

Battery - Battery is when you have been injured by someone or something intentionally while on the job

Assault - An assault is an attempted battery or the threat to cause harm or commit battery to you

False imprisonment - When you are confined without legal authority against your will

Intentional infliction of emotional distress - When someone intentionally inflicts emotional distress upon you by egregious behavior or conduct

Defamation - When someone says something that is untrue about you that causes you either harm or leads to libel or slander

Invasion of privacy - There are four various types of invasion of privacy, but typically they involve someone disseminating pictures of videos of you to a wider audience and without your permission

Trespassing - When someone enters into your workspace or property without having your permission to do so

Suit for third party injuries

If you are injured while at work and believe that your employer was responsible through a third party, then you may have the option to sue the third party that you suspect is at fault. If, however, you win and can recover damages related to the case, you might have to give a portion of your award to your employer or repay any workers’ compensation benefits that you received. Also, your employer might be able to sue the third party for the losses that they suffered due to your injuries.

Wrongful termination or denial of workers’ compensation benefits

Most workers’ compensation claims have to go through a specific process and not through the court. Once a determination is made, you generally cannot appeal the decision. The recourse you have is to appeal to a special nominated court or workers’ compensation board to sort through the details.

Consult with an experienced St. Louis workers’ compensation lawyer to have someone on your side who can fight to get you the compensation you are legally entitled to. Call (314) 361-4300 for a free case evaluation.

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