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Third Party Work Injuries: A Primer For Seriously Injured Workers In California

California workers compensation benefits are some of the lowest injured worker benefits in the United States. If you or a family member are seriously injured on the job in California, your only chance to receive fair and just compensation for your work injuries is successfully bringing a Third Party Work injury lawsuit.

1. The First Rule for California Workers With Serious Work Injuries.

The first thing you – the injured worker – must realize is the general rule: if you are seriously injured at work you are in for an uphill battle. Trite, but true. If you are a seriously injured worker in California you may either lose almost everything you worked your whole life to obtain, or come close to it.

You need to hear the truth. So here is some really harsh truth.

If you are seriously injured or had a family member that was killed at work in California, you are in for a nightmare. I’d like to tell you different, but I can’t. At least this is the case for many, if not most, seriously injured California workers. California has some of the lowest, most unfair workers compensation benefits in the United States.

Here is what you can expect if you are a seriously injured worker in California:

- Low temporary total disability benefits (commonly called “workers comp checks”). – Consistently late workers comp checks. – A constant struggle to receive basic medical treatment. – A Utilization Review procedure quagmire that provides legal cover for the California workers compensation insurance carrier, allowing them to get away with not providing vital medical treatment and leaving you out in the cold. – Being sent to a “company doctor” that finds every worker “fit for duty.” – Having your workers comp check cut-off for no apparent reason. – A “Paperless System” that requires twice the paper work than with the old paper system. – A system that places “procedure” over “justice” with “justice” not even coming in a close second. – Ridiculously low permanent disability awards. (So low that many workers receive less than $10,000 even though they are so badly injured they can’t return to work at any type of job they have ever held before).

2. The Second Rule for California Workers with Serious Work Injuries:

A third party work injury lawsuit is the only way you can receive fair compensation for your serious work injuries.

You and your family can weather and survive economically and most importantly, as a unit, if you are able to bring a successful third party case. In most cases, a third party lawsuit is the only way you are going to receive fair compensation for your injuries. Because you aren’t going to get anything close to fair from your California workers compensation case.

3. The Third Rule for California Workers with Serious Work Injuries:

You have to have the program to your law suit. Without out it all may be lost.

You can’t tell the parties to a lawsuit without a program. If someone is injured while working, they are termed the “first party”. The employer is the “second party.”

The general rule is that an injured employee cannot bring a civil lawsuit against their employer for injuries occurring while they are in the course and scope of their employment. Instead, worker’s compensation benefits are the employee’s exclusive remedy against the employer. (There are some limited exceptions to this rule and these are called “Second Party” cases. For example if your employer intentionally injures you).

If someone else is legally responsible for your injuries, then you – the injured worker – can pursue civil remedies against this other person and/or entity. Any person/entity other than the employer that is legally responsible for your injuries is termed a third-party. Generally, a workers’ compensation recovery does not preclude a civil suit by you against negligent third-party. An employee’s civil lawsuit against persons/entities other than the employer is called a “third-party case” or a “third party work injury case.”

First Party – - You /Injured Worker

Second Party – - Your Employer

Third Party – -Any person/entity (other than the employer) who is legally responsible for your/the injured worker’s injuries.

4. The Fourth Rule for California Workers with Serious Work Injuries:

You need a lawyer that specializes in third party work injury cases.

A word to the wise, when you or a loved one is seriously injured at work you it is important to find a lawyer that specializes in Third Party Work Injuries. This isn’t a workers compensation lawyer. If your only lawyer is a California workers compensation lawyer, then you and your family are going to be a victim of California’s unfair workers compensation system. Remember, your only hope for fairness is investigating and bringing a Third Party Civil Lawsuit. There are very, very few good Third Party Work injury lawyers in California. The more seriously injured you are; the more you need the best Third Party work injury attorney in California.

About the Author

William Turley is a Past President of Consumer Attorneys of San Diego and is a California Third Party Work injury lawyer / San Diego Third Party work injury attorney.
The Turley Law Firm
specializes in California third party work injury cases. Click here for more information about = = >
Work injury law.

Its been 7 months and i still haven’t received social security benefits, what should i do?

i live in California, i had a serious ankle surgery on 8/1/08 and haven’t been working since ( 7 months) i applied for social security benefits right after my surgery. I received a letter of denial(because my injury wasn’t bad enough) so i appealed it. i gave them a call today and they said to call in 2 more months but i need money NOW!.

Hi, I am a former disability examiner for DDS, the agency that makes decisions on disability claims for the social security administration (social security disability claims and SSI disability claims).

From what you mentioned, it sounds as though you were denied on your initial claim (another way of saying “disability application”) and it also sounds like you filed a request for reconsideration, which is the first appeal that is available to disability claimants.

Reconsideration appeals tend to have a higher rate of denial than even initial claims; therefore, for this reason, you may wish to consider finding representation. The reason I say this is that, if you are denied on your reconsideration appeal, the next step will be to file your second appeal in which you can make a request for a disability hearing that will be conducted by an administrative law judge. Going to a hearing like this without the benefit of representation is never a good idea, simply because your case will not get proper preparation if you choose to represent yourself.

So, to recap, it often makes sense to get a representative after you have been denied on your initial claim because the odds are strong that you will be denied on the first appeal as well and will have to request the second appeal which is a hearing. Reconsideration appeals, by the way, are denied about 85 percent of the time. And this is why most claimants end up having to go to a hearing that involves a judge.

Regarding the issue of temporary disability, I can tell you from having worked as a disability examiner that the social security administration does not offer temporary disability benefits, or benefits for partial disability (as the veterans administration does).

With social security disability and SSI disability, your condition must be so severe that it prevents you from being able to work and earn what is considered to be a substantial and gainful income at a job you’ve done in the past, or at any other form of work for which you might be qualified based on your age, education, job skills, and current limitations, based on your medical condition.

In fact, to be awarded disability benefits from the social security administration, your condition must last at least one full year, in addition to precluding your ability to engage in work activity.

If you feel that your case has gone on for too long (though to be honest, the time frame you’re mentioning is typical), then you can speak to your attorney (when you get one) about trying to have your case expedited based on something known as “dire need”.

However, dire need expedites are usually only granted for cases that are pending at the hearing level, meaning that a request for a hearing has been made. And this cannot be made until your reconsideration appeal has been denied.

Good luck on your case.

California work injury attorney – The First Rule of California Work Injuries