Why Can’t I Sue My Employer for Damages If I Get Hurt On The Job?
Many clients often ask why they cannot sue their employer if they are injured while in the course of their employment. The answer to this question is found in a review of the history of the workers’ compensation system. Workers’ compensation in Massachusetts, as in most other states in the country, is what is referred to as the “exclusive remedy” when one is injured at work. This means the only remedy available to an injured worker is to pursue one’s rights under the workers’ compensation process. This has been the law since 1912.

In regards to timely reporting of work-related injuries or conditions, the Massachusetts workers’ compensation law imposes two significant deadlines on an injured worker with respect to pursuing workers’ compensation benefits.

If you are injured at work, or have been diagnosed with a medical condition related to your work-activities, and you intend to pursue workers’ compensation benefits, the law requires that you 1) report the work-related injury or condition to your employer, or to your employer’s insurance company, “as soon as practicable after the happening thereof,” and 2) file a claim for benefits no less than 4 years from the date of the injury, or from when you knew, or should have known, that your medical condition was work related.

Joseph Agnelli has watched the work industry in the city of Worcester go through some dramatic changes the last 40 years and his business – representing injured workers – has changed right along with it.

Agnelli talks with WorkersCompensationExperts.org writer George Morris about how health care and education are now two of primary employers in Worcester and injuries to their workers still require careful attention to make sure they receive all the benefits the workers compensation system in Massachusetts allows.