Articles Tagged with Uninsured employers; Boston work injury lawyer; Boston workers comp lawyer

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PART 2 of 2

Part 1 of this blog, discussing workers’ compensation benefits available to those who have been injured while working for an uninsured employer in Massachusetts was published on October 18.  Because workers’ compensation only provides limited benefits and often times does not provide adequate compensation for the harm caused by a workplace accident, it is important to thoroughly investigate all possible civil remedies which can provide additional compensation not provided by workers’ compensation laws, such as pain and suffering.

Civil/Third Party Claims

If a general contractor or negligent third party with insurance coverage or reachable assets cannot be identified, the injured worker has the right to recover full tort damages directly from his uninsured employer.  Once it has been determined that the employer did not have workers’ compensation coverage on the date of injury, a plaintiff seeking a tort recovery against an uninsured employer must first establish:

1)         the employee-employer relationship,

2)         the plaintiff was injured, and

3)         the injury arose out of and in the course of employment.

See. M.G.L. c. 152, §25A; G.L. c. 152, § 66.   Continue reading

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PART 1 of 2

Despite Massachusetts’ law mandating nearly all employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance, many Massachusetts’ employers choose to fraudulently conduct business without workers’ compensation insurance coverage in order to increase profits while passing the cost of work-related injuries on to injured workers, their families and taxpayers.  There are several potential avenues of compensation for an employee who is injured during the course of his employment with an uninsured employer.   Injured workers can file a workers’ compensation claim for wage loss and medical benefits with the Commonwealth’s Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund.  A claim for workers’ compensation benefits should be filed against a general contractor who hired the uninsured employer, if one can be identified.  Additionally, an injured worker may also bring civil, or “third party” claims against his or her employer, a general contractor and/or any other third parties that may have caused or contributed to the employee’s injury.

Workers’ Compensation Claim

Workers’ Compensation claims involving uninsured employers are governed by the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, 452 C.M.R. 3.04.  The first step an employee’s attorney must undertake is to file an “Insurer Request Certification” with the Department of Industrial Accidents in order to verify that the employer did not carry workers’ compensation insurance on the date of the work injury.  This form, which can be downloaded at the DIA’s website, certifies to the DIA that the employee and employee’s attorney has attempted to contact the employer to verify whether the employer did in fact have a workers’ compensation policy in effect on the date of the accident.  After this has been filed, the DIA Trust Fund should contact the employee attorney requesting that the employee complete and sign a Form 170 (Affidavit of Employee in Application for Trust Fund Benefits).  Once the Form 170 has been filed, the employee is then allowed to file his or her claim (Form 110) for workers’ compensation benefits.   Continue reading

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