What is the difference between a Workers Compensation case and a civil lawsuit?
Workers’ Compensation law restricts the types of damages that can be recovered by an injured worker. In theory, you are only entitled to have your medical bills paid and to recover your lost wages and loss of earning capacity. On the other hand, the damages in a civil lawsuit are much broader. In addition to the items of damage recoverable in a Workers’ Compensation claim, a civil lawsuit allows recovery for pain and suffering both in the past and in the future. It allows recovery for disfigurement. In most civil lawsuits, there is no maximum award figure to limit an injured party’s recovery.
