Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida

Sueing Employers

How many states are there where you cannot sue your

employer if you suffer an on the job injury, and how long as this law been in effect.


Asked on 5/13/01, 2:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Patrick Russell Russell Law Offices

Re: Sueing Employers

I can not tell you what other states do but I can tell you what happens in Florida. In Florida, there is a system in place that provides worker's compensation insurance to injured employees. As a result, employees have insurance coverage up to $100,000.00 for medical expenses and damages should they be injured while on the job. The system is more or less a no-fault system which means an employee can still recover even if it was the employee's own negligence that caused the injury. In exchange for this no-fault coverage, employees are prohibited from suing their employers for such damages unless of course the employer failed to maintain such coverage. The only exception to the immunity from suit is in the narrow circumstance where the employer intended to injure an employee or the conduct by the employer was so outrageous that it can be proved that there was a substantial certainty that an employee would have been injured as a result of the employer's conduct.

I hope this gives you some insight as to how the worker's compensation tort immunity statute works. Feel free to contact me (305-373-5313) if you should have any further questions.

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Answered on 6/21/01, 3:21 pm


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