Independent Contractor Work Injury Compensation

Contruction Workers If you are an employee, you cannot sue your employer for work-related injuries. Your only legal remedy
is the workers’ compensation benefit to which they are entitled, unless you have a third-party claim. This means that you cannot sue your employer for pain and suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement and loss of quality of life associated with a work injury.

However, if you are hired as an independent contractor, you can sue the company that hired you if you are hurt as a result of that company’s negligence, or the negligence of one of its employees. This is the case even if you have your own workers’ compensation insurance.

For example, you are hired as a self-employed tow truck driver. Before hiring you, the company insists that you purchase workers’ compensation. As you are attempting to place the hook of the tow truck under a vehicle, the hook separates from the towing rope and hits you in the eye, resulting in your eye being gouged out. You will get workers’ compensation benefits under your policy, and you will also have the right to sue the towing company for negligently maintaining the tow truck and negligently providing you with a defective tow truck.

If you can prove negligence, you can recover amounts for your lost wages, medical expenses, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, loss of quality of life and other damages. The amounts you recover in your negligence suit will most likely be far more than your modest workers’ compensation benefits.

Attorney and Free Consultation

Our lawyers have recovered millions for injured workers, including multi-million-dollar recoveries. Our law firm has a national practice, and lawyers at the firm have been interviewed and quoted by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Lawyers USA and others. Attorneys Fred Pritzker, Elliot Olsen and Eric Hageman were again named Super Lawyers by Law & Politics magazine (August 2009 edition), and Fred Pritzker is listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America. To contact our law firm for a free consultation, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900, email Fred Pritzker directly at fhp@pritzkerlaw.com or submit our online consultation form. For additional information, please see our pages on construction site accidents and farm accidents.

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Accident News and Topics

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Fred Pritzker is listed in the current issue of The Best Lawyers in America for his work in personal injury and wrongful death litigation.

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Brain Injuries and Motor Vehicle Accidents

One of the major causes of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is motor vehicle accidents. Even a "minor" accident may result in brain injuries. We guide our clients through the process of determining the extent of the brain injuries, and we work to obtain just compensation for those injuries and the related pain and suffering.

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Minnesota Truck Accident Lawyer

Attorney Fred Pritzker has obtained another large recovery in a car-truck accident case. Our law firm represented the family of a man killed by a truck wheel that had come off of the truck, rolled off a bridge and killed the driver of a car that was traveling on the road below. A confidentiality agreement prevents us from discussing the case in detail, but we welcome you to contact Fred Pritzker (toll-free 1-888-377-8900) for more information about this case and other trucking accident claims our law firm has handled. For more information, see our truck accident FAQ.

Practice Areas

Personal Injury and Wrongful Death