No Fault Work Injuries

It’s A No-Fault System

Workers’ compensation in Colorado is a no-fault system, meaning it doesn’t matter who is to blame for the accident. You can be injured because of the carelessness of a fellow employee, your boss, or even through your own fault. Often, people are injured purely by chance and no one is to blame. Regardless of fault, an injured worker is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. However, the down side to this is that benefits do not increase if your boss or a coworker is to blame. In addition, you can’t sue your employer for personal injuries when you are injured on the job through your employer’s fault or the fault of a fellow employee. You still just get workers’ compensation benefits.

Unfortunately, your benefits can be reduced if your injury was the result of your knowingly violating a safety rule. Insurance companies can reduce wage loss benefits and permanent impairment benefits by 50% for safety rule violations. Frequently, this is done without a hearing, which forces the injured worker to file an application for hearing in an effort to regain full benefits.

If illegal drugs or alcohol are found in an injured workers blood or urine test, the worker can also lose 50% of the same benefits. Even if the drugs are prescribed by a doctor, the insurance carrier can still take the offset and force the injured worker to court to prove that he was taking the medication legally.

If an injured worker is to blame for his termination, the insurance carrier is not obligated to pay lost wages. Frequently, an employer may look for reasons to terminate an injured worker so that there is no obligation to pay these benefits. If you are injured on the job and return to work with restrictions, please be very careful and don’t give your employer an excuse to terminate you. It that happens, you would be forced to go to hearing to prove that your termination was unjustified.

Call the Eley Law Firm today at 866.458.6360 or 720.279.9172 for a free case evaluation from a work injury attorney. You may also e-mail us or fill out the form on the Contact Us page of this website, and a work injury lawyer will be in touch with you shortly. We look forward to hearing from you and helping with your workers comp case!