Video LibraryCan You Sue an Employer Who Isn’t Subscribed to Workers’ Comp Insurance?

Can I sue a workers comp non-subscriber after a work-related injury? Austin work injury attorney Aaron Allison explains in this video. For more information, call (512) 474-8346.

https://youtu.be/Yv3H3z0WQNg

Video Transcription:

The Texas legislature developed a special clause in the labor code called 406.033. Which is called the non-subscriber statute. What the legislature said was that all employers in Texas can be non-subscribers. They can opt out. But they can be sued for negligence and they are stripped of the defenses of comparative negligence. So, in those situations, you have a non-subscriber case, an injured employee, if they can prove them employer was just a degree of negligent in how they were injured, the employer is 100 percent responsible for that injury. And that was intended to be a poison pill that the legislature inserted into the law to persuade Texas employers to become subscribers. If you’re injured on the job for a non subscribing employer, most of the non subscribing employers will have what is called an injured employee plan. It’s a type of insurance that they buy and it looks very much like and operates very much like real workers comp insurance. Now, those employers, for non-subscribers, they own those injured employee plans, they fund them and they administer them, so they have a lot of control over those plans and a lot of times there are disputes and/or denials for medical services or lost wages to the injured worker under those plans. Another key difference in the law is that a non subscribing employer can be sued by the employee. If the employer has workers comp insurance, they can never be sued by an employee. It’s called the exclusive remedy provision. It completely bars a claim of negligence against a subscribing employer. For more information, go to AaronAllisonLawFirm.com.

The Law Offices of Aaron Allison