Can You Sue Your Co-Workers if Their Negligence Injures you?
At Clark and Steinhorn, LLC we often encounter situations where our clients are injured due to the negligence of their fellow employees. For example, you and a co-worker are driving from one job-site to another during the work day and he or she runs a red light and gets in a crash that injures you. Can you bring a lawsuit against your co-worker in addition to bringing a workers comp claim? In Maryland the answer is yes in Virginia no. However, an argument is circulating that if you are employed in Virginia and get injured in Maryland and you make a Virginia workers comp claim you may be precluded from making a so-called third-party claim in Maryland. This odd outcome flies in the face of Maryland law but may be an unexpected result of the resolution of a conflict of laws analysis concerning Maryland and Virginia's workers compensation laws. The arguments are derivative of dicta in several Maryland cases including Hauch v Connor and Hutzell v Boyer. The best recommendation is to consult an experienced attorney who has confronted these issues and too perhaps file your workers comp claim in Maryland to be safe.
Maryland Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyer