After a serious workplace injury, many employees assume workers’ compensation is their only option. While workers’ comp does provide medical care and wage replacement, it often falls far short of covering the full impact of a life-altering injury.
So a common—and important—question arises:
Can you sue your employer after workers’ comp?
In most cases, Missouri law limits lawsuits against employers. However, there are critical exceptions that allow injured workers to pursue additional compensation beyond the workers’ comp system.
Understanding these exceptions can make the difference between limited benefits and full financial recovery.
Exclusive Remedy Doctrine and Its Exceptions
Missouri workers’ compensation law is built around the exclusive remedy doctrine. This rule generally states that when an employee is injured on the job, workers’ compensation is the sole remedy against the employer.
In exchange for guaranteed benefits—regardless of fault—employees typically give up the right to sue their employer for negligence.
However, this protection is not absolute.Missouri courts recognize exceptions where the employer’s conduct goes beyond ordinary negligence or where other responsible parties are involved. When those exceptions apply, injured workers may pursue civil lawsuits in addition to their workers’ comp claim.
Intentional Harm and OSHA Violations
One major exception arises when an employer’s conduct is intentional or virtually certain to cause injury.
Examples may include:
- Removing safety guards from machinery
- Ordering employees to perform known dangerous tasks without protection
- Ignoring repeated injury complaints or prior accidents
- Falsifying safety records
- Violating OSHA standards with knowledge of extreme risk
While OSHA violations alone do not automatically create a lawsuit, they can serve as powerful evidence when employer misconduct rises beyond ordinary negligence.
When an employer knowingly exposes workers to serious danger, courts may allow a civil claim despite workers’ comp protections.
These cases are complex—but when successful, they open the door to damages far beyond workers’ comp benefits.
Suing Third Parties: Manufacturers, Drivers, Contractors
Even when you cannot sue your direct employer, you may still sue third parties whose negligence contributed to the injury.
Common third-party defendants include:
- Equipment or machinery manufacturers
- Property owners
- Subcontractors and outside vendors
- Delivery drivers or motorists
- Maintenance companies
- Construction contractors
For example:
- A defective machine causes injury at work
- A negligent driver strikes a worker on the job
- A contractor creates unsafe site conditions
In these situations, workers’ compensation and civil lawsuits can exist side by side.
Workers’ comp covers immediate benefits, while the third-party lawsuit seeks full damages.
Coordinating a Civil Suit With Your Comp Claim
When both claims exist, coordination is critical.
Workers’ comp cases move through the administrative system, while civil lawsuits proceed through the court system. Evidence from one case may impact the other, and timing mistakes can weaken recovery.
There may also be subrogation rights, meaning the workers’ comp insurer may seek reimbursement from part of a civil settlement.
Handled properly, coordination can:
- Preserve all benefit rights
- Prevent benefit interruption
- Maximize total compensation
- Avoid procedural errors
Handled poorly, it can result in lost benefits or unnecessary reductions.
This is one of the most common areas where legal guidance becomes essential.
Damages Available Beyond Workers’ Comp Benefits
Workers’ compensation benefits are limited by law. They do not provide compensation for many real losses injured workers experience.
A successful civil lawsuit may allow recovery for:
- Full lost wages and future earnings
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Permanent disability impact
- Loss of consortium (family claims)
- Punitive damages in extreme cases
These damages are not available through workers’ compensation alone.
That is why identifying third-party liability or employer misconduct can dramatically change the financial outcome of a case.
If you were injured at work in Missouri, the Law Office of Uhrig & Brown can help determine whether workers’ compensation is your only option—or whether a civil lawsuit may provide additional recovery. Call 573-227-6118
