The Arizona workers’ compensation system is a form of no-fault insurance that compensates injured workers for medical expenses and provides monthly compensation benefits as partial wage replacement for lost income. Arizona law requires workers’ compensation to pay for your medical, surgical, hospital benefits, nursing, medicine, medical supplies, and other reasonably required treatment during the period of your disability.
If your employer has a workers’ compensation insurance policy, then workers’ compensation is usually your sole remedy for a work-related injury or other medical condition. Arizona law allows suit for employer wilful misconduct, which requires proof of intentional harm or conduct done with the deliberate purpose of causing injury.
Generally, this means that Arizona workers’ compensation does not pay for non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
One way you can seek compensation through pain and suffering damages is if a third party contributed to the harm you suffered. In this situation, you may be able to file a personal injury claim against that third party, and if you prevail, then you may be able to recover compensation for non-economic damages.
Can Matt Fendon Law Group Help You Recover Pain and Suffering Damages for a Work Injury?
Matt Fendon Law Group’s experienced attorneys focus on Arizona workers’ compensation benefits claims. If you have a possible legal claim against a third party that is connected with your on-the-job injury, or if your claim is based on intentional acts by your employer, we can help put you in touch with skilled Arizona personal injury plaintiffs’ lawyers who can help you to seek non-economic recovery, including pain and suffering damages.
To learn more about our workers’ compensation services, call us at (800) 229-3880 or visit the office closest to you.
Or, if you prefer, you can use our online contact form to reach us and to schedule a free case review and consultation with one of our experienced workers’ compensation attorneys.
What Arizona Workers’ Compensation Usually Covers
A standard Arizona workers’ compensation claim may include any of the following kinds of benefits:
- Medical treatment compensation, as we have outlined above.
- Temporary total disability benefits provide compensation of 66⅔% of your average monthly wage during the period of disability.
- Temporary partial disability benefits provide 66⅔% of the difference between your pre-injury wages and the wages you can earn afterward.
- Permanent total disability benefits are paid at 66⅔% of the average monthly wage for the duration of the disability, which is typically lifelong.
- Permanent partial disability benefits are paid at 55% of the difference between your pre-injury average monthly wage and wages earned after the claim is closed.
Compensation is not paid to you for the first seven days after the injury. If your incapacity extends beyond seven days, then compensation begins on the eighth day. If your disability continues for one additional week beyond the initial seven-day period, then your compensation is computed from the date of your injury.
Why Workers’ Compensation Usually Does Not Pay Pain and Suffering
Workers’ compensation insurance reflects a bargain of mutual convenience and certainty of outcome between you and your employer.
As an employee, you are generally presumed to accept workers’ compensation unless you properly reject coverage in writing before the injury. Key benefits to you of making a workers’ compensation claim are that you do not have to prove negligence on the part of your employer, you can be certain that your medical expenses will be paid for, and that you can receive some temporary or even permanent wage replacement compensation.
In exchange, employers who carry workers’ compensation insurance are generally not liable to you for common-law or statutory damages except as provided in Arizona’s workers’ compensation statutes. This gives your employer an assurance that you will not file suit against it, so the employer can avoid the uncertainties inherent in a personal injury lawsuit.
What Counts as “Pain and Suffering” in an Arizona Personal Injury Case?
In a personal injury lawsuit, pain and suffering compensation can include ongoing pain and physical discomfort, physical and mental anguish, disability, disfigurement, anxiety, emotional distress, and reduced quality of life you have already experienced and that you are reasonably certain to experience in the future.
Unlike direct damages like medical bills or lost wages that workers’ compensation can compensate you for and which you can establish through billing records or wage and hour statements, pain and suffering damages are more subjective to put a value on but they can amount to considerable sums of money, sometimes amounting to more than a direct damages recovery.
When Pain and Suffering May Be Available: Third-Party Claims
A separate third-party claim may be available to you when someone other than your employer or someone in the same employ caused, contributed to, or aggravated your physical injury.
Examples of third parties in workplace accident injury claims include a negligent driver if you get into a car accident while doing your work, a landlord or facility manager responsible for a dangerous condition, a contractor on a construction site, a delivery worker, a vendor, a manufacturer of defective tools or equipment, or a trespasser on your employer’s premises.
Examples: Workers’ Compensation Claims vs. Third-Party Claims
| Work injury scenario | Likely compensation path | Pain and suffering? |
| You injure your back while lifting materials during the performance of your regular job duties.No outside party caused the injury. | Standard Arizona workers’ compensation claims for medical care, physical disability, and wage-loss benefits. | Generally, no separate pain-and-suffering award is available in workers’ compensation. |
| You are making a delivery for work when a negligent driver hits your vehicle. | Workers’ compensation may cover medical and wage-loss benefits.A third-party claim may exist against the at-fault driver. | Potentially yes in the third-party claim, if you prove liability and non-economic damages. |
| A defective machine or tool injures you at work. | Workers’ compensation may apply.A third-party claim may be possible against the defective equipment manufacturer or other responsible outside party. | Potentially yes in the third-party claim, depending on proof of fault, product defect, causation, and non-economic damages. |
Are There Any Restrictions on What You Can Recover in a Third-Party Claim?
Arizona’s third-party statute says that if you proceed against a third party, then wage replacement benefits and medical, surgical, and hospital expenses are still payable through workers’ compensation.
But there is an important catch: your employer’s workers’ compensation carrier, or a self-insured employer, can place a lien on the amount you can recover from the third party to the extent of compensation and medical benefits the insurer has paid. This prevents the possibility that you may experience a “dual recovery” that would amount to a form of unjust enrichment.
Arizona law also says that if you seek to settle your third-party claim for less than the compensation and medical benefits provided, this settlement is subject to the written approval of the insurance carrier or self-insured employer.
Deadlines and Limitations Injured Workers Should Know
Time matters after a workplace injury. Arizona law generally requires you to file a workers’ compensation claim with the Industrial Commission of Arizona within one year after your work injury occurred or the right to compensation accrued. The filing period begins when the injury becomes manifest or when you know or should know that you have sustained a compensable injury.
Third-party claims have their own timing rules. Under Arizona’s third-party workers’ compensation statute, if you do not pursue the third-party remedy by filing an action within one year after your third-party cause of action accrues, then your claim against that third party is deemed to be assigned to the workers’ compensation insurance company or self-insured employer.
Arizona personal injury actions are also generally subject to a separate two-year statute of limitations.
Fault can also affect your third-party recovery. Under Arizona’s comparative negligence law, if the jury finds that you were partly to blame for the injuries you are suing the third party for, then your recovery amount from that third party is reduced by a percentage equal to your assigned percentage of fault.
So, for example, if you get into a motor vehicle accident with a third party while driving as part of your work responsibilities, and your assigned comparative fault is 20%, then your damages award against the third party will be reduced by 20%.
Have You Been Injured By a Third Party While at Work?
The difference between a workers’ compensation claim and a third-party claim can be the difference between recovering only statutory workers’ comp benefits and pursuing a broader recovery that may include pain and suffering.
But identifying a third-party claim is not always obvious. The cause or causes of your work injury can involve multiple companies, equipment manufacturers, property owners, subcontractors, drivers, or insurance carriers.
Do not assume your employer’s insurance company will explain every option to you. Do not assume workers’ comp is your only possible claim. And do not wait until key deadlines have passed.
If you need to file a third-party lawsuit in combination with an Arizona workers’ compensation claim, then Matt Fendon Law Group can give you legal representation and coordinate with your personal injury attorney to make sure that you receive all the workers’ comp benefits you are entitled to. If you need help choosing a quality personal injury attorney or law firm, we can assist you in finding good candidates to choose from.
Call Matt Fendon Law Group today at (800) 229-3880 or contact our experienced attorneys online for a free workers’ compensation consultation.
