Work-Related Injury

A work-related injury is any injury or illness that arises out of and in the course of your job. It can be a sudden accident, like a fall or a machine injury, a repetitive strain like carpal tunnel, or an occupational disease that develops over years, like lung disease from dust or cancer from chemical exposure.

In most states, the main remedy against your own employer is workers' compensation, a no-fault insurance system that pays medical bills and a portion of lost wages regardless of who caused the injury. The trade-off is that workers' comp is usually the "exclusive remedy," which means you generally cannot sue your employer in court for the same injury, with narrow exceptions that vary by state (such as intentional harm).

That exclusivity does not protect everyone else. If a product, chemical, or piece of equipment made by another company caused your injury, you can usually bring a third-party lawsuit against that company while also collecting workers' comp. Many large toxic exposure cases work this way: the claims target the manufacturer of the product, not the worker's employer.

Examples on our site include firefighters suing makers of PFAS-containing foam and countertop fabricators suing over engineered stone that exposed them to silica dust. Report an injury to your employer in writing promptly, get medical care, and keep records of what you were exposed to and when. See AFFF firefighting foam lawsuits, silicosis lawsuits, and how to sue a company.