It is not uncommon for people who sustain injuries while working to suffer harm that is not work-related as well. In such instances, it can be difficult to differentiate whether an employee’s permanent incapacity and wage loss constitute a basis for awarding workers’ compensation benefits and, if so, to what…
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act), people who sustain injuries while working are often able to recover benefits from their employers. While some benefits are paid on a weekly basis, in other instances, an employer will offer a lump sum to resolve an employee’s claims. Generally, lump-sum…
People involved in catastrophic workplace accidents often suffer not only physical harm but mental injuries as well. Thus, if they seek damages for their losses, they may have to undergo medical examinations to evaluate their physical and cognitive detriments. Typically, only physicians can conduct such examinations. Recently, a Massachusetts court…
People injured while working can often recover workers’ compensation benefits from their employers. Typically, however, they are precluded from pursuing civil claims against their employers pursuant to the Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act). In some cases, they may be able to recover damages from parties other than their employer,…
Under Massachusetts law, employers can be held vicariously liable for harm caused by their employees in the performance of job duties. Currently, though, the law does not allow for the imposition of liability on an employer for the negligence of an independent contractor. The limit of Massachusetts’s vicarious liability law…
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Workers Compensation Act, employers have an obligation to provide employees that suffer work-related harm with medical benefits. Typically, such benefits include prescription medications. While the rules regarding medical benefits seem to be straightforward, workers’ compensation claims can become complicated when they involve drugs that are unlawful…
It is not uncommon for a person to suffer injuries while working due to the negligent acts of their coworker. In such instances, the injured party may seek to recover both workers’ compensation benefits and civil damages. Whether they are owed both depends on numerous factors, though, as discussed in…
Generally, the Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Act provides that employees that suffer work-related harm can recover workers’ compensation benefits. There are some workers, however, that fall outside of the scope of the Act, like police officers and firefighters. Fortunately, numerous Massachusetts laws allow public servants to recover benefits that are akin…
Generally, while people hurt on the job can recover workers’ compensation benefits under Massachusetts law, they are precluded from pursuing civil claims against their employers. As such, if an injured employee files negligence claims against their employer, the employer may respond by filing a motion to dismiss. When parties ask…
In Massachusetts, if an employee dies due to a fatal work accident, their family members can often recover survivor benefits pursuant to the Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act). Only the survivors of deceased employees are owed such benefits, however. In other words, family members of independent contractors, volunteers, and other…