Insurance Carrier Liability and Workers' Compensation
Third-Party Litigation
Workers' compensation carriers have been the subject of third party tort actions initiated by injured workers. The treatment of these actions and the worker's success in maintaining the action against the insurer is generally a direct result of the individual state's workers' compensation exclusivity and third-party provisions. For example, it is of substantial importance whether the statute identifies the insurer along with the employer or whether the insurer is identified as a third party. Judicial decisions have crafted the liability of insurers based on state workers' compensation statutes and the liberal interpretation to be applied to them. Notable theories in which insurers have been held liable in a third party action are negligence in conducting safety inspections and negligence in providing medical services.
In addition to analyzing whether the insurer is a third party or stands in the shoes of the employer, the insurer's actions can sometimes be used to hold it liable in a third-party action. When the insurer performs an act that is required of the employer pursuant to the applicable workers' compensation statute, it is argued that it should be entitled to the employer's immunity. This argument for immunity has also been extended to include when the insurer's conduct is relevant to its position as "workers' compensation carrier." However, if the insurer's conduct was unrelated to workers' compensation, any immunity would arguably evaporate.
Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
