In most cases, no. Maryland makes workers’ compensation the exclusive remedy against your employer: you receive benefits without proving fault, and in exchange you give up the right to sue the employer. There are two narrow exceptions in the statute, covered below.
The more useful answer is that the bar protects your employer, not everyone else. If another company or person helped cause your injury, you can usually bring an ordinary injury claim against them while your comp claim continues. On construction sites that second claim is common, because several companies share the same work area.
Why you generally cannot sue your employer
Maryland law says an employer’s liability under the workers’ compensation title is exclusive. That holds even when the employer was careless: an unsafe practice, missing training or a known hazard is generally handled through the comp claim, not a lawsuit.
The trade has a real benefit. Your own mistakes do not defeat a comp claim, which matters in Maryland, where contributory negligence can bar an ordinary injury claim entirely. The cost is that comp pays nothing for pain and suffering and replaces only part of your wages.
The two situations where you can sue your employer
1. Your employer had no workers’ compensation coverage. If an employer fails to secure compensation as the law requires, an injured employee may either bring a comp claim or bring a lawsuit for damages. In that lawsuit the employer cannot defend by saying you assumed the risk, that you were contributorily negligent, or that a co-worker’s negligence caused the injury.
2. Your employer deliberately intended to injure you. Where an employee is injured or killed as the result of the employer’s deliberate intent to injure or kill that employee, the employee or family may choose a comp claim or a lawsuit. Courts have read this exception narrowly. Gross negligence, ignoring safety rules or knowingly unsafe conditions generally do not meet it.
Both exceptions are fact-specific. Before relying on either, have a lawyer look at the coverage records or the evidence of intent.
Who you can sue instead: third parties
Anyone other than your employer who contributed to the injury may be responsible in an ordinary injury claim. Common examples:
- Another contractor or subcontractor working on the same site
- A property owner or manager who left a hazard in place
- The maker or seller of a machine, tool or safety device that was defective or lacked a guard; see product liability claims
- A driver who hit you while you were driving or working on a road; see car accident claims
- A company that maintained the equipment or vehicle that failed
Construction has one wrinkle worth knowing. A general contractor can in some situations be treated as a statutory employer of a subcontractor’s workers, which may give it the same protection your employer has. Whether that applies depends on how the job was contracted, so it needs to be checked case by case.
How a third-party claim works alongside comp
You do not have to choose. You can receive comp benefits and pursue the third party at the same time. The third-party claim can include what comp leaves out: pain and suffering and your full lost earnings.
The comp insurer generally has a right to be repaid from a third-party recovery for what it has already paid you. How that repayment is handled affects what you keep, which is why the two claims are best handled together.
Fault works differently in the two claims. Comp does not care whose fault it was. The third-party claim does, and Maryland’s contributory negligence rule means the other side will look closely at anything you did.
Deadlines for each claim
The comp claim has its own prompt-notice requirement and a separate deadline for filing with the Workers’ Compensation Commission. A third-party injury claim generally follows Maryland’s three-year statute of limitations, which can be shorter where a government body is involved.
Evidence on a work site disappears fast: equipment is repaired, scaffolding comes down, crews move on. Write down which companies were on site and photograph what you can. Our case review is free, and there is no fee unless we recover money for you.
Common questions
Can I sue my employer for negligence in Maryland?
Generally not, even if the employer was careless. Negligence claims against the employer are replaced by workers’ compensation. The exceptions are an employer with no comp coverage and an employer who deliberately intended to injure you.
Can I sue a co-worker who caused my injury?
This is harder than suing an outside company and depends on the facts. Maryland’s comp law replaces most claims arising from the employment, so ask a lawyer before assuming a claim against a co-worker exists.
Will suing a third party affect my comp benefits?
Your comp benefits continue while the third-party claim goes forward. The comp insurer will usually have a right to repayment from what you recover, which should be negotiated as part of the case.
What if my employer fired me for filing a comp claim?
Maryland law protects employees from being fired solely for filing a workers’ compensation claim. That is a separate issue from your injury claim, and it is worth raising with a lawyer quickly.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This article is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice about your situation.