How to File a Job Injury Lawsuit in Las Vegas, Nevada

The legal avenue for bringing a job injury claim in Las Vegas depends on your status: Employees would file a workers’ compensation claim in Nevada, while independent contractors can bring a civil lawsuit.

Either way, if you became ill or injured while on the job, you may be able to recover money to cover your

• medical bills,
• lost wages, and
• other expenses.

Even if your claims are initially denied, you are free to bring an appeal.

You are advised to consult with private counsel as soon as possible to strategize how best to pursue work injury claims. Accident attorneys are experienced in negotiating with insurance companies to achieve the largest possible settlements for their clients.

In this article, our Nevada personal injury attorneys discuss the following topics about Nevada work injury laws:

• 1. What is the difference between workers’ comp and civil lawsuits in Nevada?
  • 1.1. Independent contractors
• 2. What damages can I get for job injuries?
• 3. When am I ineligible for workers’ comp?
• 4. When can third parties get sued for workplace injuries?
• 5. What are common workplace injuries?
• 6. What steps should I take after an injury?
• 7. What is the time limit for filing a claim?
• 8. How do employers fight back?

1. What is the difference between workers’ comp and civil lawsuits in Nevada?

Typically when you get injured in Las Vegas, you can file a lawsuit against the responsible parties. Though when you sustain a workplace injury in Nevada, you generally cannot sue your employer.

Instead, your “exclusive remedy” would be to file a workers’ comp claim with your employer’s insurance carrier.

Because worker’s comp is a “no-fault” system in Nevada, you do not have to show what or who caused the accident. Instead, you just have to show that the accident was related to work.

In many ways, workers’ comp is extremely beneficial, but in other ways, not being able to file an ordinary lawsuit is very restrictive:

Workers’ Comp Claims	Personal Injury Civil Lawsuits
Your claim is usually decided within 30 days after it is filed.	Lawsuits can take months or years to resolve.
You are compensated even if the injury was your fault.	You need to prove that the employer was at fault in order to recover damages.
Claims do not cost anything to file.	Civil lawsuits are often expensive.
There is usually a damages cap, and the money received may be insufficient.	There is usually no limit for potential damages.

Virtually every employer in Nevada is required to carry workers’ compensation coverage insurance. Check to see if your employer is covered at the Coverage Verification website.

1.1. Independent contractors

Nevada independent contractors are ineligible to file workers’ compensation claims in Nevada. Therefore, if you are an independent contractor who gets injured on the job, you would need to bring an ordinary personal injury lawsuit: The most common claim is for Nevada negligence.

As discussed above, you can prevail in court as an independent contractor only if you were not at fault for the accident. Also, it takes more time to successfully pursue job injury claims for an independent contractor than for an employee.

However, you are not limited by workers’ comp benefit maximums like employees are. This means that if your injury was serious or had catastrophic long-term consequences, you may be able to recover

• significantly more compensation as an independent contractor
• than you would be entitled to as an employee.

An increasing number of American employers rely on independent contractors to perform a wide range of duties. If you filled out 1099 paperwork when you started working, it means the person or company you work for considers you an independent contractor.

However, this does not mean the employer is right: An attorney may be able to prove that you are in fact an employee and entitled to workers’ comp.¹

2. What damages can I get for job injuries?

You may be able to recover the following compensation for:

• Medical bills (including surgeries, home health caregivers, physical and occupational rehabilitation, prescription drugs, and transportation to and from appointments)
• Medical equipment expenses (such as oxygen concentrators, wheelchairs, hospital beds, and other necessary supplies)
• Loss of wages of up to two-thirds of your average weekly wage
• Vocational rehabilitation (job training) in Nevada in workers’ comp cases
• Temporary disability benefits in Nevada – including temporary partial disability (TPD) and temporary total disability (TTD)
• Permanent disability benefits in Nevada – including permanent partial disability (PPD) and permanent total disability (PTD) from lost earning capacity

Depending on the circumstances of the case and the extent of the injuries, this compensation can be in the form of a settlement and/or monthly payments.

If an employee dies from a work injury, the employee’s family can file a workers’ comp claim to receive “death benefits.” This typically amounts to

• two-thirds of the employee’s average monthly wages as well as
• burial expenses (up to $10,000).²

If an independent contractor dies from a work injury, their family can bring a wrongful death claim in the state of Nevada. Similar to death benefits, damages can include funeral expenses and loss of support.

See our related article, How does utilization review work in Nevada workers’ comp cases?

3. When am I ineligible for workers’ comp?

You may not recover workers’ comp benefits for injuries you sustained on the job while you were

• intoxicated or
• high.

You also may not collect benefits if you injured yourself on purpose.³

Otherwise, if you get injured while on duty, you should be eligible for workers’ comp in Nevada even if you unintentionally caused the accident. Plus if you were injured in a car accident, you could be eligible for worker’s comp if you were traveling for work purposes.

4. When can third parties get sued for workplace injuries?

Under Nevada workers’ compensation law, sometimes a party other than the employer could be partially or totally at fault for a work injury.

For example,

• If you were hurt by a defective piece of factory equipment, the manufacturer of the equipment could be liable.
• If a motorist crashes into you while you were on the job, you may also be able to pursue a claim against that driver.

Situations like this are called “third-party claims.” Third-party claims allow you to be compensated at a level higher than is allowed by the workers’ compensation system.

Consult a personal injury to discuss whether your job injuries could actually qualify you for a third-party claim. Unlike workers’ comp claims, third-party civil lawsuits have no limit to the amount of damages you can potentially recover.

5. What are common workplace injuries?

Every job carries its own hazards.

• People with desk jobs or even casino dealers may be prone to carpal tunnel syndrome.
• People in warehouses risk having heavy objects dropped on them or sustaining stress fractures from repetitive movements.
• Falls from tall heights are always a risk when the job involves ladders and scaffolding.

Some common employee injuries and occupational diseases include:

• perforated organs
• fractured bones (common after a slip-and-fall)
• contusions
• burn injuries
• maiming
• lung problems
• vision or hearing loss
• cardiac arrest (such as after an electric shock / electrocution)
• traumatic brain injury
• spinal injuries

Death is not uncommon for people with high-risk jobs, such as law enforcement officers, firemen, and construction site workers who operate heavy machinery.

6. What steps should I take after an injury?

In Nevada, you are advised to take the following course of action after being injured or acquiring a disease due to your job:

1. If the injury is serious, seek medical attention right away by going to the ER or calling 911. Have the doctor fill out a form C-4.
2. If the injury is not serious, report the injury to the employer by filling out a form C-1 and consult with a personal injury attorney about filing a claim soon (using a D-6 form).⁴
3. Seek continuing treatment from a medical provider that is preapproved by the employer’s workers’ comp policy.
4. Document everything about the accident: What happened, who saw it, what you were wearing, if there is video, etc. All these details can help substantiate your claim.
5. Follow doctor’s orders regarding medical care and never miss an appointment.

Independent contractors who are injured on the job should also take care to document the accident and everything that happens afterward. This information is vital evidence that could help win a personal injury lawsuit.

Whether you have to file a workers’ comp claim or bring a civil lawsuit, the process requires extensive paperwork and following procedural guidelines. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you retain a personal injury attorney to

• take care of the process and
• fight for the largest possible settlement.

You should be focusing your efforts on getting better and not filing documents.

7. What is the time limit for filing a claim?

To file a workers’ comp claim, you must inform your employer about your work-related injury or disease within seven (7) days of it occurring. Then the claim must be filed no later than 90 days after the injury.

Meanwhile, independent contractors typically have a two-year statute of limitations in Nevada after the injury to file suit.⁵

It is extremely important that you meet these deadlines. Otherwise, you may forfeit getting any benefits at all.⁶

An experienced personal injury attorney can help

• manage the claim and
• make sure all the forms are filed in time.

8. How do employers fight back?

Employers may try to advance the following arguments in order to keep their insurer from paying out damages to you:

• you were not on duty at the time of the accident
• you were acting outside the scope of employment
• you were impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time
• you purposely injured yourself
• the injury is not serious or is inconsistent with the medical records
• you need no time off to heal from the injury

If the insurer denies your claim, there is still an opportunity to appeal: You can appeal to the Hearings Division of the Nevada Department of Administration, and an independent contractor can appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Several claims that are originally denied are eventually won on appeal, and a good personal injury attorney can greatly increase the odds of success. (Learn more about appealing workers’ compensation claim denials.)

Note that employers are not allowed to fire you in retaliation for filing a workers’ comp claim. If this happens, you may pursue legal action for wrongful termination.

Injured on the job in Las Vegas? Nevada law may be in your favor

It may seem that you have few or no options when it comes to getting compensated for an on-the-job injury. But that is not always the case.

At Las Vegas Defense Group, L.L.C., our Nevada attorneys care about you and want to help you get the compensation you deserve for your workplace injury.

If you have been hurt on the job, our law firm invites you to contact us for a consultation. You would not pay us a dime unless and until we obtain a settlement or verdict in your favor. For a consultation with one of our caring Las Vegas workplace injury lawyers, call us or fill out the form on this page. Also see our related article, Nevada Work Injury Laws – 4 That You Should Know.

If your case is in California, please see our article on when you can sue your employer for workplace injuries in California.

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Legal References