At the beginning of this century,
workers were routinely injured,
maimed, or killed in the workplace.
An employee could sue the
company for negligence, but the
laws favored the company. If the
job was obviously risky, the
employee was held to have
assumed the risk voluntarily and
would lose the case.
Social legislation to remedy this
situation began appearing in the
late 1800s, and most states have
had some type of workers compensation
laws since the 1920s. These
laws generally follow certain basic
principles.
The Exclusive Remedy Rule
One of these principles is that an
injured employee is entitled to one
legal remedy, a concept known as
"the exclusive remedy." It means
that an injured employee who
decides to accept workers compensation
usually forfeits