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
