Workers' compensation provides crucial benefits when you're injured on the job in Nebraska — but it has real limits. It doesn't cover pain and suffering. It caps your wage replacement. And it doesn't hold anyone accountable for the negligence that caused your injury.
But what if someone other than your employer was responsible for your workplace injury? A negligent contractor, a defective piece of equipment, a reckless driver, or an unsafe property owner? In that case, Nebraska law gives you the right to file a separate personal injury lawsuit — known as a third-party liability claim — in addition to your workers' compensation claim. This can dramatically increase your total recovery.
At Johnson Tabor & Johnson, we evaluate every workplace injury case for both workers' compensation benefits and third-party liability. Our senior partner spent over 40 years defending insurance carriers — he knows how both workers' comp insurers and liability insurers evaluate these cases, and what it takes to maximize recovery on both fronts.
What Is a Third-Party Liability Claim?
Under Nebraska Workers' Compensation Law, workers' comp is your exclusive remedy against your employer for a workplace injury. You cannot sue your employer — that's the trade-off for the no-fault workers' comp system.
However, Nebraska law (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-118) specifically preserves your right to sue any third party — any person or entity other than your employer — whose negligence caused or contributed to your injury. This third-party lawsuit is a standard personal injury claim filed in Nebraska's district courts, completely separate from your workers' compensation case.
A third-party claim is important because it can provide compensation that workers' comp simply does not offer:
You can pursue both at the same time. Nebraska law allows you to receive workers' compensation benefits while simultaneously pursuing a third-party personal injury lawsuit. This dual approach can significantly increase your total compensation.
Workers' Comp vs. Third-Party Lawsuit: What You Can Recover
| Type of Compensation | Workers' Comp | Third-Party Lawsuit |
|---|---|---|
| Medical Expenses | Covered | Covered |
| Wage Replacement | Partial (capped) | Full lost wages |
| Pain & Suffering | Not available | Available |
| Emotional Distress | Not available | Available |
| Loss of Enjoyment of Life | Not available | Available |
| Loss of Consortium | Not available | Available |
| Permanent Disability | Per schedule | Full value |
| Fault Required? | No (no-fault system) | Yes (must prove negligence) |
Who Can Be Held Liable as a Third Party?
A "third party" is any person or entity other than your employer or a co-worker. Many workplace injuries involve negligent third parties — the injured worker just doesn't realize it. Here are the most common scenarios:
Defective Equipment Manufacturers
If a machine, tool, or piece of equipment malfunctioned due to a design or manufacturing defect, the manufacturer can be held liable under product liability law — often under strict liability, meaning you don't need to prove carelessness.
General Contractors & Subcontractors
On construction sites, a general contractor or subcontractor other than your direct employer may be liable for unsafe site conditions, inadequate safety measures, or negligent supervision that caused your injury.
Property Owners
If you were injured while working on a property not owned by your employer — such as a client's facility, a job site, or a commercial building — the property owner may be liable for hazardous conditions they knew about or should have known about.
Negligent Drivers
If you were injured in a vehicle accident while performing work duties — a delivery, a job-site commute, or a work errand — and another driver caused the accident, that driver can be held liable through a personal injury claim.
Chemical Manufacturers & Suppliers
If your injury or illness was caused by exposure to a hazardous chemical, the manufacturer, distributor, or supplier of that chemical may be liable — particularly if the product lacked adequate warnings or safety instructions.
Maintenance & Repair Companies
If equipment was improperly repaired or maintained by a third-party service company, and that failure caused your injury, the maintenance or repair company may be liable.
Common Scenarios Where Third-Party Claims Apply
Third-party liability claims arise more often than most injured workers realize. Here are examples of real-world situations where Nebraska workers may have both a workers' comp claim and a third-party lawsuit:
A roofer falls from scaffolding that was improperly assembled by a subcontractor other than the roofer's employer.
The roofer files a workers' comp claim against his employer and a third-party negligence lawsuit against the subcontractor who assembled the scaffolding. The third-party lawsuit can recover pain and suffering and full lost wages.
A factory worker's hand is crushed by a press that malfunctioned due to a design defect.
The worker files a workers' comp claim with his employer and a product liability lawsuit against the press manufacturer. The product liability claim can result in significantly greater compensation — and may not require proving carelessness under strict liability.
A delivery driver is T-boned by a distracted driver while making a work delivery.
The driver files a workers' comp claim with her employer and a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver. The personal injury claim covers pain and suffering, emotional distress, and the full value of lost wages — none of which workers' comp provides.
A farm worker is injured when a PTO on a tractor engages unexpectedly due to a defective safety mechanism.
If the employer carries workers' comp, the worker files a comp claim. Additionally, the worker files a product liability lawsuit against the tractor manufacturer for the defective PTO safety mechanism.
Understanding Subrogation in Nebraska
One important aspect of pursuing both workers' comp and a third-party claim is subrogation. Under Nebraska law, your workers' compensation insurer has the right to be reimbursed from any recovery you obtain in a third-party lawsuit for the workers' comp benefits they have already paid.
In practical terms, this means your employer or their insurer must be named as a party in the third-party lawsuit for reimbursement purposes. The subrogation amount is deducted from your third-party recovery.
This sounds like a disadvantage — but in practice, the additional compensation available through a third-party claim (pain and suffering, full wages, emotional distress) far exceeds what subrogation takes back. An experienced attorney structures the case to minimize the impact of subrogation and maximize your net recovery.
Our Experience on Both Sides Matters Here. Third-party liability claims involve navigating two separate legal systems simultaneously — workers' comp and personal injury. Our senior partner spent over 40 years defending insurance carriers in both arenas. We understand how both workers' comp insurers and liability insurers evaluate these cases, how they calculate exposure, and where they are most vulnerable. That dual perspective is essential when structuring a case to maximize total recovery.
Nebraska's Comparative Negligence Rule
Unlike workers' compensation — which is a no-fault system — a third-party personal injury claim requires proving that the third party was negligent. And the third party's defense team will try to shift blame to you.
Nebraska follows a modified comparative negligence rule. This means if you are found to be partially at fault for your injury, your recovery from the third-party lawsuit is reduced by your percentage of fault. However, if you are found to be 50% or more at fault, you are completely barred from recovering anything from the third party.
Insurance companies and defense attorneys aggressively try to argue that the injured worker was at fault — that you violated a safety rule, weren't paying attention, or misused equipment. Having an attorney who knows these tactics (because he used to deploy them) is critical to protecting your claim.
Important Deadlines. Nebraska's statute of limitations for most personal injury claims is four years from the date of injury — longer than the two-year workers' comp deadline. However, product liability claims and other specific claim types may have different deadlines. Don't wait. Contact an attorney promptly to ensure all filing deadlines are met for both your workers' comp and third-party claims.
Serving Injured Workers Across Nebraska
Johnson Tabor & Johnson handles third-party liability claims and workers' compensation cases throughout the state of Nebraska, including:
- Omaha — Bellevue, Papillion, Elkhorn, Millard, La Vista
- Lincoln & Lancaster County
- Grand Island & Hall County
- Kearney & Buffalo County
- Norfolk & Madison County
- Columbus & Platte County
- North Platte & Lincoln County
- Scottsbluff & the Panhandle
- Sidney & Cheyenne County
Plus all surrounding communities across Nebraska and western Iowa. Whether your injury happened on a construction site, in a factory, on a farm, or on the road — we'll evaluate every angle of your case.