Third Party Accidents

Lawyers for CTA Workers Injured in Accidents Caused by Third Parties

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is one of the largest transportation systems in the country. Unfortunately, those who work for CTA are regularly at risk of injury on their many trains and buses, as well as their offices. Among other things, CTA workers are at risk of sustaining injuries in a vehicle accident. If you were injured in a third party accident while working for CTA, you should call the Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. We are seasoned trial lawyers, as well as workers’ compensation counsel, and can make sure you have the best available opportunity to recover compensation for work-related injuries as a CTA worker.

Third Party Accidents in Chicago

Your only remedy for work-related injuries vis-à-vis CTA, when CTA is your employer, is workers’ compensation. Workers’ compensation benefits include a portion of your economic losses, but not the full spectrum. However, if you were injured in an accident caused by a third party, you may be able to recover damages, which are typically intended to address both economic and noneconomic losses and “make you whole.”

Many accidents are caused by negligence. To establish liability in that case, our attorneys will need to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant owed you a duty to use reasonable care, failed to abide by that duty, and thereby caused your injuries. For example, if a big rig failed to check its blind spots and cut off the CTA bus you were driving, and you had to brake abruptly and were thrown out of your seat and badly injured, you might have a claim for damages. Similarly, if there was an equipment failure as a result of product defects while you were operating a CTA train, and you were injured, you might have a claim against the manufacturer.

Damages

Damages that may be obtained in civil litigation include medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment. These damages can be reduced by an amount equal to your percentage of fault for your own injuries under the doctrine of comparative negligence. If you are found 50% or more responsible for your injuries, you will be barred from recovering damages. Needless to say, this incentivizes efforts by insurers to find ways in which accident victims are at fault, in order to avoid paying damages.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits

You may be able to obtain workers’ compensation benefits from CTA for work-related injuries and illnesses. Benefits are generally not as significant as damages because they don’t include compensation for pain and suffering or other emotional losses. They only replace a portion of economic losses in the form of disability benefits, medical benefits, and vocational rehabilitation.

However, unlike civil litigation, our lawyers will not need to be prove the employer or anybody else’s fault in order to recover workers’ compensation benefits on your behalf. Your benefits won’t be reduced because you were partially to blame for the CTA accident; for example, if you are a bus operator who didn’t react perfectly to being cut off by a negligent driver, and therefore share some blame, your damages for resulting injuries would be reduced in court, but your benefits wouldn’t.

However, you should be aware that CTA will have a subrogation right in damages from your third party lawsuit. Subrogation rights permit an insurer to recoup costs; Section 5(b) of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act permits the employer or its representative to recover 75% of compensation paid to an injured worker, minus its pro rata share of costs. It’s important to retain counsel that understands these potentially complex issues and how to protect your interests when you are injured on the job.

Hire a Chicago CTA Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

If you are injured on the job in a third party accident as a CTA worker, you should retain a law firm with the ability to represent you both in court for a third party accident lawsuit, as well as in the workers’ compensation system. Our attorneys represent CTA workers in Quincy, Rockford, Champaign, and Aurora, as well as Kane, Sangamon, Cook, Winnebago, and Adams Counties. We also explore the possibility of recovering SSDI. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.