Workers' compensation is not your only option — and in many cases, it is not even your best option. Texas has unique rules that can dramatically change your rights after a workplace burn injury.
Workers' compensation is a no-fault insurance system that pays for medical expenses and partial wage replacement regardless of who caused a workplace injury. In states where it applies, the trade-off is that employees generally cannot sue their employer in tort — workers' comp is the "exclusive remedy" against the employer.
In Texas, workers' comp typically covers:
Workers' compensation has severe limitations that are particularly impactful in burn cases:
In a serious burn case worth $2–5 million or more in tort, workers' comp may pay $200,000–$500,000 in total benefits — a fraction of the victim's true damages.
Texas is the only state in the country that does not require employers to carry workers' compensation insurance. Employers who opt out are called "non-subscribers." When you are injured working for a non-subscriber employer in Texas:
Approximately 1 in 3 Texas employers is a non-subscriber, including many in the construction, agriculture, and service industries. Finding out whether your employer subscribes to workers' comp is the first critical determination in any Texas workplace burn injury case.
Even when your employer carries workers' compensation insurance and you are limited in your ability to sue the employer directly, you can always sue third parties who contributed to your burn injury. Third-party defendants commonly include:
Third-party claims allow full tort recovery — including pain and suffering, disfigurement, and potentially punitive damages — that workers' comp does not provide. You can pursue both workers' comp benefits and a third-party lawsuit simultaneously.
Running workers' comp and a third-party lawsuit in parallel is the standard approach for serious workplace burn injuries in Texas. Workers' comp pays medical bills during litigation — meaning you don't have to pay your burn center bills out of pocket while waiting for a lawsuit to resolve. When the third-party case settles or goes to verdict, the workers' comp carrier recovers its payments from the proceeds (right of subrogation). An attorney structures the deal to maximize your net recovery after subrogation.
Yes — and this is important. The workers' comp carrier's interests are not aligned with yours. Their goal is to minimize benefits paid and close your claim quickly. An attorney represents your interests in the workers' comp system, can challenge denied claims, improper impairment ratings, and premature return-to-work orders. More importantly, an attorney simultaneously investigates third-party liability that workers' comp completely ignores.
No — Texas law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who file workers' comp claims. If your employer terminates you, demotes you, or reduces your hours in retaliation for filing a workers' comp claim, you have a separate retaliation claim under Texas Labor Code § 451.001. Document the timing of any adverse employment actions relative to your workers' comp claim carefully.
If your employer is a confirmed non-subscriber, you have the right to sue them directly in civil court. As described above, Texas law removes the employer's most powerful defenses in non-subscriber suits, making these cases significantly more likely to result in a favorable verdict or settlement. Contact an attorney immediately to verify your employer's status and file suit before the 2-year deadline.
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