Employees who are injured in the course and scope of their employment are only entitled to weekly wage loss benefits and medical benefits. While these benefits are limited in nature, they provide injured workers with medical treatment that is reasonable, necessary and causally related to their work injuries and monetary awards in the event they are suffering a wage loss. However, emotional distress, pain and suffering and other damages available in tort law are a distant thought in the world of workers’ compensation.
With the formation of workers’ compensation law, employees have essentially forfeited their constitutional right to pursue civil actions against their employers in exchange for the entitlement of weekly compensation checks as the only available form of financial recovery after sustaining work-related injuries.
