Can I bring a Personal Injury Claim in Combination with a Workers’ Compensation Claim in Missouri?

About the Author

Ethan Charles (“EC”) Duckworth is the founding attorney of Duckworth Injury Law. EC earned his law degree from the University of Missouri - Columbia, where he graduated in the top 10 of his class and served as an Editor of the Missouri Law Review. EC currently serves as a member of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (MATA) and is a graduate of the Ross T. Roberts Trial Academy. EC has represented hundreds of injury victims throughout his career, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in compensation recovered. EC routinely handles third-party liability personal injury claims in connection to ongoing workers’ compensation claims. 

Learn How Workers’ Compensation & Personal Injury Claims Can Overlap After a Missouri Workplace Injury

If you are injured while working in Missouri, your first question is often straightforward: what benefits am I entitled to? But a more important—and often overlooked—question is whether you may have more than one claim. In many situations, the answer is yes.

Understanding how a workers’ compensation claim can overlap with a personal injury claim can make a significant difference in the total compensation you ultimately recover. This is especially true in mid-Missouri, where many injuries occur on roadways like I-70 through Columbia, Providence Road, and Scott Boulevard, as well as rural highways like Route B or Route C near Jefferson City and job sites at the Lake of the Ozarks.

If you have been injured while acting within the course and scope of your employment, you will likely be covered under Missouri’s Workers’ Compensation Law. This system is designed to provide relatively quick, no-fault benefits to injured workers. In general, workers’ compensation provides payment for reasonable and necessary medical treatment, partial wage replacement for time missed from work, and disability benefits including permanent partial or total disability. In exchange for these guaranteed benefits, Missouri law typically prevents you from suing your employer or a co-employee for negligence.

When You Can Bring Both a Workers’ Compensation Claim and a Personal Injury Claim

However, that rule has an important exception. While you usually cannot sue your employer or a co-employee, you can pursue a separate personal injury claim if a third party—someone other than your employer or co-worker—caused your injury. This is known as a third-party liability claim, and it can exist alongside your workers’ compensation case.

A very common example in mid-Missouri involves motor vehicle accidents. Imagine an employee working for a Columbia business who is driving along Route K or through downtown CoMo to make a delivery. While stopped at an intersection, another driver rear-ends the employee’s vehicle, causing serious injuries. In this situation, the employee can pursue a workers’ compensation claim because the injury occurred during work duties, and also bring a personal injury claim against the negligent driver who caused the crash.

Why Third-Party Personal Injury Claims Are Important to Bring with a Work Comp Claim

Workers’ compensation benefits are limited by design and do not compensate you for everything you have lost. For example, workers’ compensation generally does not cover pain and suffering, does not fully replace lost wages, and does not account for loss of enjoyment of life or diminished future earning capacity in the same way a personal injury claim does. By contrast, a personal injury claim allows you to pursue full damages under Missouri law.

Understanding Subrogation and Worker’s Compensation Liens

However, if you do pursue both claims, there is an important issue you need to understand: subrogation. When a workers’ compensation insurer pays benefits on your behalf, the insurer has a right to be reimbursed if you later recover money from a third-party personal injury claim. In Missouri, this reimbursement is typically secured through a lien on your personal injury case.

Missouri uses what is known as the Ruediger formula to determine how much of your personal injury recovery must be repaid to the workers’ compensation insurer. This formula comes from a 1973 Missouri case titled Ruediger v. Kallmeyer Brothers Service, 501 S.W.2d 56. 

While the calculation can become nuanced, the key concept is that the workers’ compensation insurer must share in the attorney’s fees and litigation costs incurred in obtaining the recovery. The full formula is as follows:

Employer Recovery = (Comp Benefits Paid/Total PI Recovery) X (Net PI Recovery After Fees and Costs)

Example: Assume a Columbia delivery driver is injured in a crash while making deliveries for work. The workers’ compensation carrier pays $60,000 in total benefits, including medical treatment and temporary disability benefits. The injured worker later brings a third-party personal injury claim against the negligent driver and settles that claim for $150,000. To calculate the amount which the delivery driver must pay back to the work comp carrier from his personal injury settlement, the following must be assessed:

Assume the attorney’s fee is one-third, or $50,000, and case expenses are $5,000. That leaves a net recovery of $95,000 before addressing the workers’ compensation lien.

Under Missouri’s Ruediger formula, the workers’ compensation carrier does not automatically get its full $60,000 lien repaid. Instead, the carrier must share proportionally in the cost of obtaining the recovery, including attorney’s fees and litigation expenses.

In this example, the workers’ compensation lien is $60,000, and the total personal injury settlement is $150,000. That means the comp carrier’s lien represents 40% of the total third-party recovery. Next, we multiply this .40 by $95,000 (the net recovery on the PI claim after fees and expenses. This provides us with a reduced work comp lien repayment of $38,000. 

This example shows why the Ruediger formula matters. Without the formula, the workers’ compensation carrier might claim it is entitled to the full $60,000 lien. But after applying Ruediger, the lien repayment is reduced to $38,000, increasing the injured worker’s net recovery.

Do I Need a Lawyer for Both a Workers’ Compensation Claim and a Personal Injury Case in Missouri?

Many injured workers in Columbia, Jefferson City, and the Lake of the Ozarks assume that handling a

workers’ compensation claim is straightforward. However, when a third-party claim is involved, the situation becomes significantly more complex. Workers’ compensation insurance companies are focused on limiting what they pay, while third-party insurance carriers are actively defending liability and damages. At the same time, the workers’ compensation carrier is asserting a lien against any personal injury recovery. Without proper coordination, injured workers can unknowingly settle one claim in a way that negatively impacts the other.

If You Were Injured at Work in Mid-Missouri, You May Be Entitled to More Than Workers’ Compensation Benefits

If you were injured on the job in through Columbia, Jefferson City, the Lake of the Ozarks, or anywhere in mid-Missouri, do not assume workers’ compensation is your only option. Many injury victims are entitled to significantly more compensation through a third-party personal injury claim, but those opportunities are often missed early.

Timing matters , evidence disappears, insurance companies begin building defenses immediately, and workers’ compensation carriers start tracking their reimbursement rights from day one. Getting both sides of your case evaluated early can make a substantial difference

At Duckworth Injury Law, every workplace injury case is analyzed to determine whether a third-party claim exists. That means identifying all responsible parties, preserving key evidence, and positioning your case to maximize total recovery.

If you were hurt while working in Columbia, along I-70, in Jefferson City, or at the Lake of the Ozarks, contact Duckworth Injury Law today for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we recover compsensation for you.