Workplace Accident Injuries in Texas: When Workers’ Comp Is Not Enough

Texas workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against a covered employer for a work-related injury, but it does not bar every claim. A worker can still sue a third party whose negligence or defective equipment caused the injury, and a worker of a non-subscribing employer may sue that employer directly. Each route has its own notice and filing deadlines, and the workers’ compensation carrier’s repayment rights can change what the worker keeps.

Does workers’ comp bar every claim after a work injury?

Not every claim. Recovery of workers’ compensation benefits is the exclusive remedy against an employer for a work-related injury, but only for an employee covered by workers’ compensation insurance (Labor Code § 408.001(a)). The rule does not reach a third party who is not the employer, and for the kinds of damages a crash claim can include, see our article on car accident damages.

Section 408.001(a) applies to an employee “covered by workers’ compensation insurance coverage.” Coverage is elective for private employers, which “may elect to obtain” it (Labor Code § 406.002(a)). A covered worker therefore has a comp claim as the main route against the employer, and that is the route the exclusive-remedy rule describes. Our Houston workplace accident page covers the comp side of that picture.

Public employers are outside the elective rule in § 406.002(a). Harris County’s Risk Management page says the county and the Harris County Flood Control District provide workers’ compensation to employees for injuries in the course and scope of employment, that the program is self-insured, and that Risk Management oversees a third-party administrator that evaluates and pays claims (Harris County Risk Management, Workers’ Compensation). A crash on a work errand has its own treatment in our article on car accidents while working. For a worker hurt in a car or truck crash, see car accident claims and the first steps after an auto accident.

Section 408.001(b) keeps exemplary damages available to a surviving spouse or heirs when the employer’s intentional conduct or gross negligence caused the death, with gross negligence defined by reference to the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. A death case raises its own filing and damages questions, and our Houston wrongful death page is the starting point, with our article on who may file a claim after a fatal accident on who the claimants are.

What changes when an employer does not carry workers’ comp?

A non-subscriber is an employer that has not elected coverage. The exclusive-remedy rule is limited to covered employees, so an injured worker of a non-subscriber can sue the employer for damages, and the statute removes three common defenses (Labor Code §§ 406.033(a), 408.001(a)). The Texas Department of Insurance also requires notice to workers that the employer has no coverage.

The Texas Department of Insurance’s non-subscriber page, last updated August 6, 2026, says a non-subscriber must notify its workers by posting a notice of no coverage where employees can see it, in English, Spanish and any other needed language, and by giving written notice to new employees. The same page sets out the annual filing window of February 1 to April 30 and the injury reporting duty for employers with five or more employees (TDI, non-subscriber notices).

In a suit against a non-subscriber, Section 406.033(a) takes three defenses off the table: contributory negligence, assumption of risk, and a co-worker’s negligence. The plaintiff still must prove the employer’s negligence (§ 406.033(d)), and a waiver of the claim made before the injury is void (§ 406.033(e)). Our article on non-subscriber claims in Sugar Land covers the same rules for a nearby city.

Can a worker sue a third party as well as file a comp claim?

Yes, under the statute. A worker can pursue a third party for damages and, at the same time, file for benefits (Labor Code § 417.001(a)). A third party is someone other than the employer and its agents and employees, such as a contractor, equipment maker, property owner or another driver.

A Houston lawsuit from October 2025 shows the kind of defendants a third-party claim can name. Houston Public Media reported in October 2025 that a man delivering furniture to a downtown high-rise hotel under construction, injured in an apparent explosion, filed a $1 million lawsuit against the property owner and a general contractor. The suit was filed in the 269th District Court of Harris County and accuses the companies of failing to install, construct and inspect equipment to prevent the explosion. Those are the plaintiff’s allegations, and the report says the companies could not be reached for comment.

A claim against a maker of defective equipment follows the products rules in Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 82, which the defective product accident page covers. A property owner who fails to keep a work area safe raises a premises question, covered on our Houston slip and fall page. Commercial vehicle crashes raise the same third-party question, as our article on crashes that happen on the job explains.

What is the 30-day notice to the employer, and what if it is missed?

The injured worker, or someone acting for them, must notify the employer within 30 days after the injury occurs (Labor Code § 409.001(a)). Notice can go to a supervisor or manager. Missing the deadline does not automatically end the claim, because Section 409.002 lists exceptions, including actual knowledge by the employer or its carrier and a claim the employer or carrier does not contest.

Section 409.001(a) starts a 30-day window on the injury date. For an occupational disease, the window opens once the employee has reason to connect the illness to the job. Notice can also reach a supervisory or management employee of the employer (§ 409.001(b)(2)).

Section 409.002 provides that failure to give notice relieves the employer and its carrier of liability under the comp statute unless the employer, a person eligible to receive notice, or the carrier has actual knowledge of the injury, the division finds good cause, or the employer or carrier does not contest the claim. That section governs the comp claim; whether a missed notice affects a third-party suit is a separate question for counsel.

When must a comp claim and a third-party suit be filed?

Two clocks run at different speeds. A compensation claim goes to the Division of Workers’ Compensation and is due one year after the injury occurred (Labor Code § 409.003). A suit against a third party for personal injury falls under a two-year rule in Section 16.003(a).

Section 409.003 gives one year from the injury, or, for an occupational disease, one year from the point the employee should have connected the disease to the job. Section 409.004 says a late claim relieves the employer and carrier of liability unless an exception applies. The two-year suit period in Section 16.003(a) is subject to exceptions in sections 16.010, 16.0031 and 16.0045.

Our article on how the filing clock fits a Texas personal injury timeline shows how these dates interact with treatment and negotiation.

Does the workers’ comp carrier get repaid from a third-party recovery?

When the carrier has paid benefits, it is subrogated to the employee’s rights (Labor Code § 417.001(b)). Its interest is limited to the benefits paid or assumed, less the judgment reduction for the employer’s percentage of responsibility, and the net third-party recovery reimburses it (§ 417.002(a)).

Section 417.002(b) treats any recovery beyond the carrier’s reimbursement as an advance against the medical and other benefits the worker is still owed. Section 417.002(c) says the carrier need not resume payments if that advance covers all future benefits. The arithmetic of a settlement can therefore differ from the headline number, so the carrier’s lien should be stated in writing before any settlement is signed. Our article on how settlement payments are structured explains why the payment method matters, and how a claim’s value is estimated covers the inputs. Where an employer’s share of responsibility is disputed, how Texas lawyers handle comparative negligence explains the fault question.

Can the employer be pulled into the third-party suit?

Generally not for reimbursement. An employer is not liable to the third party for reimbursement or damages based on a judgment or settlement, unless it signed a written agreement to assume that liability before the injury occurred (Labor Code § 417.004).

The section turns on a written agreement signed before the injury. Contract documents, including any indemnity clause in a job site or vendor agreement, are the place to look. Our article on how a trucking company and its driver are sorted out after a crash shows how responsibility is allocated when a company and its driver are both involved.

What if defective equipment is the third party’s problem?

When defective equipment causes the injury, the maker or seller may be the third party. Chapter 82 covers suits against a manufacturer or seller over injury from a defective product (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 82.001(2)), and the repose clock generally starts when the defendant sold the product, with a 15-year limit (§ 16.012(b)).

A machine, tool, vehicle part or fall protection device can fall within that definition. A design-defect claim carries the burden in Section 82.005(a), which requires proof of a safer alternative design, so the worker’s lawyer needs evidence of the other design as well as the injury. The two-year personal injury period in Section 16.003(a) is a separate clock to check.

Vehicle parts are one example of equipment in work-related crashes. Our article on defective products and car accidents describes how a vehicle part can be the defendant, and our Sugar Land page on car accidents at work covers the crash side. Injuries on the water raise their own rules, covered in our maritime law page, and offshore workers have a separate article on injury claims for offshore workers.

What should a worker do first after a work injury?

Get medical care, report the injury to the employer within 30 days, preferably in writing, and ask whether the employer carries workers’ compensation. Keep the incident report, photographs, witness names and pay records. Talk to a lawyer before giving a recorded statement, because the coverage facts decide which claims are available.

Texas law sets the notice and filing dates in the Labor Code. The Texas Department of Insurance’s non-subscriber page is the place to check whether an employer has filed the required notices. Keep copies of any written notice to the employer, because the date of that notice is one of the first facts a lawyer will ask about. Our article on what qualifies as a personal injury case in Texas covers the broader question of which injuries support a claim.

In the Houston area, the Texas Department of Insurance’s Division of Workers’ Compensation contact page lists two field offices, Houston East at 5425 Polk Street, Suite 130, and Houston West at 350 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. E., Suite 110 B. The same page gives the Claims & Customer Services line as 800-252-7031, option 1.

Insurers may ask for a recorded statement early in the process, and our article on insurers that stall a claim covers delays. Our article on speaking with an adjuster explains why to wait. The crash report and any incident report should be requested early, and our guide to getting a copy of a Texas accident report explains the process. If a vehicle was involved, our Houston crash checklist covers the vehicle-side steps.

Before giving a recorded statement, write down the date you told the employer, who you told, and whether anyone said the company carries workers’ compensation. If a defective tool or another company’s driver played a part, how fault is sorted out when several vehicles are involved is the next read, and the contact page is where those dates and papers can be sent. The personal injury overview lists the other claims that can follow a job injury, and questions to ask before hiring helps compare lawyers.

About the authors

Sam A. Maida, Jr.

Owner and Managing Attorney

Sam A. Maida, Jr. has represented injured Texans in the greater Houston area since the firm opened in 1993.

Texas Bar No. 00787950

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Bernard G. Johnson III

Litigation Managing Attorney

Bernard G. Johnson III is a board certified trial lawyer licensed in Texas since 1996 and a graduate of South Texas College of Law.

Texas Bar No. 00796832
Admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (2004)

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