Texas oilfield workers face significant safety hazards every day on the job. Common oilfield injuries range from broken bones to severe burns and even fatalities. When these accidents occur, injured workers often wonder about their legal options beyond the limited benefits provided by workers' compensation coverage.
At Terry & Thweatt, P.C., our Houston oilfield injury lawyers assist workers throughout the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin regions in understanding their rights following workplace accidents. While Texas law generally restricts lawsuits against employers, several important exceptions exist that could allow you to pursue full compensation for your injuries.
Texas Workers' Compensation and Employer Immunity
Texas stands alone as the only state where employers can opt out of providing workers' compensation coverage. This creates a two-track system with different legal options for injured workers.
Employers Who Are Workers Comp Subscribers
When your employer carries workers' compensation insurance, you typically cannot sue them directly for workplace injuries regardless of fault. In exchange for this immunity, workers' compensation provides guaranteed but limited benefits including medical care, disability payments, and death benefits.
Non-Subscriber Employers in Texas
However, if your employer has chosen not to participate in the Texas workers' compensation system (becoming a "non-subscriber"), they lose this immunity. In effect, this allows injured oilfield workers to file personal injury lawsuits when negligence contributed to the accident.
When Can Oilfield Workers Sue Their Employers in Texas?
Despite the restrictions of workers' compensation, Texas law provides several paths for oilfield workers to pursue lawsuits against their employers.
Your Employer Is a Non-Subscriber
Nearly 30% of Texas employers opt out of workers' compensation coverage. If you work for one of these companies and suffer an injury, you preserve your right to sue.
In non-subscriber cases, there is a reduced burden of proof; you only need to prove your employer was 1% responsible for your injury. The employer cannot argue that you were partially at fault or that you assumed the risk by taking the job.
Unlike workers' compensation, which caps available benefits, a lawsuit allows full recovery of all damages, including pain and suffering, lost earning capacity, and punitive damages when warranted. For example, if you suffered broken bones when a defective winch system failed at a drilling site near Midland due to inadequate maintenance, a lawsuit against a non-subscriber employer could seek compensation for all your losses without limitation.
Gross Negligence Resulting in Death
Even when an employer subscribes to workers' compensation, Texas Labor Code §408.001(b) specifically preserves the right of a deceased worker's family to bring a lawsuit for gross negligence.
Gross negligence requires proof that your employer knew about an extreme risk but proceeded anyway and acted with conscious indifference to worker safety. For example, say a supervisor orders workers to enter a confined space without proper air quality testing despite known hydrogen sulfide gas hazards. If a worker dies from toxic exposure, the family could pursue a gross negligence claim against the company.
Third-Party Claims
Texas oilfield operations often involve multiple companies working together. When someone other than your direct employer contributes to your injury, you can file what's known as a third-party claim while still collecting workers' compensation benefits.
Potential third parties in oilfield accident claims include:
- Equipment manufacturers
- Contractors and subcontractors
- Property owners
- Maintenance companies
- Chemical suppliers
For instance, if you were injured when a blowout preventer failed during drilling operations in the Eagle Ford Shale, you might have claims against the equipment manufacturer for product defects and the maintenance contractor for improper servicing. This is true even if your direct employer has workers' compensation immunity.
Documentation Needed for an Oilfield Injury Lawsuit
Building a strong case requires thorough documentation including:
- Medical records. Complete copies of all treatment records that detail your injuries and any permanent limitations are crucial for establishing damages.
- Accident reports. Official OSHA incident reports and company accident reports document how the injury occurred and which safety protocols were violated.
- Employment records. These show your job duties, training received, and whether proper safety procedures were communicated.
- Photographic evidence. Photos of the accident scene, equipment involved, and your injuries help demonstrate the severity of what happened.
Compensation Available in Texas Oilfield Injury Cases
Injured oilfield workers in Texas who can pursue lawsuits may recover substantial damages beyond what workers' compensation provides.
Economic Damages
These cover financial losses including past and future medical expenses, lost wages and diminished earning capacity, rehabilitation costs, and out-of-pocket expenses.
Non-Economic Damages
These compensate for impacts like physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement and scarring, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Punitive Damages
In cases of gross negligence, Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §41.003 allows courts to award exemplary damages to punish wrongdoing and deter similar conduct.
How Oilfield Claims Differ from Offshore Injury Cases
Oilfield workers injured on land face different legal frameworks than those injured offshore. The Jones Act provides seamen injured through employer negligence the right to sue their employers directly without the barriers created by state workers' compensation laws.
This key difference means that land-based oilfield workers in Texas generally face more restrictions on employer lawsuits compared to offshore workers unless one of the exceptions discussed earlier applies.