The exclusive remedy provision, a cornerstone of workers’ compensation law, provides that accidental, work-related injury claims between an employee and an employer must be resolved only under the state workers’ compensation system, and not in court. The legislatures in all 50 states now have passed laws which create some form of workers’ compensation, and virtually all make it the exclusive remedy for injured employees.

Importantly, most states choose to define, by statute, what qualifies as an employer-employee relationship, rather than simply relying on the traditional common law test. In asbestos personal injury cases, a worker that may traditionally be viewed as an independent contractor may find that their lawsuit against a premises owner or general contractor is barred by the exclusive remedy provision.

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