Montana Workplace Injuries Attorney
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A serious injury on a Montana job site often has more than one cause, and sometimes more than one party is legally responsible. If a contractor, an equipment manufacturer, or a property owner played a part in your injury in Butte or elsewhere in southwest Montana, the law treats that party’s responsibility separately from your employer’s.
Workers’ compensation pays for medical care and part of your lost wages, but it stops short of pain and suffering, the full value of the income you lose, and the lasting cost of a permanent disability. When another party caused the injury, that gap does not simply disappear, and Montana law may let you pursue it through a personal injury claim.
Joyce, MacDonald, Haynes & Johnston builds third-party personal injury claims for workers hurt on the job. These claims hold a negligent contractor, equipment maker, or property owner answerable for what their carelessness cost you, and they run alongside the benefits you may already receive. Our focus is the losses a workplace injury leaves behind.
Why Joyce, MacDonald, Haynes & Johnston for Workplace Injury Claims
Joyce, MacDonald, Haynes & Johnston is a four-partner personal injury firm in Butte, and our partners bring over 100 years of combined experience to injury claims across southwest Montana. For a third-party workplace claim, that means more than one attorney can work the case, and the partner who knows its details stays involved throughout the claim process
Our Montana Case Results
Our published case results include recoveries such as $2,700,000 for a passenger injured in an auto collision and $600,000 for injuries in a trucking collision. These outcomes come from different kinds of cases, and past results do not predict any future outcome, but they show how we prepare Montana injury claims for negotiation and trial.
Four Partners Who Stay Close to Your Case
A third-party workplace claim can involve several parties at once: a contractor, an equipment maker, a property owner, and the insurance companies behind them. With four partners in our Butte office, we can give a claim sustained attention, and the partner handling your case stays closely involved from the first meeting through resolution.
Client Testimonials
“Terry MacDonald, He guided me through years of a long process of work comp, hostile insurance reps, and finally disability. He is honest, kind while keeping me calm and informed on every step of the process. He is an absolute bulldog on your behalf. Lawrence Lenander” — Larry L.
“I highly recommend Mike Haynes, a personal injury attorney at Joyce, MacDonald, Haynes & Johnston. Throughout the entire process, Mike maintained consistent communication and diligently followed up on my behalf. He explained all my questions clearly and always inquired if there was anything else he could assist me with. He promptly responded to any inquiries and prioritized my case. Never did I feel uncertain about Mike’s ability to handle my matter effectively. I wholeheartedly recommend Mike and the entire firm to anyone seeking reassurance from a highly reputable professional” — David S.
Meet Your Montana Workplace Injury Attorneys
Can You Sue for a Workplace Injury in Montana?
Generally, you cannot sue your own employer for a workplace injury in Montana, but you may be able to bring a claim against a third party who helped cause it. Montana’s workers’ compensation law makes those benefits the exclusive remedy against an insured employer, under MCA § 39-71-411.
The same law also preserves a separate claim. Under MCA § 39-71-412, an injured worker retains the right to bring a claim against a third party whose negligence caused or contributed to the injury.
A third party is any person or business, other than your employer or a coworker, whose actions played a part in the harm. On a job site, that often means a general contractor or subcontractor, the manufacturer of a defective tool or machine, the owner of the property where you were working, or another driver in a work-related vehicle crash.
A third-party claim runs on a separate legal track from workers’ compensation, and in some situations you can pursue both at the same time. Because it is a personal injury claim, it follows the general negligence rules that apply to Montana personal injury cases.
Montana generally gives you three years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit under MCA § 27-2-204(1). If you file after that window closes, the courts will usually refuse to hear the claim, and you lose the right to recover. Because evidence from a job site can disappear quickly, the practical timeline to start building a claim is often much shorter.
What Can You Recover in a Third-Party Workplace Injury Claim?
A third-party claim can reach losses that workers’ compensation does not pay. Workers’ compensation generally covers medical treatment and part of your lost wages, but it does not pay for pain and suffering or the full amount of the income a serious injury takes from you. A personal injury claim against a negligent third party can seek that additional recovery.
Depending on the evidence, a third-party workplace injury claim may seek compensation for medical expenses, including future care, the full value of lost wages and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and the effects of a permanent disability. When a job-site injury is fatal, the family may be able to bring a claim for wrongful death damages. What a claim can recover depends on the facts, the injuries, and the proof, so no two claims look the same.
Montana uses a modified comparative negligence rule with a 51% bar under MCA § 27-1-702. You can still recover if you were partly at fault, as long as your share was not greater than 50%, and the court reduces any recovery by your percentage of fault.
If a court finds you 51% or more at fault, you cannot recover from the other parties. Fault cuts in both directions, so your percentage can matter as much as the size of the losses.
Common Workplace Injuries and Who May Be Liable
These are some of the scenarios that lead to a third-party claim in southwest Montana:
- A fall on a construction site caused by an unsafe condition may point to a general contractor or the property owner who controlled the site.
- An injury from defective equipment or machinery may point to the manufacturer or the company that maintained it.
- Harmful exposure to a toxic substance on the job may point to the maker of that substance or another contractor who used it unsafely.
- A crash while driving for work may point to the at-fault driver and, in some cases, that driver’s employer.
- An injury caused by a subcontractor’s careless work may point to that subcontractor rather than your own employer.
- A fall on an unsafe property can also raise a premises liability question, which is the same issue behind many slip and fall claims.
What to Do After a Workplace Injury in Montana
The steps you take after a job-site injury can shape both your health and any claim you later bring. Once you are safe, consider taking these steps:
- Get medical attention promptly, and tell the provider how the injury happened.
- Report the injury to your employer as your workplace requires.
- Write down what happened while the details are fresh, from the equipment involved to the conditions on site.
- Take photos of the scene, the equipment, and your injuries if you are able.
- Identify every party on the site, not only your employer, since a contractor or equipment maker may share responsibility.
- Be careful about giving a recorded statement to any insurance company before you understand your rights.
- Talk with a personal injury attorney who can review whether a third-party claim is available alongside your other benefits.
A worker does not need to sort out who is liable before making that call. Sorting out responsibility among contractors, manufacturers, and property owners is part of what a Montana work injury lawyer does.
Find Out Whether You Have a Third-Party Work Injury Claim in Montana
If a contractor, an equipment maker, or a property owner contributed to your injury, workers’ compensation may not be your only option. We review whether a third-party personal injury claim fits alongside the benefits you already receive, and we handle that claim from the first conversation through resolution. Montana generally allows three years from the date of injury to file, so a free consultation early gives you time to preserve evidence and weigh your choices before the deadline runs.
Call our Butte office at 406-723-8700 or reach us through our contact form to set up a free consultation with our local team.
