High Court: Worker Not Required to File Comp Claim Before Suing Employer

The Texas Supreme Court said the Division of Workers' Compensation does not have exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether an injury was work-related in a dispute arising outside of the context of compensability and when the relief requested by the injured worker does not depend on entitlement to benefits. "In sum, the Workers’ Compensation Act’s text and structure, the presumption in favor of the district court’s jurisdiction, and our precedent all point in the same direction: The division does not have exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether an injury occurr...