Prior to the development of workers compensation statutes, how did employees receive medical payments and compensation for workplace injuries?

• A. Hire a mediator and bargain with their employers
• B. Sue their employers and prove negligence
• C. File a complaint with the state labor department
• D. Employees could not receive medical payments and compensation benefits

Answer: (B)

Before workers’ compensation statutes, there was no automatic coverage for workplace injuries. An injured employee who needed medical payments and compensation had to sue the employer in civil court, proving the employer’s negligence. This meant the employee had to show that the employer failed to maintain a safe workplace or acted carelessly, and that this fault caused the injury. Because relief depended on winning a lawsuit, outcomes were uncertain and could be affected by defenses like assuming the risk, the fellow-servant doctrine, or contributory negligence. So medical expenses and lost wages were not automatically provided; they were recoverable only if fault was established in court. The other options don’t fit the historical reality: there wasn’t a mediator or state labor department mechanism for resolving these claims, and saying employees couldn’t receive any benefits ignores the fact that, if negligence was proven, damages could be awarded through the tort system.