Consider this situation: Martha has worked for over 20 years for a company that manufactures parts for industrial machinery. Martha is a small woman working in a job that requires a great deal of heavy, repetitive lifting. Eventually, she develops a degenerative disc condition in her lower back. The pain and the damage to her back render her unable to do her job. She pursues a workers’ compensation claim in her home state, which is one of the least generous states in terms of workers’ compensation benefits. The compensation system being the exclusive remedy, she cannot file a separate personal injury lawsuit against the employer for her injury.

Does it seem fair that workers’ compensation is Martha’s only remedy?

Tip: Consider that Martha might be entitled to greater damages for an equally crippling injury that occurred anywhere else other than where she worked.