If you get this wrong, you can lose a lawsuit to New Hampshire's exclusive-remedy rule or miss the 3-year deadline to sue the right outside company.

The rule in plain English: if you were hurt while doing your job, your own employer is usually covered only through workers' compensation, not a personal injury lawsuit. In New Hampshire, that exclusive-remedy defense is in RSA 281-A:8. Workers' comp pays medical treatment and wage benefits without proving fault.

But that rule usually protects only your employer and co-employees.

If someone outside your employer caused the injury, you may also have a third-party injury claim. That means a dual-track case: workers' comp against the employer's insurance and a civil claim against the outside person or company. The injury lawsuit deadline is generally 3 years under RSA 508:4.

Example: a Dover nurse is driving between facilities during construction season near a lane shift on the Spaulding Turnpike or Central Avenue road work. A private paving contractor backs heavy equipment into her car. Because she was working, she files workers' comp through her hospital employer. She usually cannot sue the hospital for the injury. But she may be able to sue the paving company, the equipment operator, or another contractor if their negligence caused the crash.

Same result if a teacher on a school errand is hit by a non-school driver, or a healthcare worker is injured by a defective lift owned by an outside vendor.

Process matters:

• Report the injury to your employer immediately.
• If workers' comp is denied or underpaid, the dispute goes through the New Hampshire Department of Labor.
• If a third party caused the injury, preserve that separate claim before the 3-year civil deadline runs.

If you recover from the third party, the workers' comp carrier may seek reimbursement from that recovery.