(a) When a work injury for which compensation is payable under this chapter has been sustained under circumstances creating in some person other than the employer or another employee of the employer acting in the course of employment a legal liability to pay damages on account thereof, the injured employee or the injured employee’s dependents (hereinafter referred to collectively as “the employee”) may claim compensation under this chapter and recover damages from that third person.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-8

  • Compensation: means all benefits accorded by this chapter to an employee or the employee's dependents on account of a work injury as defined in this section; it includes medical and rehabilitation benefits, income and indemnity benefits in cases of disability or death, and the allowance for funeral and burial expenses. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Employee: means any individual in the employment of another person. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
  • Employer: means any person having one or more persons in the person's employment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
  • Employment: means any service performed by an individual for another person under any contract of hire or apprenticeship, express or implied, oral or written, whether lawfully or unlawfully entered into. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Personal injury: includes death resulting therefrom. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Work injury: means a personal injury suffered under the conditions specified in § 386-3. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 386-1
(b) If the employee commences an action against a third person, the employee shall without delay give the employer written notice of the action and the name and location of the court in which the action is brought by personal service or registered mail. The employer, at any time before trial on the facts, may join as party plaintiff.
(c) If within nine months after the date of the personal injury the employee has not commenced an action against a third person, the employer, having paid or being liable for compensation under this chapter, shall be subrogated to the rights of the injured employee. Except as limited by chapter 657, the employee may at any time commence an action or join in any action commenced by the employer against a third person.
(d) No release or settlement of any claim or action under this section is valid without the written consent of both employer and employee. The entire amount of the settlement after deductions for attorney’s fees and costs as provided in this section is subject to the employer’s right of reimbursement for the employer’s compensation payments under this chapter and the employer’s expenses and costs of action.
(e) If the action is prosecuted by the employer alone, the employer shall be entitled to be paid from the proceeds received as a result of any judgment for damages, or settlement in case the action is compromised before judgment, the reasonable litigation expenses incurred in preparation and prosecution of the action, together with a reasonable attorney’s fee, which shall be based solely upon the services rendered by the employer’s attorney in effecting recovery both for the benefit of the employer and the employee. After the payment of the expenses and attorney’s fee, the employer shall apply out of the amount of the judgment or settlement proceeds an amount sufficient to reimburse the employer for the amount of the employer’s expenditure for compensation and shall pay any excess to the injured employee or other person entitled thereto.
(f) If the action is prosecuted by the employee alone, the employee shall be entitled to apply out of the amount of the judgment for damages, or settlement in case the action is compromised before judgment, the reasonable litigation expenses incurred in preparation and prosecution of the action, together with a reasonable attorney’s fee, which shall be based solely upon the services rendered by the employee’s attorney in effecting recovery both for the benefit of the employee and the employer. After the payment of the expenses and attorney’s fee, there shall be applied out of the amount of the judgment or settlement proceeds, the amount of the employer’s expenditure for compensation, less the employer’s share of the expenses and attorney’s fee. On application of the employer, the court shall allow as a first lien against the amount of the judgment for damages or settlement proceeds, the amount of the employer’s expenditure for compensation, less the employer’s share of the expenses and attorney’s fee.
(g) If the action is prosecuted both by the employee and the employer, in a single action or in consolidated actions, and they are represented by the same agreed attorney or by separate attorneys, there shall first be paid from any judgment for damages recovered, or settlement proceeds in case the action or actions are settled before judgment, the reasonable litigation expenses incurred in preparation and prosecution of the action or actions, together with reasonable attorney’s fees based solely on the services rendered for the benefit of both parties where they are represented by the same attorney, and where they are represented by separate attorneys, based solely upon the service rendered in each instance by the attorney in effecting recovery for the benefit of the party represented. After the payment of the expenses and attorneys’ fees, there shall be applied out of the amount of the judgment for damages, or settlement proceeds an amount sufficient to reimburse the employer for the amount of the employer’s expenditure for compensation and any excess shall be paid to the injured employee or other person entitled thereto.
(h) If the parties are unable to agree upon the amount of reasonable litigation expenses and the amount of attorneys’ fees under this section, the expenses and attorneys’ fees shall be fixed by the court.
(i) After reimbursement for the employer’s compensation payments, the employer shall be relieved from the obligation to make further compensation payments to the employee under this chapter up to the entire amount of the balance of the settlement or the judgment, if satisfied, as the case may be, after deducting the cost and expenses, including attorneys’ fees.
(j) The amount of compensation paid by the employer or the amount of compensation to which the injured employee is entitled shall not be admissible in evidence in any action brought to recover damages.
(k) Another employee of the same employer shall not be relieved of that employee’s liability as a third party, if the personal injury is caused by that employee’s wilful and wanton misconduct.
(l) If the special compensation fund has paid or is liable for any compensation under this chapter, the fund shall be entitled to all the rights and remedies granted an employer under this section; provided that the employer’s right to reimbursement for compensation payments and expenses under this chapter shall have priority.

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