Jorge-Chavelas v. La. Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co.

GREGG COSTA, Circuit Judge:

*849 Workers' compensation laws strike a statutory bargain between labor and management. They all but guarantee that a worker will recover from an employer for workplace injuries. In exchange for that certainty, the worker gives up the right to pursue a potentially larger recovery in a tort suit-employers are immune from such claims.

These tradeoffs mean that questions about whether the statutory scheme covers an injured worker can cause businesses and workers alike to oscillate between seemingly opposed positions. A worker uncertain about the chances of a tort suit will…