Historically it was very difficult for employees injured on the job to recover damages, based on three concepts in labor law: assumption of risk, which stated that a worker had knowingly assumed the risks of working and was always free to work elsewhere; contributory negligence, which held that if a worker was in any way responsible for his or her injuries, than the employer could not be held liable; and the fellow servant rule, which stated that employers were not responsible for an employee’s negligence that caused harm to another. For more discussion, visit my earlier blog entry on this subject.