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★ Iowa · workplace

Workplace settlements
in Iowa.

By Reviewed by Abd Shanti, Founder9 min read

Iowa pays injured workers 80% of their weekly spendable earnings, with one of the highest caps in the country: $2,431 a week for injuries from 1 July 2026. Suing a coworker requires gross negligence, which a school bus driver who pinned a colleague did not meet.

Facts that decide a workplace claim in Iowa

Weekly benefit80% of weekly spendable earnings, capped at 200% of the statewide average weekly wage.Iowa Code § 85.37
Maximum, 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027$2,431 a week for temporary total, healing period and permanent total disability ($2,350 for the year before).Iowa Workers’ Compensation Division rate books
Suing a coworkerAllowed only for gross negligence: knowledge of the danger, knowledge that injury is probable, and conscious failure to avoid it.Mrla v. Johnson (Iowa Ct. App. 2021)
Deadline to sueActions “founded on injuries to the person” must be brought within two years.Iowa Code § 614.1(2)
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★ IA · reported workplace outcomes

What Iowa courts have awarded.

Real Iowa decisions and verdicts, each linked to the court record or official report.

  • Mrla v. Johnson
    Iowa Court of Appeals · 2021
    Summary judgment for coworker affirmed

    On a winter morning, school bus driver Rick Mrla climbed onto his bus’s front bumper to clear ice from the windshield, a common practice. Kenny Johnson, loading children onto the bus in front, disengaged the air brake and put his bus in reverse instead of neutral before walking down the aisle. It rolled back and pinned Mrla between the buses. The court said Johnson may have been negligent, but not grossly negligent, and affirmed dismissal.

★ IA · workplace · in practice

What changes the number here.

What actually moves a workplace settlement in Iowa.

  1. 1

    Iowa’s benefit cap is high. At $2,431 a week, most workers receive 80% of spendable earnings without hitting the maximum.

  2. 2

    Coworker suits need more than carelessness. Mrla’s injury came from an obvious mistake, but the gross negligence test requires knowing injury was probable.

  3. 3

    Third parties outside the employer, such as vehicle or equipment makers, can be sued under ordinary negligence rules.

  4. 4

    The minimum benefit is set by statute at the rate for a worker earning 35% of the statewide average weekly wage, or the worker’s spendable earnings if lower.

★ IA · statute of limitations
2 years from date of injury

Iowa Code § 614.1(2)

★ IA · fault rule
Modified comparative, 51% bar

Modified comparative, recovery barred at 51% claimant fault.

★ IA · caps

What caps recovery.

Statutory caps that may bear on a workplace settlement in Iowa.

★ workplace · same region & fault regime

Compare to like jurisdictions.

How Iowa's fault rule and limitation period compare to jurisdictions in the same US region and to those running the same fault rule for workplace claims.

JurisdictionFault ruleLimitationWorkplace page
Iowa · you are hereModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injury—
KansasModified comparative, 50% bar2 years from date of injuryKS · workplace →
MichiganModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryMI · workplace →
MinnesotaModified comparative, 51% bar6 years for personal injury (uncommonly long); 4 years for medical malpracticeMN · workplace →
MissouriPure comparative negligence5 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeMO · workplace →
NebraskaModified comparative, 50% bar4 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeNE · workplace →
North DakotaModified comparative, 50% bar6 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeND · workplace →
LouisianaModified comparative, 51% bar1 year (la prescription), extended to 2 years by Act 423 (2024) for tort claims accruing on or after July 1, 2024LA · workplace →
MassachusettsModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryMA · workplace →
MontanaModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryMT · workplace →
NevadaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years for personal injury; 3 years for medical malpracticeNV · workplace →
KentuckyPure comparative negligence1 year for personal injury (one of the shortest in the US)KY · workplace →
MaineModified comparative, 50% bar6 years for personal injury, longest in the USME · workplace →
★ IA · workplace · frequently asked

Common questions.

Each answer is independently coherent and references the relevant statute or authority document.

united states · sister site
Hurt at work in Iowa? See what your own claim could be worth.

FairSettlement, our US sister site, gives you a free estimate in about two minutes. No cost and no obligation.

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Sources

Checked 2026-09-29.

★ all of IA
Iowa overview

Fault rule, statute, caps, and key facts for Iowa as a whole.

★ national frame
Workplace in United States

Workplace band structure and severity tiers at the US level.

★ all 15 countries
Workplace · everywhere

Cross-jurisdiction comparison of workplace bands.

★ editorial note

Figures on this page are not quotes for any specific case. For representation, consult an attorney admitted in Iowa. See /methodology, /sources, and /disclaimer.