There are many types of construction injuries that a worker with a serious injury can receive. How you are paid and who ends up paying your injury claim is contingent on the type of injury, what happened, and other factors like location or severity.
If you are unsure what to do after a workplace injury, your first step is to find other defendants. You can recover more outside of the workers’ compensation system. After a construction site accident, hire an attorney to determine how the accident happened and who was at fault. You cannot sue your employer for a construction-related injury absent exceptional circumstances. A construction accident lawyer, such as those as Friedman Levy in New York, will advise you on various ways that one may receive compensation as listed below:
Compensation Claims for Workers
Workers’ compensation claims protect employees if they get injured or contract an illness on the job. In a no-fault system, you can still receive benefits even if your injury was partial because of something that happened at work. Workers’ compensation claims are limited to economic damages. The benefits that you can receive include lost wages and medical bills, but there is a limit on the amount of money workers’ companies will payout for damage from an accident in your workplace.
However, as someone injured on a construction site, you cannot receive non-economic damages such as pain and suffering in workers’ compensation cases. Punitive damages are also not compensable under these circumstances either. It is beneficial for you to sue before filing your workers’ compensation claim, as these restrictions limit the value of your case and mean that it will challenge you to win.
Product Liability In Case Of an Equipment Malfunction At Site
Many tools and machinery can cause injuries on a construction site. Examples include backhoes, front loaders, machine tools, and cranes. To win a product liability lawsuit, you need to prove that construction equipment was defective. It could be if the product’s design is unreasonably dangerous or if they did not assemble all parts correctly.
The Lawsuit against the Employer In Case Of the Worker’s Compensation System Applies.
To sue your employer for a such an injury, you would need a much more evidence than just gross negligence. The workers’ compensation program allows employers to protect themselves from lawsuits while ensuring that they can still pay their employees. In some states like Illinois, there are minimal exceptions to allow you to sue an employer if they did not have workers’ compensation insurance. However, the only way for this exception to apply is if their action was intentional.
Claims against Construction Companies or the Subcontractors
To protect yourself from lawsuits, you could try to file a claim against the subcontractor responsible for your construction accident. If there is over one contractor on-site, they will focus on who caused the injury rather than just naming everyone involved in the order of their proximity.
You may sue a responsible party for damages. However, you would need to prove negligence to do so successfully. Unlike workers’ compensation, which is an automatic process that provides benefits without questioning fault or liability, personal injury lawsuits require a finding of someone’s failure at meeting their standard of care and responsibility.
