Naming the Right Defendants to Get Full Compensation for Your New York Construction Injury

So, imagine you’re a worker in New York City and you’ve suffered a fall at your construction job. You were hurt as a result. The injuries may have caused you to rack up large medical bills and may have forced you to miss work. You may be wondering… what should I do? One of the things you should investigate doing is pursuing legal action to recover compensation for your injuries. To do that, you should start by consulting with an experienced New York City construction injury attorney.

S.C. was a worker who faced that kind of circumstance. S.C. was hurt while working as a dock builder foreman on a project on Fifth Avenue. According to his lawsuit, S.C. made a step onto “what appeared to be a stable floor of concrete” to inspect a bracket. In reality, the surface was neither concrete nor solid. S.C. fell through water that was roughly eight feet deep, suffering substantial injuries in the process.

In a case like S.C.’s, one potential legal option for compensation is Section 240(1) of the Labor Law. That law says that construction project site owners and project general contractors are required to provide all workers with adequate safeguards to protect them from “elevation-related” risks of harm. In other words, risks of things falling on you or you suffering a fall.

Your options may go beyond suing property owners and the general contractor

One important thing, which was an issue in S.C.’s case, is that you may be able to pursue more defendants than just the site owner and the general contractor in court.

S.C. sued the construction manager on the project. In general, construction managers are not liable for damages suffered by construction workers as a result of a lack of proper safety protections. However, there are situations where they can be. One way to hold a party other than a site owner or general contractor (such as a construction manager) liable is to prove that that entity was “delegated the authority and duties of a general contractor” or was operating “as an agent of the owner of the premises.”

This injured worker had that kind of proof. S.C. used the deposition testimony of the construction manager’s vice president as well as the deposition testimony of its site safety manager to establish that the construction manager’s duties on the project included things like “enforcing safety, coordinating subcontractors and supervising the project.” In other words, it had the duties of a general contractor, so it qualified as a general contractor under Section 240(1), which meant that S.C. was entitled to seek compensation from it under that law.

Your construction injury can have life-altering impact on you. At the very least, it may be something that creates a serious financial hardship for you and your family. Getting back on your feet may require taking legal action and knowing how to pursue the right people and entities. Don’t wait to take action and don’t try to navigate the legal system on your own. Contact the experienced New York City construction injury attorneys at Arcia & Associates. Our team has many years of experience handling construction injury cases and helping injured workers seek the recovery they deserve.

Contact us at 718-424-2222 to find out how we can help you.

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