Blog de Abogado en la Ciudad de Nueva York

When you suffer injuries in a construction accident, you may be entitled to compensation. The legal tools available to you to obtain this needed compensation may vary based upon the facts surrounding your accident. New York has multiple statutes that protect injured construction workers. Achieving the outcome you deserve often involves understanding all of the laws and recognizing how best to use them to pursue your claim for damages. To make sure you’re getting the compensation you deserve, be sure you’ve retained a knowledgeable New York construction injury attorney to handle your case.

Recently, a worker, R.F., found himself in the position of needing the legal system to recover compensation for his injuries. R.F. was employed as a laborer and was, in June 2014, working on a subway project in Manhattan. While the R.F. was working and standing on a flatbed truck, another group of workers were lowering a bundle of 12-foot aluminum I-beams. At some point in the process, the bundle of beams swung toward R.F. and pushed him off the truck, causing him to fall to the ground below and suffer substantial injuries. As a result, he sued.

An injured worker may be entitled to an award of damages based upon proving a violation of Section 200 of the state’s Labor Law, Section 240(1) of the Labor Law or Section 241(6) of the Labor Law. These laws each address different types of accidents. For example, Section 240(1) deals with “elevation-related” risks of harm, like a falling worker or a falling object striking a worker. Section 241(6) addresses injuries where a failure to follow the state’s safety regulations led to the accident. It is possible that your case may allow you to sue under two or three of these statutes. For example, if you slipped and fell off a scaffold because construction debris was left on the scaffold’s platform, you might be entitled to sue under both Section 240(1) and Section 241(6). As with any kind of civil lawsuit, the more legal bases for compensation that you can bring forward, the better your chances of success.

An old maxim opines that “what you don’t know won’t hurt you.” While there might be certain areas of life in which ignorance really is bliss, legal matters and your legal rights are not one of them. When it comes to the law, what you don’t know can hurt a great deal. It can hurt when you’re injured at work and you don’t know your rights and don’t know that you have a legal opportunity to sue and collect an award of damages. It hurts when you fail to act and lose out on the compensation you deserve. Don’t let that happen to you. Instead, if you’ve been hurt at your construction job, reach out to an experienced New York City construction accident attorney about your case.An example of this truth was illustrated in the case of J.R. J.R. was a New York ironworker who was supervising a crew who was hoisting a steel beam with the aid of a mechanical device. The crew member who controlled the device’s switch erred and started the hoist too soon, which caused the beam to strike J.R. The impact caused J.R. to suffer a torn biceps tendon.

J.R. sued for the injuries he suffered. One of the bases that he used for his claim for compensation was a Labor Law statute called Section 240(1). Section 240(1) is sometimes nicknamed the “Scaffold Law.” The statute covers more than just scaffold-related injuries. The statute can be a valid basis for any “elevation-related” risk of harm.

Sometimes, this risk of harm is also known as “gravity-related.” That can potentially lead one to believe that the statute only provides for potential awards of compensation in cases of falling workers or workers falling on objects. J.R.’s case established that this is not correct and that the “Scaffold Law” can possibly cover even more workers than one might think.

You may know that if you suffer an injury as a result of fall while working your construction job, New York law has statutes that could allow you to obtain compensation for the harm you suffered. Cases like ones where the worker was in mid-task and fell from a scaffold are fairly clear-cut. However, what you may not know is that the law extends beyond just those “clear-cut” situations. For example, a New York appeals court recently ruled in favor of a worker who fell from a loading dock while waiting in line to sign in and start his work. All this shows that you should never assume that you have no case; instead, contact a knowledgeable New York construction accident attorney to discuss your options.

The worker, W., was a painter who was working on a project at a Manhattan skyscraper when he was injured. His job required him to sign into a security log and get a pass in order to enter the building and do his job. There was just one guard and one security desk, and the sign-in line stretched across a loading dock. The day W. was hurt, the dock was overcrowded and, when he stepped back to make room for another person, he slipped and fell off the dock, falling 4-5 feet to the ground below.

You can imagine finding yourself in a position like W.’s. You’ve suffered a substantial injury, but you had not actually started your daily work yet. You had not even changed into your work uniform yet. You were simply waiting in line to sign in and you fell off a dock while standing in the sign-in line. Chances are that you, as a layperson, are fearful about what recourse you have. Surely you cannot seek compensation based upon the laws governing construction injuries, right?