Construction Accidents in Islip: Pursuing Fair Compensation for Your Injuries
Construction sites are dangerous. Even when every precaution is taken, people can get hurt. However, the chances of someone getting injured increase significantly if people fail to exercise reasonable care. Construction site accidents can cause immense physical and financial losses for workers and individuals simply passing through. These injuries often require medical care that quickly adds up, but the injured person is unable to work, being left without a way to pay for their mounting medical bills and living expenses.
People injured at a construction site typically have two options to recover monetary compensation: workers’ compensation or personal injury claims. However, it can be challenging to pursue fair compensation against liable parties doing everything they can to undermine claims or deny them. At the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, we help people injured by someone else secure the compensation they are owed and deserve. We advocate for our clients and ensure that their best interests are not only at the forefront of the entire process but also that the outcomes address their needs. Increase your chances of a successful construction accident claim today by contacting the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe.
How to Receive Compensation After a Construction Accident
The process necessary to recover compensation after a construction site accident depends on whether or not you are a construction worker. Workers injured while on-site, depending on the circumstances that led to their injury, can file a workers’ compensation claim or personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation. However, pedestrians simply walking through, past, or visiting the construction site are not covered under workers’ compensation, so their only option is to file a personal injury claim to recover compensation.
Recovering Compensation as a Construction Worker
The laws pertaining to construction worker injuries are complicated, but they typically favor the workers. When a worker is injured on the job, New York gives them two ways to get compensation to pay for their medical bills and lost wages. They can file for workers’ comp or pursue a personal injury lawsuit if their injury resulted from third-party negligence.
The major difference between the two is the need to prove liability. Under New York workers’ compensation laws, workers can’t sue their employers even if their employer was negligent. However, this means that the burden of proof for the worker is not proving employer negligence (which can be challenging), but instead, they must simply prove that their injury occurred at work while performing their work duties. The key to a workers’ comp claim is establishing the injury as work-related.
Pursuing a third-party personal injury claim means that their injuries were the result of someone else’s negligence outside of their employer. This could be the result of negligence on the part of the construction site owner, the equipment manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, or the project’s architect. In a personal injury claim, the injured worker must now prove that the liable party was negligent with clear evidence demonstrating an act of negligence on the part of the person or entity the claim is filed against.
Recovering Compensation as a Pedestrian
For those who aren’t covered by workers’ compensation, the only option to recover compensation is to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit. As mentioned above, pursuing this type of claim requires proving an entity or individual was negligent, making them liable for damages. Proving negligence in most personal injury cases is about establishing these four basic elements:
Duty of Care
Duty of care is a legal theory in which entities and individuals are legally responsible for exercising reasonable care to prevent causing harm. The first step to proving a party’s negligence is to prove that they owed the injured person a duty of care.
Breach of Duty
Negligence arises when the person or entity fails to exercise the care that a reasonable person would under similar circumstances to prevent causing harm.
Causation
It’s not enough to prove that the entity or person breached their duty of care. There must be a direct link between the breach of duty and the injuries the claimant sustained. In other words, there must be sufficient evidence that proves that it’s more like than not that the breach of duty is the cause of the person’s injuries.
Damages
Damages can refer both to the suffering, injuries, and losses the injured person suffered and the monetary compensation they are eligible to receive. The injured person (or their attorney) must prove that they not only sustained damages because of the breach of duty but also require monetary compensation to aid them in recovering and addressing their financial loss.
As a pedestrian or bystander injured on a construction site, it’s possible that there may be more than one liable party. Depending on the circumstances that led to the accident, the following parties may be held responsible for damages:
- The construction company
- Construction workers
- Contractors
- Subcontractors
- Third-party companies
- Manufacturers
- Property owners
- Government agencies
The amount of damages an injured person can receive depends on the details of their case. However, liable parties are rarely willing to hand over maximum compensation. It’s essential to contact an experienced Islip injury attorney as soon as possible. They can ensure you have the best possible chance at recovering the compensation you need to move forward.
Contact an Experienced Islip Construction Accident Lawyer Today
It’s difficult to focus on recovering from a serious injury when there are living expenses and medical bills piling up. At the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, we take on our clients’ personal injury cases, so they have the time, energy, and resources necessary to focus on getting better. Our attorneys are committed to advocating and fighting for the rights of those who’ve been harmed by another party’s negligence. We know how important it is to our clients to recover fair compensation, and we go above and beyond to secure favorable results.
At the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, we are ready to go to trial if it means fighting for our client’s right to maximum compensation. You can contact us at 516-358-6900 or complete our contact form to schedule a consultation. If you have any questions, you can also visit our Cohen & Jaffe YouTube Channel. Please subscribe to stay up to date on any laws that may impact your claim.
For a free legal consultation with a construction accident lawyer serving Islip, call 516-358-6900
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information and may not be applicable in your jurisdiction.
