It’s Almost Impossible to Sue Workers’ Comp Subscribers:
But Not Completely
But Not Completely
Employers that subscribe to workers’ comp insurance get far more than just inexpensive pool coverage and lower benefit payments. They are also virtually immune to civil injury lawsuits: with one significant exception.
If an employer has committed gross negligence resulting in wrongful death, surviving family members can sue the workers’ comp subscribing employer if a loved one has been killed at work. Proving gross negligence, even under the best circumstances, and unless the facts of the case are overwhelmingly in your favor, can be very difficult. Whichever workers’ comp participating insurance company is responsible for negotiating a settlement with the survivors – again with benefit caps – the odds are still against the victim’s survivors that they will receive the equitable wrongful death compensation to which they are entitled.
If the world were fair, insurance providers would be sensitive to the legitimate needs of injured parties, and construction accident victims would receive fair compensation for all medical bills, lost salary, pain, and suffering, to injury victims. But the world isn’t fair, no matter what some of these insurance companies who participate in workers’ comp try to say in the compassionate tone of their advertising and public relations campaigns.
When you get down to brass tacks, insurance companies are in business to generate profits. Many times this “prime directive” comes at the expense of helping people with legitimate claims against them. Those who underwrite the workers’ comp pool are no exception. All insurance companies try to avoid fairly compensating injured construction workers every year in every part of Texas. Those underwriters who participate in the state’s workers’ comp insurance pool are just doing it with the blessing of the legislature.
Construction Accident? Our Law Offices Can Help
An experienced construction injury attorney with our Law Firm helps injured construction workers deal with their challenging work-injury cases. We have spent decades accumulating the expertise required to help you receive the compensation you deserve. Put our experience to work for you. If you want to know what your rights are, how to proceed with your claim, and how much compensation you can secure, then we can answer your questions. Call our Law Firm now at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.
There are two possible avenues to receiving injury compensation outside the normal workers’ comp process of workers’ comp. One of these exceptions involves a construction worker’s fatality at the hands of a grossly negligent employer. The other allows the injured employee to file a suit against someone other than the subscribing employer, known as a third-party:
If your loved one’s construction accident-related death was a direct result of the gross negligence by your employer, then you may file a wrongful death lawsuit in court. After a fall from a crane, our attorneys were hired by the deceased construction worker’s family.
The employer had ordered the worker to work atop the crane without the mandatory safety harness. When the man plummeted to his death, the employer rushed to a construction supply store, purchased a safety harness, and attached it to the dead man before the fatality was reported. Our attorneys were able to prove this sneaky employer’s willful deception by interviewing the co-workers, and we made the employer pay. It’s a good thing workers’ comp acknowledges that subscribers who display no respect for the law do not deserve to be protected by it.
In many cases, someone besides the employer may have done something negligent to cause the injury suffered by a construction worker on the job site. If a faulty piece of machinery caused the injury, then the manufacturer may be held accountable through a defective product lawsuit. Or if the owner of the property, or the developer, did not provide safe working conditions, then they could be liable. If a contractor or another employee negligently caused the injury, then they could also be blamed.
In all of these instances, you can sue the responsible third party or parties, even if you can’t directly bring suit against your workers’ comp subscribing employer. Experience and the ability to properly investigate not only the accident scene but the roles all of these third parties played in a construction accident are essential in determining all of the parties responsible for making them pay for the injuries they caused. A skillful construction accident lawyer can develop the proper strategy for your construction injury liability case that offers the best opportunity to win compensation in a complex Texas work-related legal claim involving one or many third parties.
Contact Our Austin Law Offices and Let Us Take Care of the Rest
If you or someone you love has been injured in a personal injury accident, then you need the help of an experienced lawyer. Statutes of limitations exist for filing personal injury claims, so it’s essential that you act quickly to determine the best course of action.
Call our Austin personal injury attorneys today for a free case evaluation – we want to help so you can focus on your recovery. Put our lawyers to work so you can get the compensation you and your family are entitled to.
