Workers' Compensation

Quality Representation In New York City Workers' Compensation Cases

Workers’ compensation is designed to help workers who are injured on the job or become ill with an occupational disease that develops during the course of their employment. But what can you do when your workers’ compensation benefits don’t fully cover your expenses? 

The New York City workers’ compensation lawyers of Smiley & Smiley, LLP, have helped hundreds of workers obtain additional compensation following work-related injuries and illness by filing civil suits against third parties. Third-party claims are separate from workers’ compensation claims, and are handled like any personal injury claim — with an investigation followed by vigorous negotiations and/or courtroom litigation. 

The Resources To Help You 

Our lawyers draw on decades of legal experience and work with professional investigators and medical experts. We have successfully achieved dozens of six- and seven-figure awards for injured workers. Here are a several examples: 

• We represented the family of a worker who was crushed to death while working on the World Trade Center site as part of the Path Train Reconstruction Project. Our investigation of other parties’ negligence resulted in a $5.05 million pretrial settlement for the deceased’s family. 

• Our client suffered permanent head and back injuries while working to rehabilitate the Triborough Bridge. Our representation yielded a settlement of $1.365 million. 

• Our client suffered severe shoulder and internal injuries when he was struck by a beam which was thrown over the side of the building that he was working on. We proved that a statute requiring the use of garbage chutes had been violated and negotiated a $650,000 settlement. 

Our client fell through unsafe planking while working on a subway station, fracturing his foot and suffering permanent disability. We settled his case for $520,000. 

Falls From Heights

What To Do When Injured During a Fall at Work

If you were injured by falling from a ladder, falling from a roof, falling through an unmarked opening in a floor under construction or falling from a “cherry picker” truck, you ought to talk to a lawyer sooner rather than later. Do not assume that your only sources of compensation after a fall injury will be your health insurance and workers’ compensation benefits. 

An Attorney Evaluation Is Critical 

Depending on the facts of your case, there may be third-party liability in addition to a workers’ compensation claim against your employer’s workers’ comp insurer. The sooner your case is evaluated by a lawyer and the accident is investigated, the more opportunities there will be to discover any third party whose negligence contributed to your accident. 

See our results page to gain an idea of ways in which we have been able to help injured New Yorkers recover compensation after construction-related injuries, traffic accidents and other types of accidents. 

Was The General Contractor Negligent?

General contractors and construction site supervisors are responsible for training workers and taking prudent precautions to protect the safety of construction workers. For example, they should ensure that roofers wear protective gear such as a harness and cable. They should adhere to Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) regulations as well as follow rules of common sense in order to watch out properly for their workers’ safety. 

Furthermore, New York statute 240.1 holds construction companies responsible for falls from heights, including falls from scaffolding and ladders, on a strict liability basis. This means that negligence does not have to be proven in these kinds of cases. 

Was A Subcontractor Negligent?

Subcontractors, likewise, have a duty of care for fellow subcontractors at a work site. When one type of subcontractor — such as those who pour cement — departs from a work area, that worker should leave the area as free of hazards as it was previously. Allowing debris to fall strewn on walking paths and failing to replace warning cones and other signs are common errors that subcontractors often commit at a construction site. 

Did Faulty Equipment Or Materials Contribute To Your Fall? 

Manufacturers of materials and equipment used at construction sites are also expected to deliver dependable, safe products. 

Your responsibility after you have suffered broken bones, a back injury, a neck injury, a spinal cord injury or a traumatic brain injury is to do all that you can to recover. Our responsibility, if Smiley & Smiley, LLP, represents you, is to discover and tap into all available sources of compensation after a fall injury.